Long-term memory for the emotional gist and the emotional essence of an experience

We investigated accuracy in recalling past emotional behaviours and emotionality. Male couples discussed the history of their relationship, and coders rated the extent to which each partner engaged in behaviours such as complimenting or criticising. These ratings were combined into dimensions representing the deeper, emotional essence of that partner's discussion (expressions of We-ness, Fondness, Negativity, and Disappointment). Four years later, participants accurately recalled some of their own and some of their partner's emotional gist-level behaviours, but their answers indicated that they also remembered the emotional essence of the conversation. We conclude that individuals can retain the emotional essence of an experience for a long time, and that they may use this memory to infer, in part, gist-level details of the experience.     

Killing Versus Witnessing Trauma: Implications for the Development of PTSD in Combat Medics

Killing in combat uniquely predicts elevated PTSD symptomatology among military veterans. This study investigated the effects of combat killing in a sample of 345 U.S. Army combat medics who had recently returned from operational deployments to Iraq or Afghanistan. Combat medics provide frontline medical care before, during, and after battles but also fight alongside other soldiers when under attack. Attempting to kill in combat was a significant predictor of PTSD symptomatology even after accounting for passively witnessing trauma in fellow soldiers. Medics may be well prepared to cope with the passive experiencing and witnessing of war-zone trauma, but may benefit from training to cope with the negative consequences of taking actions to kill.     

Long-term memory for the emotional gist and the emotional essence of an experience

We investigated accuracy in recalling past emotional behaviours and emotionality. Male couples discussed the history of their relationship, and coders rated the extent to which each partner engaged in behaviours such as complimenting or criticising. These ratings were combined into dimensions representing the deeper, emotional essence of that partner's discussion (expressions of We-ness, Fondness, Negativity, and Disappointment). Four years later, participants accurately recalled some of their own and some of their partner's emotional gist-level behaviours, but their answers indicated that they also remembered the emotional essence of the conversation. We conclude that individuals can retain the emotional essence of an experience for a long time, and that they may use this memory to infer, in part, gist-level details of the experience.     

What U.S. law enforcement officers know and believe about eyewitness factors,eyewitness interviews and identification procedures

We surveyed 532 U.S. law enforcement officers about eyewitness factors, and how they conduct eyewitness interviews and identification procedures. There were 83 officers from departments that had implemented eyewitness reforms, and 449 officers from departments that had not implemented reforms. Officers from both samples had limited knowledge of eyewitness factors. They also reported conducting interviews and identification procedures in a manner that violated many provisions of the National Institute of Justice's Guide and Training Manual. Although officers in reform departments reported following more correct lineup procedures than officers in non‐reform departments, the two groups did not differ in knowledge of eyewitness factors or in their use of proper interviewing procedures. Only 18% of the reform officers and 1% of the non‐reform officers had both read the Guide and received training based on it. We discuss the implications of the present study for training U.S. law enforcement officers about eyewitness testimony. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sources of Bias in Memory for Emotions

How accurately can people remember how they felt in the past? Although some investigators hold that emotional memories are resistant to change, we review evidence that current emotions, appraisals, and coping efforts, as well as personality traits, are all associated with bias in recalling past emotions. Bias occurs as memories of emotional states are updated in light of subsequent experience and goals. Biased memories in turn influence future plans and emotions, and may contribute to the formation of enduring personality traits. People's memories for emotions provide highly condensed and accessible summaries of the relevance of past experiences to current goals.     

Psychotropic Medication Patterns in Medicaid-Insured Youth Based on Clinician-Reported Maltreatment Status

The main objective of this study is to explore the relationship of psychotropic medication use patterns and clinician-reported maltreatment status in Medicaid-insured youth. This cross-sectional study analyzed computerized outpatient claims for youth aged 2–17 years who were continuously enrolled for ≥10 months in a mid-Atlantic state Medicaid program in 2006. Bivariate analyses and multivariable logistic modeling were employed to assess patterns of any psychotropic drug use, and specifically for antipsychotics, antidepressants, and stimulants by clinician-reported maltreatment status and according to other study covariates. Child maltreatment status was assessed using ICD-9 codes for maltreatment. Other covariates included age group, gender, race/ethnicity, region, Medicaid-eligibility categories, and clinician-reported psychiatric diagnostic groups. Among 274,490 youth, 901 had a clinician-reported child maltreatment indicator for a prevalence of 3.3 per 1,000. These youth were more likely to be older, female, African American, and Medicaid eligible by foster care or disability. Youth with clinician-reported maltreatment compared to youth without identified maltreatment had a significantly higher prevalence of antipsychotic use (14.1 vs. 3.4 %), antidepressant use (12.1 vs. 3.4 %) and stimulant use (15.8 vs. 7.8 %). After adjusting for the study covariates, the odds of antipsychotic use (2.6 [2.0, 3.2]), antidepressant use (2.0 [1.6, 2.6]), and any psychotropic use (1.5 [1.3, 1.9]) were comparatively higher among youth with clinician-reported maltreatment. By contrast, the adjusted-odds of stimulant use was comparable between the groups. The findings from this exploratory study from one state’s Medicaid outpatient data suggest that youth with maltreatment indicators have an increased likelihood of antipsychotic and antidepressant medication dispensings.     

A randomized wait-list controlled pilot study of dialectical behaviour therapy guided self-help for binge eating disorder

This study examined the efficacy of guided self-help based on dialectical behaviour therapy (DBTgsh) for binge eating disorder (BED). Individuals (88.3% female; mean 42.8 years) were randomized to DBTgsh (n = 30) or wait-list (WL; n = 30). DBTgsh participants received an orientation, DBT manual, and six 20-min support calls over 13 weeks. All participants were assessed pre- and post-treatment using interview and self-report; also, DBTgsh participants were re-assessed six months post-treatment. At treatment end, DBTgsh participants reported significantly fewer past-month binge eating episodes than WL participants (6.0 versus 14.4) and significantly greater rates of abstinence from binge eating (40.0% versus 3.3%). At six-month follow-up, DBTgsh participants reported significantly improved quality of life and reduced ED psychopathology compared to baseline scores. In addition, most improvements in the DBTgsh group were maintained, although binge eating abstinence rates decreased to 30%. These preliminary positive findings indicate that DBTgsh may offer an effective, low-intensity treatment option for BED.     

Focalism and the underestimation of future emotion: when it's worse than imagined

People typically exaggerate the emotional impact of future events. This occurs because of focalism, the tendency to focus on one event and neglect to consider how emotion will be mitigated by the surrounding context. Neglecting context, however, should lead people to underestimate future emotion when context focuses attention on the event. In Study 1, participants underestimated the intensity of their future negative emotions when they reported reactions to a romantic break-up on Valentine's Day versus 1 week before. This relationship was mediated by how frequently they thought about the break-up. In Study 2, participants underestimated the emotional impact of a lost prize when the experimental context forced them to focus on the prize versus when the prize was less evident. Thus, failing to account for the extent to which context would focus attention on the event, a form of focalism, led to underestimation of emotional reactions to a negative event.