军事应激下的认知工效学研究

回顾了近20年来军事应激下的有关认知工效学研究,主要包括五部分：基本理论;应激对认知的影响;研究方法;处理应激的方法;总结。其中在研究方法中重点是对已有事故的分析,竞争性游戏和虚拟现实技术。在减少应激对认知不良影响的方法中值得注意的是：对抗应激人员的选拔、对人员的训练和能够对抗应激的人－机系统的开发。对于我军今后类似研究提供了思路和可能入手点     

急性情绪应激对大鼠行为和脑神经颗粒素磷酸化水平的影响

为探讨急性情绪应激对大鼠旷场行为的影响,以及脑神经颗粒素（Neuroganin,NG）变化与应激性行为效应之间的相互关系。以急性不确定性空瓶刺激,建立情绪应激动物模型。将40只雄性SD大鼠随机分为情绪应激组1（ES1,接受情绪应激和旷场测试）、情绪应激组2（ES2,只接受情绪应激）、正常对照组1（C1,无情绪应激,但接受旷场测试）和正常对照组（C2,无情绪应激,也无旷场测试）（n=10）。以旷场行为和高架十字迷宫任务来评定大鼠应激后的行为变化,Western印迹杂交法（Western blotting）测定海马和前脑皮层中的NG含量和磷酸化水平。结果表明：（1） 应激后ES1组的水平活动增加,与C1组比较,差异有显著性, p<0.01;（2）ES1组海马和前脑皮层的NG磷酸化水平高于C1和C2组,差异有显著性, 均为p<0.05; ES2组的前脑皮层NG的磷酸化水平高于C1组,差异有显著性,为p<0.05;（3） 海马的NG磷酸化水平与水平活动之间的相关达显著水平。提示急性情绪应激能导致动物明显的行为改变如焦虑,这种行为改变可能与脑内NG磷酸化水平的变化有关。水平活动可能是反映急性情绪应激的较敏感行为指标,海马NG磷酸化水平可能是预测急性情绪应激所致焦虑或抑郁行为的较敏感生物学指标     

不同应激范式对大鼠行为和脑神经颗粒素含量的影响

为探讨慢性情绪应激、生理应激对大鼠旷场行为和脑神经颗粒素（Neurogranin,NG）含量的不同作用,以及NG含量变化与应激性行为效应之间的相互关系。分别以不确定性空瓶刺激和饮水剥夺,建立情绪应激和生理应激动物模型。将40只雄性SD大鼠随机分为情绪应激组（ES）、生理应激组（PS）、定时饮水组（C1）和正常对照组（C2）（n=10）。以旷场行为任务来评定大鼠应激后的行为变化,Western blotting方法测定海马和前脑皮层中的NG含量。结果表明：应激后四组大鼠海马的NG含量差异无显著性;ES组前脑皮层的NG含量低于C2组,差异具有显著性,p<0.01;PS组的前脑皮层NG含量也下降,但与C2组相比差异无显著性; 应激后ES组、PS组修饰行为多于C2组,差异具有显著性,分别为p<0.01,p<0.05;前脑皮层NG含量与修饰行为之间的相关达显著水平。提示慢性情绪和生理应激均能导致前脑皮层NG含量下降,修饰行为增加,情绪应激作用更显著。修饰行为可能是反映情绪状态的较敏感行为指标,前脑皮层NG水平可能是预测情绪应激所致焦虑或抑郁行为的较敏感生物学指标。     

Biological correlates of social support and pressure at work in managers

The aim was to explore the patterns of correlations between psychosocial stress indices and neuroendocrinological factors in managers. Fifty-eight male managers in three Swedish companies constituted the sample. They answered two questionnaires with 17 selected stress indices and also an organizational test. The indices have been analyzed by means of computations of age adjusted partial correlations with nine different variables analyzed in fasting blood samples. The serum concentrations of lipids were the variables most strongly correlated with psychosocial factors. Neither smoking nor physical activity changed the correlations significantly. Good social support at work and in private life was consistently associated with low adverse serum lipids and corresponding lipoproteins. On the other hand, some indices of social support were associated with indices of high arousal levels. This may indicate a possible psychophysiological “load effect” of some aspects of social support in managers. The analyses of corporate culture measured as “Rules of the Game” indicated that “bureaucracy” was significantly associated with high LDL-cholesterol and low HDL-cholesterol. Managers have special conditions and therefore the patterns of associations between psychosocial conditions and coping strategies on one hand and endocrine-biochemical state on the other hand may be different, from those of other groups. To what extent such differences are due to individual characteristics or environmental factors needs to be further investigated. According to the results, however, good social support is in general health promoting also to managers, at least with regard to serum lipids. Bureaucracy, on the other hand, seems to be dangerous to the health of managers.     

Reliability of the Chronic Mild Stress paradigm: Implications for research and animal welfare

The Chronic Mild Stress (CMS) model for depression has become central to the empirical literature on depression. There are however inconsistencies in the literature concerning the robustness of the phenomenon of anhedonia following CMS procedures. We report that not only did our procedures (modeled on the original reports) fail to induce an anhedonia, but in fact led to increased sucrose consumption. Furthermore, corticosterone levels following CMS procedures were lower than following control procedures. Given that this is not the first report of such findings, it is important to evaluate whether and which aspects of the experimental methodology are necessary or sufficient to induce the state of anhedonia.     

