Exploring the mediating role of integrative self-knowledge in the relationship between mindfulness and well-being in the context of a mindfulness-based stress reduction program

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is an effective program for improving well-being. A growing body of studies is exploring the mechanisms mediating its beneficial effects. Integrative self-knowledge (ISK) is the construct of focus in this study. The primary goal of the current study was to investigate the mediating role of ISK in the relationship between improved mindful observing (MO), non-judging inner experience (NJ), and well-being following an MBSR program with an Iranian sample. Participants (n = 118) enrolled in MBSR and completed depression, anxiety, stress (DASS), Bartone Symptoms Checklist (BSC), Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, and ISK scale before and after the program. Results showed significant reductions in BSC, DASS, and improvements in MO, NJ, and ISK at the end of the program. Mediation analyses revealed that changes in ISK significantly mediated the relationship between changes in MO and NJ and symptoms (MO indirect effect on DASS: β = 0.11, confidence interval [CI] [0.003, 0.29]; NJ indirect effect on DASS: β = 0.12, CI [−0.16, 0.45]; MO indirect effect on BSC: β = 0.08, CI [0.001, 0.27]; NJ indirect effect on BSC: β = 0.09, CI [0.01, 0.22]). Improvements in MO and NJ may provide a pathway to cultivating ISK in MBSR, which may lead to enhanced well-being.     

Suicidal attempt and psychiatric disorders in Iran

This study is part of broader research aimed to determine the lifetime prevalence and pattern of comorbidity on self-reported suicidal attempts in the general population of Iran. Overall, 25,180 subjects were interviewed, face-to-face, at home; the lifetime prevalence was 1.4% (0.9% males and 2% females). The majority of attempters were 26-55 years of age, married, more highly educated, female, retired, and lived in urban areas. Many of the attempters (45.3%) reported at least one psychiatric disorder during their lifetime; major depressive disorder (22%), panic disorder (6.3%), and obsessive compulsive disorder (6%) was the most common. Because less than half of suicidal attempters reported a psychiatric disorder, the existence of other pathways to suicide may be important foci for prevention. Many of the demographic correlates of suicidal behavior in Iran are very similar to those seen in Western cutlures; however, the sociodemographic factors such as few working women and very low levels of divorce is quite different to that of Western populations.     

Examination of the bidirectional influences of leisure activity and memory in old people: A dissociative effect on episodic memory

The present study examined the relationships between different types of social and cognitive activities and different types of episodic and semantic memory. A total of 794 adult men and women from five age cohorts (aged 65–85 at baseline), participating in the longitudinal Betula project on ageing, memory, and health, were included in the study. The participants were studied over 10 years (1995–2005) in three waves. Recognition and recall were used as episodic memory tasks, and knowledge and verbal fluency as semantic memory tasks. The results, after controlling for age, gender, education, and some diseases, including heart disease and hypertension, as covariates, showed unidirectional effects of social activity on episodic memory on all test occasions (β = .10). Also, episodic memory predicted change in cognitive activity for all test waves (β = .21–.22). Findings suggest that social activity can be seen as protective factor against memory decline. It also seems that episodic memory performance is a predictor of cognitive activity in old people. However, the opposite direction does not hold true.     

Informativity renders a referent more accessible: Evidence from eyetracking

The amount of information attached to a noun phrase (henceforth, NP) has been shown to enhance accessibility and increase pronominal reference in language production. However, both the effect of information quantity on the comprehension of ambiguous pronouns and the time course of any informativity effect have been left unexplored. In two eyetracking experiments, we investigated how additional information on the part of NP referents influenced the resolution of following ambiguous pronouns. The results of the first experiment revealed an informativity effect, with more looks to the informationally richer referent than to the competitor. However, the effect of additional information emerged late in time when the referent was the object of the verb. The second experiment replicated the results of the first and also showed that, consistent with the online results, an ambiguous pronoun is interpreted as referring to the informationally richer NP in an offline, explicit pronoun resolution task. The results lend support to theories of language processing that assume that explicit information increases the accessibility of the associated concept, in contrast to approaches that assume that accessibility is associated with givenness.     

Learning Style,Metacognition and Creativity as Predictors of the Foreign Language Achievement: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

This current study sought to examine the role of creativity, metacognition and VAK learning style in foreign language achievement. To collect the data, a sample of 122 Iranian English as Foreign Language learners participated in this research. Participants completed Creativity Instrument by Abedi (Creat Res J 14(2):267–276, 2002), Metacognitive Awareness Inventory by Schraw and Dennison (Contemp Educ Psychol 19:460–475, 1994), and visual, aural, and kinesthetic (VAK) learning style initially designed by Chislett and Chapman (VAK Learning Styles Self-Assessment Questionnaire, 2005. http://www.businessballs.com) and modified and validated by the present study researchers using confirmatory factor analysis. Learners’ scores at the end of the term were aggregated as the measure of foreign language achievement. Its reliability was also checked and approved applying Cronbach’s α. According to the findings, all three independent variables positively and significantly predict students’ language achievement, creativity (14.63%); metacognition (29.78%); and VAK learning style (7.20%). Although each of them had a unique impact on foreign language achievement, metacognition outweighs creativity and VAK learning style as the predictor of foreign language achievement. Furthermore, there is a significant difference between genders on all the variables.     

