Automatic emotion regulation after social exclusion: tuning to positivity

Nine experiments tested competing hypotheses regarding nonconscious affective responses to acute social exclusion and how such responses may relate to positive mental health. The results strongly and consistently indicated that acute social exclusion increased nonconscious positive affect. Compared to nonexcluded participants, excluded participants recalled more positive memories from childhood than did accepted participants (Experiment 1), gave greater weight to positive emotion in their judgments of word similarity (Experiments 2 and 3), and completed more ambiguous word stems with happy words (Experiments 4a and 4b). This process was apparently automatic, as participants asked to imagine exclusion overestimated explicit distress and underestimated implicit positivity (Experiment 3). Four final experiments showed that this automatic emotion regulation process was found among participants low (but not high) in depressive symptoms (Experiments 5 and 6) and among participants high (but not low) in self-esteem (Experiments 7 and 8). These findings suggest that acute exclusion sets in motion an automatic emotion regulation process in which positive emotions become highly accessible, which relates to positive mental health.     

Maternal depression and parental distress among families in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project: Risk factors within the family setting

This study examined the influence of risk factors within the family environment (inadequate resources, insufficient caregiving support from child's father, higher family conflict) on maternal well being (depression and parental distress) using a longitudinal panel research design. Participants consisted of 2,040 low‐income mothers of young children enrolled in the Early Head Start (EHS) Research and Evaluation Project. Findings indicated that greater family resources at 14 months had a protective effect on maternal well‐being at 36 months, controlling for demographic variables and maternal well‐being at 14 months. Furthermore, the effect of family resources on maternal well‐being was moderated by father caregiving support, such that family resources were protective, particularly when father caregiving support was lower. Family conflict at 14 months was associated with lower maternal well‐being at 36 months, controlling for demographic variables and maternal well‐being at 14 months. Our findings suggest that low‐income mothers need the support and resources of programs such as EHS to overcome the hurdles and challenges of parenting in high‐risk settings. Implications for clinical practice and EHS are discussed.     

Ambivalence toward mothers who kill: an examination of 45 U.S. cases of maternal neonaticide

Public opinion about neonaticide (the killing of a newborn within the first 24 hours of life) has varied across time and cultures. Some nations have passed legislation on behalf of maternal offenders with the assumption that childbirth, a time of unique biological change, may lead to mental disturbance. The United States, however, makes no such distinction; offenders are prosecuted under general homicide laws. Nevertheless, U.S. courts often consider a mother's emotional and physical condition prior to and during delivery. This study includes 44 female offenders and 45 infant deaths and highlights society's ambivalence toward neonaticide offenders. The authors suggest that this ambivalence may be attributed to: (1) the perception that an offender's emotional and physical turmoil during the birth and homicide reduces her culpability; (2) the sentiment that neonaticide offenders are more "redeemable" than other offenders; and (3) the uncertainty about the personhood of a fetus or newborn.     

Taming the Imams: European Governments and Islamic Preachers since 9/11

The bombings in Madrid (2004) and London (2005) and the murder of the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh in 2004 alerted European governments to their susceptibility to terrorism perpetrated by unassimilated Muslim immigrants. Whether they had pursued multicultural immigration policies or regulated their immigrant communities closely, European countries began adopting stricter measures in the attempt to contain—if not transform—'radical' Islam. There appears to be a convergence toward a rigid model that includes highly-visible deportations, demonstrations of support for pro-government Muslim leaders, and infiltration of mosques and Muslim communities, as well as sponsoring or endorsing programs to train Euro-friendly imams. This study examines the development and diversity of such policies as they affect imams in various European countries with special reference to immigration policy, domestic surveillance and education programs in France, Britain and the Netherlands.     

What are you looking at? Infants’ neural processing of an adult's object‐directed eye gaze

Previous research suggests that by 4 months of age infants use the eye gaze of adults to guide their attention and facilitate processing of environmental information. Here we address the question of how infants process the relation between another person and an external object. We applied an ERP paradigm to investigate the neural processes underlying the perception of the direction of an adult's eye gaze in 4-month-old infants. Infants showed differential processing of an adult's eye gaze, which was directed at a simultaneously presented object compared to non-object-directed eye gaze. This distinction was evident in two ERP components: The Negative component, reflecting attentional processes, and the positive slow wave, which is involved in memory encoding. The implications of these findings for the development of joint attention and related social cognitive functions are discussed.     

Variation in the serotonin transporter gene modulates selective attention to threat

The 5-HTTLPR is an insertion/deletion polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene. Prior research has revealed associations between the short-allele variant of this polymorphism, enhanced self-reported negative emotionality, and hypersensitivity of fear relevant neural circuits. In a sample of 50 healthy women we examined the role of 5-HTTLPR for cognitive-affective processing of phylogenetical fear-relevant stimuli (spiders) in a dot probe task. In contrast to homozygote long-allele carriers (ll), participants carrying at least 1 short allele (ss and sl) selectively shifted attention toward pictures of spiders, when these were presented for a duration of 2,000 ms. These results argue for an involvement of 5-HTTLPR in cognitive processing of threatening stimuli and thus, underpin its general role for individual differences in negative affect.     

Trunk and center of mass movements during gait in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Motion of the body center of mass (CoM) can often indicate the overall effect of the strategy of forward progression used. In the present study, focus is placed on trunk movements in the sagittal, coronal, and transverse/rotation plane, as well as placement of the CoM, during gait in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Seventeen children with JIA, all with polyarticular lower extremity involvement were examined before and approximately two weeks after treatment with intra-articular cortico-steroid injections. Movement was recorded with a 6-camera 3D motion analysis system in both the children with JIA and in 21 healthy controls. Trunk and center of mass movements were compared between JIA and controls, and effects of intra-articular cortico-steroid treatment were evaluated. Children with JIA were more posteriorly tilted in the trunk, contrary to the common clinical impression, and had their CoM placed more posterior and off-centred, which may have been a result of pain. With such knowledge, it might be possible to better understand the effects of their pain and involvement, and ultimately to plan a treatment strategy for improving their gait patterns.     

Action monitoring and perfectionism in anorexia nervosa

To study action monitoring in anorexia nervosa, behavioral and EEG measures were obtained in underweight anorexia nervosa patients (n=17) and matched healthy controls (n=19) while performing a speeded choice-reaction task. Our main measures of interest were questionnaire outcomes, reaction times, error rates, and the error-related negativity ERP component. Questionnaire and behavioral results indicated increased perfectionism in patients with anorexia nervosa. In line with their perfectionism and controlled response style patients made significantly less errors than controls. However, when controlling for this difference in error rates, the EEG results demonstrated a reduced error-related negativity in the patient group. These seemingly contradictory outcomes of improved performance and reduced error monitoring are discussed in relation with indications of anterior cingulate cortex hypoactivity in anorexia nervosa patients.     

Embodiment, spatial categorisation and action

Despite the subjective experience of a continuous and coherent external world, we will argue that the perception and categorisation of visual space is constrained by the spatial resolution of the sensory systems but also and above all, by the pre-reflective representations of the body in action. Recent empirical data in cognitive neurosciences will be presented that suggest that multidimensional categorisation of perceptual space depends on body representations at both an experiential and a functional level. Results will also be resumed that show that representations of the body in action are pre-reflective in nature as only some aspects of the pre-reflective states can be consciously experienced. Finally, a neuro-cognitive model based on the integration of afferent and efferent information will be described, which suggests that action simulation and associated predicted sensory consequences may represent the underlying principle that enables pre-reflective representations of the body for space categorisation and selection for action.