Negative affectivity,coping, immune status,and disease progression in hiv iwected individuals

Abstract

The primary goal of the study was to assess the relationship between personality dispositions, coping styles, immune markers, clinical status, and subjective somatic symptoms in a mixed sample of HIV positive individuals. Specifically, the prognostic value of psychological and immunological measures in HIV progression was emphasized. Subjects (n = 104) were recruited from a cohort of 422 HIV positive individuals enrolled in the Oslo HIV Cohort Study. The partkipants were given self-administered questionnaires assessing behavioral, psychological, and psychdal variables. Clinical assessment and immunological tests were performed at regular follow-up visits. Clinical status was assessed according to the Centers for Disurse Control criteria. The immune markers used were CD4 T cell counts, beta2-microglobulin concentration, sewn levels of HIV-1 p24 core protein, and levels of antibodies to core protein. In addition, subjective somatic symptoms were assessed.

The results showed that measure-s of negative affectivity (NA; e.g. anxiety, distress, tension) were consistently related to subjective somatic symptoms and passivedefensive coping style. However, no amistent association between NA measures and immune markers was found. Individuals who developed AIDS in the study period had significantly lower initial CD4 cell counts as well as lower scores on measures of active-pmblem related wping (e.g. Positive reappraisal, Seeking social support) and passivedefensive coping (i.e. Escape-Avoidance, Self-control).

The results suggest (1) that coping styles may merit a specific focus in future research of psychological factors and medical outcomes in HIV infection, and (2) because of associations of NA measures with symptom reports studies of the relationship between e.g. stress, depression and HIV outcome should consider these variables as confounders.     

Negative,zero and positive stiffness in extended Eshelby plates

Structures under loading can show positive and negative stiffness (during buckling) with zero stiffness just being one point of transition. Material structures with extended zero stiffness regimes have also been reported. Using the example of an extended Eshelby plate with a positive and negative edge dislocation, we show the existence of finite regimes of positive, zero and negative stiffness in a single system. Given that stable states/configurations of negative stiffness cannot exist in an isolated system; we show the existence of metastable states of negative stiffness along with unstable states of positive stiffness. The system also exhibits one point of unstable equilibrium.     

Positive affectivity and attentional control moderate the link between negative affectivity and depressed mood

Research and theory suggest that deficits in trait positive affectivity (PA) and in capacity for executive control of attention (i.e., attentional control or AC) may each intensify risk for depressive symptoms associated with high trait negative affectivity (NA). In contrast, high levels of PA and AC should protect against that risk. However, prospective tests of such predictions are rare. Furthermore, if PA and AC both modulate NA-related risk, it remains to be seen if those effects are independent and complementary or if they operate in an overlapping manner. This study assessed baseline temperament and change in depressed mood across one month in a sample of 125 adolescents. Results supported both PA and AC as modulators of NA’s association with changes in depressed mood. Furthermore, results suggested that these modulating effects are largely non-overlapping and complementary, such that when both PA and AC are low, high NA predicts increases in depressed mood. In contrast, high NA predicts decreases in depressed mood when both PA and AC are high. Limitations of these findings, directions for future research, and implications for prevention are discussed.     

Intrusive thoughts mediate the association between neuroticism and cognitive function

Although research has established a negative association between trait neuroticism and cognition, little is known about the mechanisms that underlie this relationship. We examined the tendency to experience intrusive thoughts and negative affect as potential mediators of the relationship between neuroticism and cognitive performance. We hypothesized that the tendency to experience intrusive thoughts reflects ineffective attentional control and would account for the relationship between neuroticism and cognitive performance over and above the mediating effect of negative affect. Three hundred seventeen adults (M_age = 49.43) completed a series of attention-demanding cognitive tasks as well as self-report measures of intrusive thoughts, negative affect, and neuroticism. Intrusive thoughts mediated the association between trait neuroticism and cognitive performance beyond negative affect. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the tendency to experience intrusive thoughts is a mechanism through which trait neuroticism influences cognitive performance.     