Personality and modulation of the startle reflex by emotionally-toned filmclips

Several researchers have found that pleasant foreground stimuli attenuate the eyeblink component of the startle reflex while unpleasant foreground stimuli potentiate it. The effects of personality factors on such modulation of the eyeblink response, as measured by electromyographic (EMG) activity in reaction to loud acoustic startle probes, were examined in subjects viewing emotionally-toned (pleasant, unpleasant and neutral) filmclips. During the main part of the experiment, introverts had higher baseline EMG activity and lower response probability than extraverts; no differences were observed at the beginning of the experiment, during an acclimatization session. Reflex modulation, as measured by response latency, was influenced by the Psychoticism (P) factor of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire: subjects high on P showed longer latencies to eyeblink onset when probed during viewing of pleasant filmclips than subjects low on this dimension; no significant differences were observed between subjects low and high on P for neutral and unpleasant filmclips. No influence of personality factors was found on affective modulation as measured by response amplitude/magnitude. The results are discussed in relation to Gray's and Eysenck's theories of personality.     

Voluntary exercise ameliorates cognitive deficits in morphine dependent rats: the role of hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor

Chronic exposure to opiates impairs spatial learning and memory. Given the well-known beneficial effects of voluntary exercise on cognitive functions, we investigated whether voluntary exercise would ameliorate the cognitive deficits that are induced by morphine dependence. If an effect of exercise was observed, we aimed to investigate the possible role of hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the exercise-induced enhancement of learning and memory in morphine-dependent rats. The rats were injected with bi-daily doses (10mg/kg, at 12h intervals) of morphine over a period of 10 days of voluntary exercise. Following these injections, a water maze task was performed twice a day for five consecutive days, followed by a probe trial 2 days later. A specific BDNF inhibitor (TrkB-IgG chimera) was used to block the hippocampal BDNF action during the 10 days of voluntary exercise. We found that voluntary exercise blocked the ability of chronic morphine to impair spatial memory retention. A blockade of the BDNF action blunted the exercise-induced improvement of spatial memory in the dependent rats. Moreover, the voluntary exercise diminished the severity of the rats' dependency on morphine. This study demonstrates that voluntary exercise ameliorates, via a TrkB-mediated mechanism, the cognitive deficits that are induced by chronic morphine. Thus, voluntary exercise might be a potential method to ameliorate some of the deleterious behavioral consequences of the abuse of morphine and other opiates.     

The Impact of Addictive Behaviors on Adolescents Psychological Well-Being: The Mediating Effect of Perceived Peer Support

Abstract

Studies exploring excessive Internet use and gambling are rapidly expanding concerns regarding its impact on mental health, especially in young people due to the increased prevalence of Internet and gambling addictions. Research suggests that perceived peer support plays a significant role in adolescents’ psychological well-being. However, no empirical study has dealt with the mediating effect of perceived peer support on the relationship between Internet and gambling addictions and psychological well-being. Thus, the present study aimed to examine whether perceived peer support mediates the relation between Internet and gambling addictions and psychological well-being of adolescents. A sample of 347 Iranian adolescents aged 14 to 18 (Mean age 16.14, 50.4% male) who were studying in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia participated in this study. Subjective Vitality Scale (SVS), Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS), Six-item Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ6), and The South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) were used to collect data. Mediation analyses showed a significant indirect effect of compulsive Internet use and problem gambling on psychological well-being through perceived peer support. The total effects of compulsive Internet use and problem gambling on psychological well-being were negative. This study implies the significance of strengthening the knowledge about the impact of peer relationships among adolescents.     

The effect of noun phrase length on the form of referring expressions

The length of a noun phrase has been shown to influence choices such as syntactic role assignment (e.g., whether the noun phrase is realized as the subject or the object). But does length also affect the choice between different forms of referring expressions? Three experiments investigated the effect of antecedent length on the choice between pronouns (e.g., he) and repeated nouns (e.g., the actor) using a sentence-continuation paradigm. Experiments 1 and 2 found an effect of antecedent length on written continuations: Participants used more pronouns (relative to repeated nouns) when the antecedent was longer than when it was shorter. Experiment 3 used a spoken continuation task and replicated the effect of antecedent length on the choice of referring expressions. Taken together, the results suggest that longer antecedents increase the likelihood of pronominal reference. The results support theories arguing that length enhances the accessibility of the associated entity through richer semantic encoding.