Executive attention moderates the effect of trait anxiety on hyperarousal symptoms

The majority of individuals exposed to trauma do not go on to develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); thus, researchers have sought to identify individual difference variables that make one particularly susceptible to posttraumatic stress symptoms. Trait anxiety is one individual difference variable implicated in the pathogenesis of posttraumatic stress symptoms. Following from cognitive theories of anxiety and extant data, the purpose of the present study was to examine executive attention as a moderator of the relation between trait anxiety and posttraumatic stress symptoms, particularly hyperarousal symptoms, among undergraduate women reporting trauma exposure (N = 88). As predicted, executive attention moderated the association between trait anxiety and hyperarousal symptoms, such that there was a significantly weaker relation as executive attention increased. Study results further support the potential buffering effect of executive attention in relation to posttraumatic stress symptoms, as well as the possible importance of targeting executive attention following trauma exposure.     

Invideo et Amo: on Envying the Beloved

Philosophia - Can we love and envy the same person at the same time? There is an overwhelming, cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary, consensus that love and envy are deeply incompatible. In this...     

Fearing shades of grey: individual differences in fear responding towards generalisation stimuli

Individual differences in fear generalisation have been proposed to play a role in the aetiology and/or maintenance of anxiety disorders, but few data are available to directly support that claim. The research that is available has focused mostly on generalisation of peripheral and central physiological fear responses. Far less is known about the generalisation of avoidance, the behavioural component of fear. In two experiments, we evaluated how neuroticism, a known vulnerability factor for anxiety, modulates an array of fear responses, including avoidance tendencies, towards generalisation stimuli (GS). Participants underwent differential fear conditioning, in which one conditioned stimulus (CS+) was repeatedly paired with an aversive outcome (shock; unconditioned stimulus, US), whereas another was not (CS?). Fear generalisation was observed across measures in Experiment 1 (US expectancy and evaluative ratings) and Experiment 2 (US expectancy, evaluative ratings, skin conductance, startle responses, safety behaviours), with overall highest responding to the CS+, lowest to the CS? and intermediate responding to the GSs. Neuroticism had very little impact on fear generalisation (but did affect GS recognition rates in Experiment 1), in line with the idea that fear generalisation is largely an adaptive process.     

Disrupted Transition to Parenthood: Gender Moderates the Association Between Miscarriage and Uncertainty About Conception

Miscarriage is a devastating yet common experience shared by women and their partners. Doctors often recommend that couples attempt to conceive again after the experience of a miscarriage, yet little is known about the emotional toll of conception following miscarriage. In the current study, we addressed two primary research questions: (a) How does experiencing a miscarriage relate to recalled emotional experiences of uncertainty surrounding efforts to conceive again? and (b) does gender moderate the association between miscarriage and retrospective accounts of emotions surrounding efforts to conceive? An online sample of parents from across the U.S. (N?=?429; 84.4 % married or cohabiting) reported their number of prior miscarriages and completed online questionnaires assessing recalled psychological adjustment (anxiety, rumination, positive and negative emotions) during their efforts to conceive their youngest child. In addition, they provided written responses regarding their experiences during this time. Participants’ responses were quantitatively analyzed for word use using LIWC, a text-analysis software program, to obtain an observational indicator of emotions. For women but not men, miscarriage was associated with recalled anxiety, rumination, and negative emotions surrounding efforts to conceive a child, as well as the use of more negative emotion, sadness, and anxiety words when describing efforts to conceive. Thus, miscarriage seemed to taint the emotional experience of trying to conceive again, and this consequence seemed particularly poignant for women.     

Local context effects during emotional item directed forgetting in younger and older adults

This paper explored the differential sensitivity young and older adults exhibit to the local context of items entering memory. We examined trial-to-trial performance during an item directed forgetting task for positive, negative, and neutral (or baseline) words each cued as either to-be-remembered (TBR) or to-be-forgotten (TBF). This allowed us to focus on how variations in emotional valence (independent of arousal) and instruction (TBR vs. TBF) of the previous item (trial n-1) impacted memory for the current item (trial n) during encoding. Different from research showing impairing effects of emotional arousal, both age groups showed a memorial boost for stimuli when preceded by items high in positive or negative valence relative to those preceded by neutral items. This advantage was particularly prominent for neutral trial n items that followed emotional items suggesting that, regardless of age, neutral memories may be strengthened by a local context that is high in valence. A trending age difference also emerged with older adults showing greater sensitivity when encoding instructions changed between trial n-1 and n. Results are discussed in light of age-related theories of cognitive and emotional processing, highlighting the need to consider the dynamic, moment-to-moment fluctuations of these systems.     

