Abnormal Psychology

This paper explores the role of tryptophan in the neurodivergent brain, focusing on ADHD, and proposes these minds operate in a quantum state of heightened cognitive processing. Inspired by a 2025 Howard University study revisiting Schrödinger's 'What is life?' in the quantum age (Phys.org, 2025), we suggest ADHD brains mirror superradiance in quantum systems. This state drives executive function challenges and sleep disturbances, yet signals a mutation-a leap in human cognitive evolution poised to unlock new intelligence for future generations.

Recent research has indicated that developmental changes in the personality traits of neuroticism and impulsivity correlate with changes in problem drinking during emerging and young adulthood. However, it remains unclear what potential mechanisms, or mediators, could account for these associations. Drinking motives, particularly drinking to regulate negative affect (drinking to cope) and to get "high" or "drunk" (drinking for enhancement) have been posited to mediate the relationship between personality and drinking problems. Recent work indicates changes in drinking motives parallel changes in alcohol involvement from adolescence to young adulthood. The current study examined changes in drinking motives (i.e., coping and enhancement) as potential mediators of the relation between changes in personality (impulsivity and neuroticism) with changes in alcohol problems in emerging and young adulthood. Analyses were based on data collected from a cohort of college students (N=489) at varying risk for AUDs from ages 18-35. Parallel process latent growth modeling indicated that change in coping (but not enhancement) motives specifically mediated the relation between changes in neuroticism and alcohol problems as well as the relation between changes in impulsivity and alcohol problems. Findings suggest that change in coping motives is an important mechanism in the relation between personality change and the "maturing out" of problematic alcohol involvement.

Problematic alcohol involvement typically peaks in the early 20s and declines with age. This maturing out of alcohol involvement is usually attributed to individuals attaining adult statuses incompatible with heavy drinking. Nevertheless, little is known about how changes in problematic alcohol use during emerging/early adulthood relate to changes in etiologically relevant personality traits that also change during this period. This study examined the relation between changes in problematic alcohol involvement and personality (measures of impulsivity, neuroticism, and extraversion) from ages 18 to 35 in a cohort of college students (N = 489) at varying risk for alcohol use disorders. Latent growth models indicated that both normative and individual changes in alcohol involvement occur between ages 18 and 35 and that these changes are associated with changes in neuroticism and impulsivity. Moreover, marital and parental role statuses did not appear to be third-variable explanations of the associated changes in alcohol involvement and personality. Findings suggest that personality change may be an important mechanism in the maturing-out effect.

Ecological momentary assessment (EMA; was used to characterize and quantify a dynamic process-affective instability in borderline personality disorder (BPD). Sixty outpatients (34 with BPD and affective instability; 26 with current depressive disorder but not with BPD or affective instability) carried electronic diaries for approximately 1 month and were randomly prompted to rate their mood state up to 6 times a day. Results indicated that BPD patients (a) did not report significantly different mean levels of positive or negative affect; (b) displayed significantly more variability over time in their positive and negative affect scores; (c) demonstrated significantly more instability on successive scores (i.e., large changes) for hostility, fear, and sadness than did patients with depressive disorders; and (d) were more likely to report extreme changes across successive occasions (Ն90th percentile of change scores across participants) for hostility scores. Results illustrate different analytic approaches to quantifying variability and instability of affect based on intensive longitudinal data. Further, results suggest the promise of electronic diaries for collecting data from individuals in their natural environment for purposes of clinical research and assessment.

Heavy drinkers prior to college have been shown to increase their drinking in college via their selfselection into the Greek societies and subsequent Greek influence on their drinking. This study characterized the dual mechanisms underlying these processes: (a) the Greek selection on the basis of personality and precollege drinking and (b) the Greek influence through alcohol-conducive environmental factors. Prospective data obtained in the summer prior to college and over the first 6 semesters of college (N = 3,099) indicated strong precollege drinking-based selection, strong initial influence immediately after college entrance, and sustained influence afterward. Impulsivity/novelty seeking was associated with Greek affiliation both directly and indirectly via precollege drinking, whereas extraversion and neuroticism were associated with Greek affiliation largely independent of precollege drinking. Greek affiliation was related to higher levels of drinking norms immediately after college entrance and alcohol availability by the sophomore year, but not afterward, after controlling for prior drinking. Findings highlight the diverse mechanisms underlying accentuation of risky drinking over the transition to college and during the college years, through dynamic interplay between individuals and high-risk environments.

