The relation between emotion regulation choice and posttraumatic growth

ABSTRACT

Previous research has examined emotion regulation (ER) and trauma in the context of psychopathology, yet little research has examined ER in posttraumatic growth (PTG), the experience of positive psychological change following a traumatic event. ER typically involves decreasing negative affect by engaging (e.g. reappraisal) or disengaging (e.g. distraction) with emotional content. To investigate how ER may support PTG, participants who experienced a traumatic event in the past 6 months completed a PTG questionnaire and an ER choice task in which they down regulated their negative emotion in response to negative pictures of varying intensity by choosing to distract or reappraise. Latent growth curve analyses revealed that an increase in reappraisal choice from low to high subjective stimulus intensity predicted higher PTG, suggesting that individuals who chose reappraisal more as intensity increased reported higher PTG. Findings suggest that reappraisal of negative stimuli following a traumatic event may be a key component of PTG.     

The limits of child effects: evidence for genetically mediated child effects on corporal punishment but not on physical maltreatment

Research on child effects has demonstrated that children's difficult and coercive behavior provokes harsh discipline from adults. Using a genetically sensitive design, the authors tested the limits of child effects on adult behavior that ranged from the normative (corporal punishment) to the nonnormative (physical maltreatment). The sample was a 1994-1995 nationally representative birth cohort of 1,116 twins and their families who participated in the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Study. Results showed that environmental factors accounted for most of the variation in corporal punishment and physical maltreatment. However, corporal punishment was genetically mediated in part, and the genetic factors that influenced corporal punishment were largely the same as those that influenced children's antisocial behavior, suggesting a child effect. The authors conclude that risk factors for maltreatment are less likely to reside within the child and more likely to reside in characteristics that differ between families.     

Number bias for the discrimination of large visual sets in infancy

This brief report attempts to resolve the claim that infants preferentially attend to continuous variables over number [e.g. Psychol. Sci. 10 (1999) 408; Cognit. Psychol.44 (2002) 33] with the finding that when continuous variables are controlled, infants as young as 6-months of age discriminate large numerical values [e.g. Psychol. Sci. 14 (2003) 396; Cognition 89 (2003) B15; Cognition 74 (2000) B1]. In two parallel experiments, we compare 6-month-old infants' ability to discriminate number and ignore continuous variables with their ability to form a representation of a cumulative surface area and ignore number. We find that infants discriminate a 2-fold change in number but fail to discriminate a 2-fold change in cumulative surface area. The results point to a more complicated relationship between discrete and continuous dimensions than implied by previous literature.     

Detection of grouped and ungrouped parts in visual patterns by tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) and humans (Homo sapiens)

The authors investigated perceptual grouping in capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) and humans (Homo sapiens). In Experiment 1, 6 monkeys received a visual pattern as the sample and had to identify the comparison stimulus featuring some of its parts. Performance was better for ungrouped parts than for grouped parts. In Experiment 2, the sample featured the parts, and the comparison stimuli, the complex figures: The advantage for ungrouped elements disappeared. In Experiment 3, in which new stimuli were introduced, the results of the previous experiments were replicated. In Experiment 4, 128 humans were presented with the same tasks and stimuli used with monkeys. Their accuracy was higher for grouped parts. Results suggest that human and nonhuman primates use different modes of analyzing multicomponent patterns.     

Reorganization in coping behavior at 1 1/2 years: dynamic systems and normative change

By the age of 1 year toddlers demonstrate distinct coping habits for dealing with frustration. However, these habits may be open to change and reorganization at subsequent developmental junctures. We investigated change in coping habits at 18-20 months, a normative age for major advances in social cognition, focusing on the dynamic systems principles of fluctuation and novelty at transitions. Specifically, we asked whether month-to-month fluctuation, novel behavioral habits and real-time variability increased at the age of a normative transition, despite individual differences in the content of behavior. Infants were given frustrating toys while their mothers sat nearby without helping, on monthly visits at 14-25 months (before, during and after the hypothesized transition). State space grids representing patterns of behavioral durations were constructed for each episode and compared over age. As predicted, month-to-month fluctuation in grid patterns increased temporarily between 17 and 20 months, partly independently of a concurrent peak in distress, and new behavioral habits replaced old ones at the same age. Coping habits changed differently for high-and low-distressed toddlers. However, changes in real-time variability did not generally meet our expectations.     