Trajectories of Response to Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Research on the predictors of response to cognitive-behavioral treatments for PTSD has often produced inconsistent or ambiguous results. We argue this is in part due to the use of statistical techniques that explore relationships among the entire sample of participants rather than homogeneous subgroups. Using 2 large randomized controlled trials of Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), CPT components, and Prolonged Exposure, we employed growth mixture modeling to identify distinct trajectories of treatment response and to determine the predictors of those trajectories. We determined that the participants’ trajectories could be best represented by 2 latent classes, which we subsequently labeled responders (87% of the sample) and nonresponders (13% of the sample). Notably, there was not a separate class for partial responders. Assignment to the nonresponder class was associated with receiving the written accounts (WA) component of CPT, a pretreatment diagnosis of major depression (MDD), and more pretreatment hyperarousal symptoms. Thus, it appears that some individuals do not benefit from merely writing about their trauma and processing it with the therapist; they may also need to engage in cognitive restructuring to successfully ameliorate their symptoms. Additionally, those who meet criteria for MDD or have high levels of hyperarousal at the onset of treatment might require additional treatment or support.     

The Context of Satisficing in Vignette Research

Abstract

Although at the time of this article's publication, many anecdotes and cross-sectional studies had reported that law students experience significant distress during their 1st year, few researchers had controlled for prelaw school status (e.g., M. Garrison, B. Tomko, & I. Yip, 1996; L. Guinier, M. Fine, J. Balin, A. Bartow, & D. L. Stachel, 1994), and only a single group of researchers had explored a psychosocial factor that predicted these changes. The present authors tested 3 sets of potential predictors of adjustment: sources of stress, coping strategies, and relationship factors. The present data replicated declines in students' psychological health, physical health, and attitudes toward law over the 1st year of school. That result supports the generalizability and currency of previous studies. In contrast to other researchers, the present authors found few gender differences. Less relationship happiness, less emotional support, and use of less active coping tactics at the beginning of the year predicted poorer outcomes at the end of the year. Strain from academic pressures, lack of personal time, and social isolation were correlated with poorer outcomes.     

Stressed and Helping: The Relations Among Acculturative Stress,Gender, and Prosocial Tendencies in Mexican Americans

ABSTRACT

Available evidence suggests that stress is not necessarily linked to negative outcomes and, in fact, may lead to increases in sympathy and helping. In this study, we examined whether acculturative stress was associated with prosocial tendencies in a sample of 148 Mexican American college students (M age = 23.05 years; 99 women). Participants completed measures of acculturative stress, sympathy, and prosocial tendencies. The relations between acculturative stress and prosocial tendencies were generally positive but varied by the type of helping and gender. Higher levels of acculturative stress were linked to greater emotional, dire, compliant, and anonymous prosocial tendencies, as well as with fewer costly (altruistic) prosocial tendencies. Sympathy mediated the relations between acculturative stress and prosocial tendencies for men only.     

Factors that influence emotional disturbance in adults living in extreme poverty

Living in poverty conditions implies exposure to severe circumstances of social disadvantage, associated with greater propensity to contract illnesses. A negative correlation has consistently been observed between health and poverty. The chronic exposure to stress affects people's well-being through the development of symptoms of anxiety and depression. The suffering of these symptoms for a long time period may be considered as part of a more general syndrome of emotional disturbance, in detriment to a person's mental health. The objective of this study is to identify psychological factors that influence emotional disturbance, measured as symptoms of anxiety and depression, in adults living in poverty conditions in Mexico's central region. A total of 913 adults, 65.2% female, were surveyed. The mean age of the participants was 43.71 (±12.58) years and the mean number of years of schooling was 4.04 (±3.36). Variables corresponding to personal characteristics were measured. The results indicate that the most important risk factor for depression is anxiety and vice versa. Additionally, gender, negative self-esteem, lack of adequate strategies for confronting and resolving difficulties, and lack of self-regulation predicted depression, whereas stress, lack of self-regulation, and coping style predicted anxiety. These variables were better predictors than optimism, locus of control, sense of humor or religiosity.     

Development of sense of coherence during two group interventions

Kähönen, K., Näätänen, P., Tolvanen, A. & Salmela‐Aro, K. (2012). Development of sense of coherence during two group interventions. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 523–527. Burnout is a serious occupational hazard. This study investigated the possibility to develop an effective salutogenic group intervention among employees suffering from severe burnout symptoms. Participants consisted of employees aged 31 to 59 years working in different public service occupations, such as police officers, tax officers, (and other public service officers), and assigned to three different groups: analytic (N = 25), psychodramatic (N = 24) and controls (N = 28). The intervention comprised 16 separate days over a nine‐month period. Changes in sense of coherence (SOC) were measured four times with the 13‐item Orientation to Life Questionnaire during the intervention and at six‐month follow‐up, and analyzed by general linear model (GLM) and using Cohen’s d to estimate effect sizes. Change in SOC between the three groups was statistically significant (F(4,148) = 2.65, p = 0.036). The psychodrama group showed a higher increase in SOC than the analytic group during the intervention, while the improvement in the analytic group was significant during the six‐month follow‐up. Total effect size from baseline to follow‐up was in the analytic group 0.71, in the psychodrama group 0.47, and in the control group from baseline to end of intervention 0.09. The results show that it is possible to improve SOC by group intervention in the occupational healthcare context. The dialogue‐based analytic method and action‐based psychodramatic method differ in their specific effects.