Alcohol use may be viewed as an attempt (albeit maladaptive) to regulate negative emotional states. We examined associations between both negative and positive affects and alcohol use in outpatient women diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD; n = 74), a prototype of emotional dysregulation, as well as a psychiatric control group of women with current depressive disorder (major depressive disorder/dysthymic disorder [MDD\DYS]; n = 50). Participants completed randomly prompted reports of mood and alcohol use up to six times a day over a 28day period using electronic diaries. Mean levels of either positive or negative affects did not distinguish between drinkers and nondrinkers in either diagnostic group. However, levels of both negative and positive affects were positively associated with alcohol use at the momentary level in BPD drinkers. More robust findings were obtained with respect to within-person affective variability, which was related to alcohol use in multiple ways. BPD drinkers showed higher within-person variability for most negative affects than BPD nondrinkers; MDD\DYS drinkers in general showed less within-person variability than MDD\DYS nondrinkers for negative affects. Multilevel lagged analyses for BPD drinkers indicated that alcohol use was positively related to variability in all affects, concurrently, but fewer significant effects of affect variability on the next day's drinking or significant effects of alcohol use on the next day's affect variability were observed. Among MDD\DYS drinkers, we observed more significant associations between affect variability on next day's alcohol use and of alcohol use on next day's affect variability. We discuss theoretical and methodological issues relevant to these findings as well as implications for future research.

The current study investigated labeling effects in groups of institutionalized adolescents. Self-concepts of 111 delinquents, 33 adolescent psychiatric inpatients, and 119 high school students were assessed in relation to three relevant social labels (popular teenager, juvenile delinquent, and emotionally disturbed teenager). A semantic differential technique and discriminant analyses were used to compare profiles of self-ratings to profiles of role ratings. Two separate analyses were performed. One analysis compared self-ratings with the control group's stereotypes and the other compared self-ratings with a subject's own group's stereotypes. Results revealed modest support for labeling effects only when selfratings were matched with a subject's own group's stereotypes. The findings suggested that an adolescent might choose one of several responses to a socially assigned label. Possible responses included accepting or rejecting the label as well as misperceiving the content of the role. Implications for self-concept meassurement and for labeling theories of psychopathology are discussed.

What is a mental illness or a psychiatric disorder? Do people in different cultures suffer from the same kinds of mental illnesses? Do mental disorders present with similar symptoms in various parts of the world? How are mental distress and suffering identified and treated in different countries or societies? These questions underpin the development of cultural psychiatry . Besides the so-called "culture-bound syndromes," neurasthenia ("shenjing shuairuo" in Mandarin) is one of the most well-known and well-studied diagnostic categories in this interdisciplinary domain. Coined by the Boston-based physician George M. Beard in 1868, neurathenia includes a broad array of symptoms such as fatigue, anxiety, inattention, insomnia, impotence, neuralgia, and many others, all attributed to nervous exhaustion due to the pressures of modern life. It was fashionable in the U.S. during the late 19th century and early 20th century, a period marked by rapid urbanization and industrialization . Neurasthenia has traveled far from its American origins; as a disease closely tied to modernization, it has become a global phenomenon. In the U.S. and Europe, its popularity was shortlived. By the 1920s or 1930s, it became faded into an obsolete diagnosis. But its presence in other parts of the world is more enduring, and East Asia stands out as a region where the disease is particularly well-received . Since the rise of cultural psychiatry in the post-war era, the evolution of neurasthenia in this region has captivated more than two generations of psychiatrists, anthropologists, and historians. The foundation of this scholarship is laid by psychiatrist-anthropologist Arthur Kleinman. Kleinman, one of the principal initiators of medical anthropology, is also a leading figure in cultural psychiatry, global mental health, medical humanities, and Chinese studies. His early work on neurasthenia, conducted successively in Taiwan and China, has become a cornerstone in understanding the complex interplay between local illness experiences and global psychiatric categories. This article revists Arthur Kleinman's seminal contributions to the cross-cultural research on neurasthenia. Recently, he visited Taipei again to receive the award of Honorary Academician from Academia Sinica. The trip also marks the 55th anniversary of his initial journey to Taiwan in 1969 as a National Institute of Health fellow assigned to the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 2. In the subsequent sections, I will examine the place of neurasthenia in his two major ethnographic projects: the Taiwan study in the 1970s and the Hunan study in the 1980s. The former study discovers the popularity of neurasthenia in Taiwan, makes a tentative connection with depression and other conditions, and highlights somatization as the underlying mechanism. The latter study fosters a debate on the correlation between neurasthenia and depression in China and provides rare empirical insights into the traumatic impacts of the Cultural Revolution. Finally, I will briefly discuss the implications of these studies and their relevance to psychiatry today.

