Human social defeat and approach–avoidance: Escalating social-evaluative threat and threat of aggression increases social avoidance

Basic research on avoidance by Murray Sidman laid the foundation for advances in the classification, conceptualization and treatment of avoidance in psychological disorders. Contemporary avoidance research is explicitly translational and increasingly focused on how competing appetitive and aversive contingencies influence avoidance. In this laboratory investigation, we examined the effects of escalating social-evaluative threat and threat of social aggression on avoidance of social interactions. During social-defeat learning, 38 adults learned to associate 9 virtual peers with an increasing probability of receiving negative evaluations. Additionally, 1 virtual peer was associated with positive evaluations. Next, in an approach–avoidance task with social-evaluative threat, 1 peer associated with negative evaluations was presented alongside the peer associated with positive evaluations. Approaching peers produced a positive or a probabilistic negative evaluation, while avoiding peers prevented a negative evaluation (and forfeited a positive evaluation). In an approach–avoidance task with social aggression, virtual peers gave and took money away from participants. Escalating social-evaluative threat and aggression increased avoidance, ratings of feeling threatened and threat expectancy and decreased ratings of peer favorableness. These findings underscore the potential of coupling social defeat and approach–avoidance paradigms for translational research on the neurobehavioral mechanisms of social approach–avoidance decision-making and anxiety.     

Classification and differentiation of bladder and bowel related anxieties: A socio-cognitive exploration

Current Psychology - The current study aimed to explore the validity of a single, self-report measure for bladder and bowel anxieties (Bladder and Bowel Anxiety Grouping Item; BABAGI), using two...     

Philosophy of medicine in 2021

Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics -     

Predictors to Happiness in Primary Students: Positive Relationships or Academic Achievement

This study aimed to examine the role of positive relationships and academic achievement in predicting student well-being, i.e. subjective happiness. This study employed a longitudinal design with two waves of data collection on a sample of 786 primary school students in Hong Kong. Students completed questionnaires on parent-child relationship, teacher-student relationship, peer relationship, academic achievement, and happiness at the beginning and end of the school year. Path analysis was used for data analysis. The results indicated that Time 1 parent-child relationship and peer relationship were associated with Time 2 academic achievement, after controlling for Time 1 academic achievement. However, only Time 1 parent-child relationship was predictive of Time 2 happiness. Time 2 academic achievement was a mediator between Time 1 parent-child relationship and peer relationship and Time 2 happiness. Furthermore, girls reported higher levels of academic achievement when they perceived better peer relationship than did boys, and girls were happier when they had higher levels of academic achievement than were boys. The results suggested the need to put in place strategies to enhance parent-child relationship, peer relationship, and a harmonious classroom.

     

Elevation and reduction of plasma tryptophan and their effects on aggression and perceptual sensitivity in normal males

Data from experimental animals suggest that 5-hydroxytryptamine (5HT) may have an inhibitory effect on aggression, while clinical studies have found a correlation between pathological aggression and low brain 5HT. To investigate this relationship further we used amino acid mixtures designed to raise or lower the levels of the 5HT precursor, tryptophan. Normal male subjects were given tryptophan-depleted, balanced, or tryptophan-supplemented ammo acid mixtures and tested for aggression 5 hours later. The balanced amino acid mixture served as a control for the tryptophan depletion and supplementation. Testing for aggression was done using the Buss paradigm in which subjects deliver electric shocks to a (nonexistent) partner in response to stimulus tones. Duration and intensity of shock delivered were the measures of aggression, while responsivity to the stimulus tones was the measure of perceptual sensitivity. Neither tryptophan supplementation nor tryptophan depletion had any effect on these measures of aggression or perceptual sensitivity. We conclude that raising or lowering the synthesis of brain 5HT through alterations in tryptophan availability does not influence aggression in normal males as measured by the Buss task.     

An empirically derived scoring system for intermale aggression in mice

Scoring systems used to assess intermale aggression have been characterized by arbitrary scales and wide variability in the behaviors selected for measurement. The use of such different systems severely limits the ability of investigators to make meaningful comparisons among studies and indicates that there is a need for a common, statistically derived evaluative system for intermale aggression. We measured the frequency and duration of five major components of agonistic behavior exhibited by intact males toward olfactory bulbectomized stimulus males and then analyzed the data using a number of univariate and multivariate procedures. The results were used to generate two statistically based scoring systems, one a short-form index and the other a composite index for more detailed studies of aggression. It is hoped that these statistically derived systems will be adopted by other investigators to increase methodological congruence in the field.     

Romantic Conflict Narratives in Emerging Adult Couples: Viewpoint and Gender Matter

Healthy romantic relationships entail understanding the needs of the self and other when interpreting conflict events. Yet how couples make meaning around specific conflicts and their capacity to reflect on their own and their partners’ unmet needs is understudied. Using narratives, we examined destructive (e.g., extreme anger and break-up anxiety) and constructive (e.g., perspective taking) interpretations of past romantic conflicts in 80 emerging adult heterosexual couples and the extent to which such interpretations varied by viewpoint and gender. Couple members were interviewed separately about two conflict episodes in which their partner did not meet their needs (victim viewpoint) and two episodes in which they did not meet their partners’ needs (perpetrator viewpoint). As anticipated, destructive interpretations were more evident in the victim viewpoint and for female couple members. In contrast, within constructive interpretations, the use of insight was greater in the perpetrator than the victim viewpoint. Although perspective taking was expected to be more common in the perpetrator viewpoint and in female narratives, this was not the case, as this type of constructive interpretation was infrequent in narratives about conflict. The findings revealed aspects of meaning making that might be useful to mental health professionals concerned with building skills to improve romantic competence in emerging adult couples.     

Challenging anxious cognitions or accepting them? Exploring the efficacy of the cognitive elements of cognitive behaviour therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy in the reduction of children's fear of the dark

Anxiety is highly prevalent in pre-adolescent children. Distorted cognitions are characteristic for dysfunctional levels of anxiety. However, applying cognitive elements in pre-adolescent children cannot be fully ascertained, as it is not until adolescence before children can apply logical and abstract reasoning in a sophisticated manner. Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) both target distorted cognitions. Whereas CBT encourages children to change the content of negative cognitions by applying cognitive restructuring, ACT stimulates youth to have a more accepting attitude towards these thoughts by applying cognitive defusion. The current study examined the efficacy of applying cognitive elements and compared the cognitive elements of CBT and ACT in pre-adolescent children. We included no behavioural elements to specifically study the developmental appropriateness of the cognitive elements in this age group. Highly anxious children, aged 8–12 years were randomised to a 30-minute cognitive restructuring (n = 21) or cognitive defusion intervention (n = 22). Subjective fear of the dark levels, behavioural darkness toleration, and comprehension and fun associated with the interventions were assessed. Both interventions had a significantly positive impact on children's fear of the dark. Cognitive restructuring led to more favourable results on subjective fear than cognitive defusion, no differences were found for darkness toleration.