Cognitive aspects of congenital learned helplessness and its reversal by the monoamine oxidase (MAO)-B inhibitor deprenyl

Cognitive processes are assumed to change with learned helplessness, an animal model of depression, but little is known about such deficits. Here we investigated the role of cognitive and related functions in selectively bred helpless (cLH, n = 10), non-helpless (cNLH, n = 12) and wild type (WT, n = 8) Sprague Dawley rats. The animals were exposed to an open field for 10 min on each of two test days. On the third day, an object exploration paradigm was carried out. The animals were later tested for helplessness. Both cLH and cNLH rats were more active than WTs on the first day in the open field. Over trials, cNLH and WT rats lowered their activity less than cLH rats. This resistance-to-habituation co-varied with a resistance to develop helplessness. In cLH rats, higher ‘anxiety’ or less time spent in the center of the open field co-varied with severe helplessness. In WTs, a greater reactivity to novel objects and to a spatially relocated object predicted lower levels of helplessness. In cLH rats (n = 4–5 per group), chronic treatment with a high dose of the monoamine oxidase (MAO)-B inhibitor deprenyl (10 mg/kg; i.p.), an anti-Parkinson, nootropic and antidepressant drug, attenuated helplessness. Remarkably, helplessness reversal required the experience of repeated test trials, reminiscent of a learning process. Chronic deprenyl (10 mg/kg; i.p.) did not alter locomotion/exploration or ‘anxiety’ in the open field. In conclusion, helplessness may be related to altered mechanisms of reinforcement learning and working memory, and to abnormalities in MAO-A and/or MAO-B functioning.     

Facing the Music or Burying Our Heads in the Sand?: Adaptive Emotion Regulation in Midlife and Late Life

Defenses that keep threatening information out of awareness are posited to reduce anxiety at the cost of longer-term dysfunction. By contrast, socioemotional selectivity theory suggests that preference for positively-valenced information is a late-life manifestation of adaptive emotion regulation. Using longitudinal data on 61 men, we examined links between emotion regulation indices informed by these distinct conceptualizations: defenses in earlier adulthood and selective memory for positively-valenced images in late-life. Use of avoidant defenses in midlife predicted poorer memory for positive, negative, and neutral images nearly 4 decades later. Late-life satisfaction was positively linked with midlife engaging defenses but negatively linked at the trend level with concurrent positive memory bias.     

The Order of Dominance Among Conceptual Capacities: An Experimental Test of Heidbreder'S Hypothesis

College freshmen in an educational opportunity program were trained in an orientation program by behavior rehearsal techniques to cope with the social demands of some in-class and out-of-class situations. At the end of their freshman year, data were available on 48 male and 51 female black students and 23 male and 21 female white students. Trainees earned better grades than controls on the campus where training was offered but not at smaller branch campuses. Results suggest the importance of para-academic skills of meeting assignments and knowing when, where, and how to seek help. Academic performance may be enhanced by training in campus and classroom social skills.     

Mindfulness and Self-Compassion: Exploring Pathways to Adolescent Emotional Well-Being

Adolescents today are confronted with the compounded stressors of life in our high-pressured society and the cognitive, physiological, and emotional changes characteristic of this stage of development. To explore ways to promote well-being in this population, mindfulness, defined as paying attention in the moment in an intentional and purposeful way, was examined in terms of its associations with aspects of emotional well being. It has been reported to have positive effects on emotional well-being in adults, and shows promise for similar results in research with youth. Moreover, the mechanisms through which being mindful may influence positive outcomes have only recently been explored, and have not been investigated with adolescents. Self-compassion, defined by the three components of self-kindness, sensing oneself as part of a common humanity, and maintaining perspective in challenging circumstances, was examined as a potential mediator of the relationship of mindfulness to various outcome measures. Measures assessing mindfulness, self-compassion, and aspects of emotional well-being comprised an online survey that was administered to 67 adolescents in an urban high school. Path analysis was utilized to explore relationships among the variables. An alternate model with self-compassion as the predictor and mindfulness as the mediator was also investigated. Results suggested that both mindfulness and self-compassion functioned as mediators in the pathway to emotional well-being. A theorized model is presented which depicts a reciprocal relationship between mindfulness and self-compassion and describes an iterative process that takes place between these two constructs, promoting emotional well-being. Implications for research and practice include conducting longitudinal studies, which assess constructs at three time points to definitively establish mediation, and developing a self-compassion program tailored for adolescents to facilitate improvements in emotional well-being.     

Long-term effects of educational and peer discussion group interventions on adjustment to breast cancer.

The authors report a 3-year follow-up of the effects of 8-week support group interventions on the quality of life of women with early stage breast cancer. Shortly after diagnosis, women were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 conditions: control, education, peer discussion, and education plus peer discussion. The education group intervention focused on providing information to enhance control over the illness experience, whereas the peer discussion group intervention focused on providing emotional support through the expression of feelings. Consistent with the results that emerged 6 months after the interventions (V. S. Helgeson, S. Cohen, R. Schulz, & J. Yasko, 1999), the authors found that the benefits of the education intervention were maintained over a 3-year period (N=252), although effects dissipated with time. The authors continued to find no benefits of the peer discussion intervention, either alone or in combination with education.