This study thus explores and identified the social support to drug surrenderers of the community-based rehabilitation program at the Municipality of Baungon, Province of Bukidnon. Using a mixed-methods research design, data was collected through a survey-questionnaire, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions from 142 drug surrenderers. The drug-surrenderers are mostly between 30 and 39 years old, married, with three to four children and low-skilled workers. Majority are high school graduates, thirteen of them were degree holders, and Roman Catholics. Data shows that the drug-surrenderers reports high level of emotional support from friends, significant other, and family. This strengthens the facts that friends, significant other, and family play a critical role in the recovery process of drug surrenderers. The study also found that age, civil status, educational attainment, and gender have a significant impact on perceived social support that shows that people have different attitude and treatment given to drug surrenderers according to their age bracket, civil status and educational attainment. While membership in organization did not show any significant difference on perceived social support. Thus, it is recommended that Community-based rehabilitation program in Baungon should continue to provide services to drug surrenderers. The government and nongovernment organizations may also work hand-in-hand to fight drug addiction in the country.

Sleepiness, a commonly symptom affecting up to one-fifth of the population chronically, is clearly an important cause of accidents in industry and transport inducing deterioration in performance and attention. The reason for Excessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS) is either sleep pathology, voluntary (non-pathological) sleep reduction, or activity during the circadian low. Most of the professional accidents reported refer to the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). Our data confirmed higher prevalence of OSAS in truck drivers than general population and we elaborated a feasible screening tool for OSAS based on data by clinical and anthropometric variables, some items of Sleep Disorders Score and complete polysomnography. About commuting accidents (CA) in shift and non shift workers we found a strict significant relationship between shift-work condition and the presence of EDS (p < 0.0001) suggesting that CA are significantly influenced by ED in the hypothesis of disruption of the ...

In the film BLACK SWAN, the protagonist Nina undergoes a character metamorphosis as she struggles to act out the roles of both the White Swan and the Black Swan in the ballet Swan Lake. In the process, she undergoes several instances of hallucinations which appears as real instances to the audience all through the movie. The movie has been shot entirely with the main narrator being Nina, though her narration takes place not as an interaction with the audience by means of conversations or as in narrating a story, but she manages to take along the audience with her throughout the act, deceiving them along the way. The movie "Black Swan" makes a phenomenal utilization of the classic narrative method known as the method of unreliable narration. The entire movie consists of unreliable narrators, whose roles are intertwined with the narration style that the protagonist Nina Sayers utilizes throughout the movie, making it difficult for the audience to understand who has been lying until the climax of the movie. The main objective of this study is to identify the techniques of unreliable narration used by the protagonist at different stages of her character metamorphosis throughout the movie. The analysis is conducted by means of a scenic interpretation of the movie.

