Influence of in utero exposure to maternal depression and natural disaster-related stress on infant temperament at 6 months: The children of Superstorm Sandy

This study examined the effects of in utero exposure to maternal depression and Superstorm Sandy, a hurricane that hit metropolitan New York in 2012, on infant temperament at 6 months. Temperament was assessed using the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised. Maternal depression was measured by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. The main effects and the interaction of maternal depression and Sandy exposure on infant temperament were examined using a multivariable generalized linear model. Results show that prenatal maternal depression was associated with lower emotion regulation and greater distress. Stratification and interaction analyses suggested that the adverse effects of prenatal maternal depression on problematic temperament were amplified by in utero Sandy exposure. This study underscores the importance of providing prenatal screening and treatment for maternal depression during pregnancy while also identifying high-risk families who may have suffered from disaster-related traumas to provide necessary services. As the frequency of natural disasters may increase due to climate change, it is important to understand the consequences of in utero stress on child development and to formulate plans for early identification.     

Validation of the Japanese Version of the Modified Balanced Time Perspective Scale: Factor Structure,Reliability, and Validity Results1

A balanced time perspective (BTP) is defined as a frequent and equal tendency to think positively about both one's past and future. A BTP is related to greater psychological well-being, such as life satisfaction and wisdom, and these BTP associations may vary cross-culturally, although few studies of BTP in non-Western countries exist. In order to advance cross-cultural comparisons of BTP, an important methodological step is to validate BTP measures in different cultures. This study aimed to develop and validate a Japanese version of the modified Balanced Time Perspective Scale (mBTPS). Japanese participants (N = 1,020, aged 18–79 years) completed the mBTPS-J, along with Japanese versions of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI-J) and measures of well-being (life satisfaction and wisdom scales). Factor analysis of the mBTPS-J resulted in a 27-item mBTPS-J consisting of Past, Present, and Future subscales. Correlations between the relevant mBTPS-J and ZTPI-J subscales, and with the well-being measures, supported both convergent and predictive validity, respectively. The demonstrated psychometric strengths of the mBTPS-J will allow for specific testing of important cross-cultural questions.     

The effects of the behavioral inhibition and activation systems on social inclusion and exclusion

Human beings have a strong fundamental need to form and maintain relationships. Social exclusion therefore evokes social pain in excluded individuals, whereas social inclusion evokes pleasure in those individuals who are included. The present study used near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to investigate whether individual differences in personality, specifically differences in behavioral inhibition and activation system (BIS and BAS) functioning, affect the experiences of social pleasure and pain. Thirty-seven undergraduates participated in an NIRS session that involved both social rejection and inclusion during an online ball-tossing game. People with greater BIS sensitivity experienced more social pain during social exclusion, while people with greater BAS sensitivity reported more social pleasure during social inclusion. BIS sensitivity was negatively correlated with ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) activity during social exclusion. Finally, VLPFC activity partially mediated the relationship between BIS sensitivity and social pain experienced during social exclusion.     

Amount of altruistic punishment accounts for subsequent emotional gratification in participants with primary psychopathy

We are often willing to incur personal costs in order to punish people that violate group norms. Previous studies have suggested that high-psychopathy participants may engage in more such “altruistic punishment behaviors” than those with lower levels of psychopathy. Although this finding could suggest that psychopathy is in fact associated with prosocial behavior, high-psychopathy participants show clear evidence of various decision-making and emotional deficits. It is therefore possible that the increased altruistic punishment behavior observed in psychopathy participants is in some fashion related to such deficits. To address this possibility, we administered the altruistic punishment paradigm to a group of university students with low and high levels of psychopathy (N = 50). We found that high-psychopathy participants (n = 24) gave defectors significantly more punishment than did low psychopathy participants (n = 26), under personally costly conditions. Furthermore, a mediational analysis revealed that the amount of altruistic punishment administered completely mediated the relationship between primary psychopathy and a person’s emotional gratification subsequent to performing the altruistic punishment behavior. These findings suggest that while high psychopathy participants do appear to engage in greater levels of altruistic punishment behavior, they may do this largely for their own emotional gratification.     

Clients' response modes and session outcome

This study examined clients' response modes in one-session counseling interviews with two counselors and 32 volunteer college students as clients. Sessions which yielded clients' higher ratings of helpfulness and satisfaction were associated with low proportions of clients' recounting, which involves clients providing statements on factual information in a storytelling style and high proportions of clients' response modes, which indicate an exploration of feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, insight into problems, and a problem-solving attitude. Thereafter, clients' response modes were examined in conjunction with counselors' interventions in the previous speaking turn using a sequential analysis. This analysis indicated that the occurrences of clients' response modes were not random but rather seemed to be associated with antecedent interventions by a counselor.     

Effects of Feeding on Conditioned Avoidance Responses in Rats

Possible effects of feeding on learning were studied by comparing learned avoidance rates among three groups of Wistar rats that were given a diet at 1 h (1-h pretest group) and 5 h (5-h pretest group) before and immediately after (post-test group) the conditioned avoidance test. Learned avoidance rates during eight test sessions were higher in the order of the 1-h pretest, post-test, and 5-h pretest groups. This suggests that both pre- and post-test (training) feeding facilitates acquisition of conditioned avoidance learning presumably based on neurohumoral processes influenced by available plasma glucose concentrations.     

Effects of Cerebroventricle Administration of Acidic Fibroblast Growth Factor on Conditioned Taste Aversion Learning in Rats

Wistar strain rats were given acidic fibroblast growth factor (aFGF) or denatured aFGF into their cerebroventricle before taste aversion conditioning for saccharin solution. Animals administrated with aFGF showed significantly lower aversion threshold for saccharin at the 1st day and preference ratios for saccharin vs distilled water at the 4th, 6th, and 7th day after the conditioning than those administered with denatured aFGF. These results suggests that aFGF in the cerebrospinal fluid facilitates acquisition of the conditioned taste aversion learning.