Two Tracks of Thought: A Structural Model of the Test for Creative Thinking-Drawing Production (TCT-DP)

The Test for Creative Thinking-Drawing Production (TCT-DP, Urban & Jellen, 1986) is one of the most used instruments for the assessment of creative potential. Few studies exist regarding its factorial structure, and all of them were limited to using an exploratory approach. The aim of this research was to assess the factorial structure of the TCT-DP (Form A) for undergraduate and postgraduate Portuguese students. Two studies were performed, where Study 1 (967 participants) consisted of an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) that yielded a 2-factor solution and Study 2 (920 participants) consisted of a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) used to test the fit and compare the suitability of the 2 factorial solutions with alternative models. The 2-factor model exhibited good and acceptable indices of fit. The factors represented Innovativeness and Adaptiveness. This model was called Two Tracks of Thought (TTT). Its structure suggests the importance of both non-conventional and conventional thinking for the creative process.     

Source Credibility in Consumer-Generated Advertising in Youtube: The Moderating Role of Personality

This research investigates the effects of the big five consumer personality traits on perceptions of source credibility related to consumer-generated advertising (CGA). An online experiment with 175 participants was conducted with viewing of a YouTube video in which source credibility (as firm-generated or consumer-generated) was manipulated. Findings show participants viewed CGA as more credible than firm-generated advertising. CGA positively influenced attitudes toward the ad and brand for consumers with low openness, and positively influenced opinion giving for consumers with high extraversion and low neuroticism. Also, a significant main effect of neuroticism was found. Theoretical and practical implications, and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

A Brief Social Skills Intervention to Reduce Challenging Classroom Behavior

Social skills instruction has been recommended as a way of improving behavioral and social outcomes for students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). A brief social skills intervention (Stop and Think (Knoff in The stop & think social skills program, Sopris West, Longmont, CO, 2001) was used to extend the current literature base for students with EBD. A multiple-baseline across classrooms design was used to examine negative social behavior of five participants attending a self-contained school setting for students with challenging behavior. The primary intervention components included: (a) teach, (b) model, (c) role play, and (d) performance feedback. Specific social skills addressed in intervention were listening, using nice talk, accepting consequences, ignoring others, and following directions. Participants were taught to use a 5-step process for each social skill: (1) stop and think, (2) identify good and bad choices, (3) identify steps to performing the good choice, (4) implement steps, and (5) reflect on the good choice you made. Results indicated students benefitted from 12 sessions of explicit social skills instruction as evidenced by decreases in negative social behavior. Social behavior improvements maintained during 2-week follow-up observations. Decreasing negative social behaviors is important in improving general social and behavioral outcomes as well as demonstrating growth toward being prepared to transition back to less restrictive environments. Limitations, recommendations for future research, and practice implications are discussed.     

Narrative and Clinical Change in Cognitive-Behavior Therapy: A Comparison of Two Recovered Cases

Psychotherapy research suggests that therapeutic change is associated with the emergence and development of innovative moments (IMs)—that is, exceptions to the problematic self-narrative that brought the client to therapy. This study compares two recovered cases of major depression, according to symptom measures, that presented contrasting profiles of evolution of IMs: one typical of successful therapy (Barbara), and another typical of unsuccessful therapy (Claudia). The core conflictual relationship theme (CCRT) was used to study narrative change independently of the innovative moments coding system (IMCS). The results suggest a high congruence between the IMCS and the CCRT profiles. Although Barbara presented changes in the IMCS and the CCRT in a similar way, Claudia's self-narratives (IMs and CCRT), despite symptom change, did not change. The results are discussed, considering the importance of narrative changes in recovery from depression and the maintenance of therapeutic gains.     

Ego Development and the Internalization of Conflict in Young Adults

The theory and measurement of ego development (Loevinger in Ego development: Conceptions and theories. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1976) have enjoyed success in the empirical literature as a means of conceptualizing psychological maturity. One unresolved issue concerns the uncertain relationship between ego development and positive adjustment or well-being. The current study tests the hypothesis that ego development in the transition to young adulthood entails an increase in internalizing symptoms and a decrease in externalizing symptoms of psychopathology. Two samples of college students (total n = 263, age range 18–22 years) completed a measure of ego development, the Washington University Sentence Completion Test (WUSCT; Hy and Loevinger in Measuring ego development. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah, 1996), and either the Defense Mechanisms Inventory (DMI; Ihilevich and Gleser in Defense mechanisms: Their classification, correlates, and measurement with the Defense Mechanisms Inventory. Psychological Assessment Resources, Odessa, 1993) or select scales from the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey in Personality Assessment Inventory professional manual 2. Psychological Assessment Resources, Lutz, 2007). Results indicate that WUSCT scores are positively correlated with internalizing defense preferences, anxiety-related disorders, unstable mood and identity, and sense of stress. WUSCT scores are negatively correlated with externalizing defense preferences and alcohol problems, and with aggression in males. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that ego development is related to the specific type, rather than overall level, of psychopathology experienced by young adults.