We tested first-order factor and bifactor models of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) to adequately summarize the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, (DSM-IV-TR) symptoms observed in a Spanish sample of preschoolers and kindergarteners. Six ESEM and CFA models were estimated based on teacher evaluations of the behavior of 638 children 4 to 6 years of age. An ESEM bifactor model with a central dimension plus 3 specific factors (inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity) showed the best fit and interpretability. Strict invariance between the sexes was observed. The bifactor model provided a solution to previously encountered inconsistencies in the factorial models of ADHD in young children. However, the low reliability of the specific factors casts doubt on the utility of the subscales for ADHD measurement. More research is necessary to clarify t...

Researchers in the cognitive sciences recognize a fundamental distinction between automatic and intentional mechanisms of inhibitory control. The use of eye-tracking tasks to assess selective attention has led to a better understanding of this distinction in specific populations such as children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study examined automatic and intentional inhibitory control mechanisms in adults with ADHD using a saccadic interference (SI) task and a delayed ocular response (DOR) task. Thirty adults with ADHD were compared to 27 comparison adults on measures of inhibitory control. The DOR task showed that adults with ADHD were less able than comparison adults to inhibit a reflexive saccade towards the sudden appearance of a stimulus in the periphery. However, SI task performance showed that the ADHD group did not differ significantly from the comparison group on a measure of automatic inhibitory control. These findings suggest a dissociation between automatic and intentional inhibitory deficits in adults with ADHD.

The approach-withdrawal model posits that depression and anxiety are associated with a relative right asymmetry in frontal brain activity. Most studies have tested this model using measures of cortical brain activity such as electroencephalography. However, neuropsychological tasks that differentially employ left vs. right frontal cortical regions can also be used to test hypotheses from the model. In two independent samples (Study 1 and 2), the present study investigated the performance of currently depressed individuals with or without a comorbid anxiety disorder and healthy controls on neuropsychological tasks tapping primarily left (verbal fluency) or right (design fluency) frontal brain regions. Across both samples, results indicated that comorbid participants performed more poorly than depressed only and control participants on design fluency, while all groups showed equivalent performance on verbal fluency. Moreover, comorbid participants showed "asymmetrical" performance on these two tasks (i.e., poorer design [right frontal] relative to verbal [left frontal] fluency), while depressed only and control participants showed approximately symmetrical profiles of performance. Results from these two samples suggest an abnormal frontal asymmetry in neurocognitive performance driven primarily by right frontal dysfunction among anxious-depressed individuals and highlight the importance of considering comorbid anxiety when examining frontal brain functioning in depression.

Self-reported emotional experience does not differ between patients with schizophrenia and healthy individuals, suggesting that the anhedonia in schizophrenia instead reflects decoupling of affect from motivated behavior. In 2 behavioral conditions, participants with schizophrenia and healthy participants were able to prolong or decrease exposure to stimuli while stimuli were present or alter the likelihood of future exposure to stimuli on the basis of internal representations. They also provided self-reports of affective experience. Patients showed weaker correspondence between behavior and ratings than did comparison participants. The effect was amplified when patients responded on the basis of internal rather than evoked stimulus representations. These data suggest that the motivational deficits in schizophrenia reflect problems in the ability to translate experience into action.

In the study, the authors examined the effects of smoking deprivation, anticipation of smoking, and actual smoking on the craving to smoke. Flight attendants who were light to heavy smokers rated their craving to smoke at predetermined time points during a 2-way short flight (each leg 3-5.5 hr) and a 1-way long flight (8 -13 hr). In both short and long flights, craving increased gradually and peaked as landing approached. Craving levels at the end of the 1st leg of the short flights were equal to those at the end of the long flight and were much higher than those at the parallel time point in the long flight. In the short flight, craving levels at the beginning of the 2nd leg dropped relative to the end of the 1st leg, both for participants who smoked during the intermission and for those who did not, though the drop was steeper for the former. The results provide additional evidence for the role of psychological factors in determining the craving to smoke in a naturalistic setting.