Character profiles and adolescents’ self-reported affect

Cognitive and behavioral changes during adolescence might be understood from the perspective of increased executive functioning that is expressed as gradual maturing character. Character profiles (combinations of low and high scores in three character traits: Self-directedness, Cooperativeness, and Self-transcendence) of 439 Swedish adolescents were used to evaluate the linear and non-linear relationship between character traits and self-reported positive and negative affect. Linear analysis showed that all three character traits were associated to positive and negative affect. Non-linear analysis showed that Self-directedness was associated with high positive affect and low negative affect when Cooperativeness was high. No association of higher Cooperativeness with positive and negative affect was found. Higher Self-transcendence was associated with higher negative affect when both Self-directedness and Cooperativeness were high. Although, Self-directedness, Cooperativeness, and Self-transcendence are associated to adolescents’ affective experience, these character traits are not associated to positive and negative affect in the same manner or linearly. Self-directedness’s positive relationship to high positive affect and low negative affect was present only when Cooperativeness was high. In other words, an autonomous adolescent (i.e., high Self-directedness) might experience more positive and less negative emotions as long as she/he feels as an integral part of society (i.e., high Cooperativeness).     

Memory for emotional words: The role of semantic relatedness,encoding task and affective valence

Emotional stimuli have been repeatedly demonstrated to be better remembered than neutral ones. The aim of the present study was to test whether this advantage in memory is mainly produced by the affective content of the stimuli or it can be rather accounted for by factors such as semantic relatedness or type of encoding task. The valence of the stimuli (positive, negative and neutral words that could be either semantically related or unrelated) as well as the type of encoding task (focused on either familiarity or emotionality) was manipulated. The results revealed an advantage in memory for emotional words (either positive or negative) regardless of semantic relatedness. Importantly, this advantage was modulated by the encoding task, as it was reliable only in the task which focused on emotionality. These findings suggest that congruity with the dimension attended at encoding might contribute to the superiority in memory for emotional words, thus offering us a more complex picture of the underlying mechanisms behind the advantage for emotional information in memory.     

Understanding anhedonia in schizophrenia through lexical analysis of natural speech

Anhedonia is a negative prognostic indicator in schizophrenia. However, the underlying nature of this emotional deficit is unclear. Laboratory studies examining patients’ emotional reactions under controlled circumstances have failed to find evidence for a diminished hedonic response, instead finding that patients’ reactions to laboratory stimuli are characterised by high levels of negative emotion. The present study employed lexical analysis of natural speech in 52 patients and 49 non-patient controls while they discussed separate neutral, pleasant and unpleasant autobiographical memories. Patients with clinically rated anhedonia, versus other patients and controls, showed a dramatic increase in negative emotion expression when discussing pleasurable memories, but they showed no corresponding decrease in positive emotion. These findings provide further evidence that “anhedonia” is more reflective of negative emotional states than the absence of positive ones. These findings also raise questions about how positive and negative emotions can be simultaneously co-activated in patients with schizophrenia.     

Adult attachment and attentional inhibition of interpersonal stimuli

In two studies, we used a negative affective priming task with pictures of angry (Study 1), sad (Study 2), and happy faces (Studies 1 and 2) to measure attentional inhibition of emotional stimuli as a function of attachment style. Results showed that attachment avoidance was associated with a stronger inhibition of both angry and sad faces. This indicates that the regulatory strategies of avoidant individuals involve inhibition of different types of negative, but not positive, stimuli. Attachment anxiety, on the other hand, showed no association with inhibitory responding to negative stimuli, although we did find indications of impaired inhibitory processing of happy faces in Study 1. The results are discussed in relation to current evidence on avoidant affect-regulation strategies.     

Proactive and reactive sequential effects on selective attention

Sequences of events can affect selective attention either through proactive mechanisms, through reactive mechanisms, or through a combination of the two. The current study examined electrophysiological responses to both prime and target stimuli in a primed dichotic listening task. Each trial presented a distractor prime syllable followed by two simultaneous syllables, and participants were asked to report one of the simultaneous syllables. Trials where the participant reported the non-primed syllable showed more negative event-related potentials at prime presentation, which may indicate inhibition of the prime representation. Trials where the participant reported the primed syllable showed more negative event-related potentials at target presentation, which may indicate cognitive conflict and effortful response selection. In context of current theories, the data suggest that the interplay of a proactive inhibition bias and a reactive potential for conflict is involved in causing sequential effects on selective attention mechanisms.     

Swazi Children's Understanding of Time Concepts: A Piagetian Study

The development of conservation skills in tasks dealing with temporal and nontemporal concepts was investigated. Contrary to findings of previous researchers, time conservation tasks presented few difficulties for children from a non-technological culture. Consistent with the results of previous research, however, time conservation tasks did appear to be more difficult than related tasks employing similar materials.