The role of childhood abuse and neglect in the sensitization to stressful life events in adolescent depression

This study examined the role of childhood abuse and neglect in sensitizing adolescents to the effects of proximal stressful life events in a cross-sectional sample of 103 depressed and nondepressed adolescents. Consistent with hypotheses, adolescents with a history of childhood abuse and/or neglect reported a lower level of threat of stressful life events prior to episode onset than that reported by those without. This effect was specific to those on their 1st episode of depression and was specific to independent events (i.e., stressors outside of adolescents' control). Further, this effect was robust when controlling for level of chronic difficulties, which was higher in those with childhood abuse and/or neglect. The authors suggest that childhood abuse and/or neglect may be an important risk factor that sensitizes individuals to the effects of acute independent life events.     

Relating emotional abilities to social functioning: a comparison of self-report and performance measures of emotional intelligence

Three studies used J. D. Mayer and P. Salovey's (1997) theory of emotional intelligence (EI) as a framework to examine the role of emotional abilities (assessed with both self-report and performance measures) in social functioning. Self-ratings were assessed in ways that mapped onto the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT), a validated performance measure of EI. In Study 1, self-ratings and MSCEIT scores were not strongly correlated. In Study 2, men's MSCEIT scores, but not self-ratings, correlated with perceived social competence after personality measures were held constant. In Study 3, only the MSCEIT predicted real-time social competence, again, just for men. Implications for analyzing how emotional abilities contribute to social behavior are discussed, as is the importance of incorporating gender into theoretical frameworks and study designs.     

Exhaustion is differentiable from depression and anxiety: evidence provided by the SF-36 vitality scale

Stress-related exhaustion is an increasingly focused phenomenon, although scientifically not yet fully conceptualised. This is perhaps partly due to the fact that the distinction between exhaustion and other already established concepts, such as depression, is not clear. This study explores whether exhaustion can be differentiated from depression and anxiety, by means of introducing the SF-36 vitality scale as a strategy for the measurement of exhaustion. The Malm? Shoulder and Neck Study cohort, in this study including 12,607 middle-aged men and women, was utilized. Depression and anxiety were assessed by the general health questionnaire (GHQ). Factor analysis was performed in order to potentially discriminate between the included measures. Factor analysis showed that all four exhaustion items of the (inverted) SF-36 vitality scale loaded on a single factor, separate from the GHQ depression and anxiety factors. These results support the notion that exhaustion can be distinguished from depression and anxiety, providing an empirical foundation for defining exhaustion as a unique concept. Furthermore, since SF-36 has been widely used in clinical and epidemiological studies, the benefits of using the SF-36 vitality scale in the assessment of exhaustion could be substantial.     

Risk Reduction Behaviors and Provider Communication Following Genetic Counseling and BRCA1 Mutation Testing in an African American Kindred

Little is known about the impact of cancer genetic counseling and testing on health behaviors in racial and ethnic subgroups. This prospective observational study examined use of risk reduction strategies following BRCA1 counseling and testing. Participants were female members of an African American kindred who received genetic education, counseling and testing (n = 40) and completed a 1-year follow-up interview. Mutation carriers were more likely to opt for breast (100%, 7/7) and ovarian (25%; 1 of 4) cancer surveillance than prophylactic surgery. Following genetic counseling, 71% (5/7) of the BRCA1 carriers who opted for surveillance reported having a mammogram within the year following receipt of their genetic test results. Ovarian cancer screening among mutation carriers increased from 0% at baseline to 25% (one of four) at 1 year. Compared to noncarriers (23%, 7/30), carriers (70%, 7/10) were more likely to discuss their BRCA1 test results with their primary health care providers. Surveillance for breast cancer was preferred to prophylactic surgery and chemoprevention as a way to reduce risk for these cancers. Our data indicate that patient-provider communication about BRCA1 test results is suboptimal.