Persistent suicide ideation (SI) is known to be a risk factor for subsequent suicidal behaviors. Reducing SI persistence among people with a history of SI consequently might be a useful target for preventive intervention; however, basic information is lacking about patterns and predictors of SI persistence. We report preliminary retrospective data on annual SI persistence in a representative sample of 3,501 U.S. Army soldiers with lifetime SI from the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS). Reports about age-of-onset and number of years with SI were used to estimate two definitions of persistence: persistence beyond year-ofonset and proportional annual persistence (i.e., percentage of years with SI since year-of-onset). Results revealed that for 47.8% of respondents with lifetime SI, their SI did not persist beyond the year-of-onset. For the 52.2% whose SI did persist beyond the year-of-onset, the median (interquartile range) proportional annual persistence was 33% (17-67%). Significant predictors of increased persistence were different for respondents with pre-enlistment SI onset (prior histories of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD], bipolar disorder, and panic disorder) and postenlistment SI onset (male, combat support military occupation specialty, prior histories of ADHD, panic disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder). These predictors of persistence are different

Polymorphisms of the µ-opioid receptor (OPRM1) and dopamine D 4 receptor (DRD4) genes are associated with subjective responses to alcohol and urge to drink under laboratory conditions. This study examines these associations in the natural environment using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Participants were non-treatment seeking heavy drinkers (n = 112, 52% female, 61% alcohol dependent) who enrolled in a study of naltrexone effects on craving and drinking in the natural environment. Data were culled from five consecutive days of drinking reports prior to medication randomization. Analyses revealed that, after drinking, carriers of the Asp40 allele of the OPRM1 gene reported higher overall levels of vigor and lower levels negative mood, as compared to homozygotes for the Asn40 variant. Carriers of the long allele (i.e., ≥ 7 tandem repeats) of the DRD4 endorsed greater urge to drink than homozygotes for the short allele. Effects of OPRM1 and DRD4 VNTR genotypes appear to be alcohol dose-dependent. Specifically, carriers of the DRD4-L allele reported slight decreases in urge to drink at higher levels of estimated Blood Alcohol Concentration (eBAC) and Asp40 carriers reported decreases in vigor and increases in negative mood as eBAC rose, as compared to carriers of the major allele for each gene. Self-reported vigor and urge to drink were positively associated with alcohol consumption within the same drinking episode. This study extends findings on subjective intoxication, urge to drink, and their genetic bases from controlled laboratory to naturalistic settings. OPRM1; DRD4; urge to drink; alcohol; EMA Alcohol intoxication is a complex pharmacological process that involves multiple neurotransmitter systems and produces a host of physiological and behavioral effects. These effects, in turn, govern the reinforcing properties of drinking . In light of prospective evidence linking individual differences in alcohol sensitivity to

A behavioral economic approach to alcohol use disorders (AUDs) emphasizes both individual and environmental determinants of alcohol use. The current study examined individual differences in alcohol demand (i.e., motivation for alcohol under escalating conditions of price) and delayed reward discounting (i.e., preference for immediate small rewards compared to delayed larger rewards) in 61 heavy drinkers (62% with an AUD). In addition, based on theoretical accounts that emphasize the role of craving in reward valuation and preferences for immediate rewards, craving for alcohol was also examined in relation to these behavioral economic variables and the alcohol-related variables. Intensity of alcohol demand and delayed reward discounting were significantly associated with AUD symptoms, but not with quantitative measures of alcohol use, and were also moderately correlated with each other. Likewise, craving was significantly associated with AUD symptoms, but not with alcohol use, and was also significantly correlated with both intensity of demand and delayed reward discounting. These findings further emphasize the relevance of behavioral economic indices of motivation to AUDs and the potential importance of craving for alcohol in this relationship.

The mechanisms of naltrexone's effects on urges to drink during abstinence are unclear. Naltrexone may suppress either urges to drink specifically or appetitive responses in general. The effects of naltrexone on cue reactivity to alcoholic and sweet nonalcoholic beverages were investigated. Alcohol-dependent men (N = 53) in treatment received naltrexone (50 mg) or placebo. Four hours later, they received baseline assessment, exposure to fruit juice, and exposure to their usual alcoholic beverage in 3-min trials. Naltrexone reduced urge to drink and self-reported attention to the alcohol cues, not at the initial exposure but after repeated exposures to alcohol cues. Naltrexone reduced negative affect across baseline and alcohol trials. No effects of naltrexone on responses to the nonalcoholic appetitive beverage cues were found, suggesting that general appetite suppression does not mediate the effects of naltrexone on urges. Opioid antagonists such as naltrexone have shown particular promise as pharmacologic adjuncts to treatment for alcohol dependence Volpicelli, Alterman, Hayashida, & O'Brien, 1992). However, the mechanisms of naltrexone's effects on drinking behavior are not clear. Both the reinforcing effects of alcohol and craving may be mediated by the activation of mesolimbic dopamine neurons (e.g., . Naltrexone reduces mesolimbic dopaminergic activity after alcohol ingestion in animals and may reduce the urge to drink through modulation of mesolimbic dopaminergic activity. If naltrexone reduces urges to drink, individuals may be less likely to drink or to drink heavily. In clinical trials, weekly craving ratings were sporadically lower after naltrexone treatment than

Recent reviews of research on child and adolescent psychopathology have highlighted the consistently high rates of co-occurring dimensions of psychopathology, particularly between internalizing and externalizing disorders, and have suggested that further research examining the causes of co-occurring syndromes is needed. The authors examined this question in a national sample of 720 same-sex adolescent siblings between 10 and 18 years of age consisting of monozygotic and dizygotic twins, full siblings, half siblings, and unrelated siblings. Composite measures of adolescent and parent reports and observational measures of depressive symptoms and antisocial behavior were subjected to behavioral genetic models that examine the genetic and environmental influences on individual differences in each dimension as well as in the co-occurrence between dimensions. Results indicated that approximately hah" of the variability in depressive symptoms and antisocial behavior is attributed to genetic factors; shared and nonshared environmental influences were also significant. The cooccurrence of depressive and antisocial symptoms was explained by genetic and shared and nonshared environmental influences. Specifically, approximately 45% of the observed covariation between depressive and antisocial symptoms could be explained by a common genetic liability. Results are interpreted in light of contribution of genetic studies to debates on child and adolescent psychopathology. Developmental and epidemiological studies from the past decade consistently report that clinically significant rates of psychopathology first appear in adolescence (

A systematic desensitization procedure and 2 of its components were tested for ability to reduce stress responses in a laboratory threat situation. Ss received 1 of 4 types of training procedures before exposure to a stressful film: an analogue of therapeutic desensitization, relaxation, cognitive rehearsal, or no-training control. Stress response during the showing of a dramatic film on industrial accidents was measured by concurrent self-report, heart rate, and skin-conductance measures. The results showed that the separate components of desensitization-relaxation and cognitive rehearsal-were as effective alone as when combined in the complete desensitization program. On several measures, cognitive rehearsal appeared to be the most effective threat reducer. Further recognition and exploration of "insight" functions served by such behavior-therapy techniques as systematic desensitization is urged.

Psychopathy consists of a constellation of affective-interpersonal features including lack of empathy, callousness, manipulativeness and interpersonal charm, impulsiveness and irresponsibility. Despite its theoretical and predictive value in forensic contexts, the relationships between the psychometric dimensions of psychopathy, including its antisocial features, and the construct's neuropsychological characteristics remain uncertain. In this study, 685 personality-disordered prisoners with histories of serious violent or sexual offences were assessed for psychopathy before completing a computerised and well-validated assessment of the ability to recognise emotional expressions in the face. Prisoners with more of the affective features of psychopathy, and prisoners with more of its anti-social manifestations, showed relatively poor recognition accuracy of fearfulness and disgust. These relationships were independent, modest but were still evident following correction for demographic features (e.g. ethnicity and socioeconomic status), mental illness (e.g. substance and alcohol misuse), personality disorders (other than antisocial personality disorder) and treatment status. By contrast, the associations between these dimensions of psychopathy and emotion recognition were diminished by controlling for cognitive ability. These findings demonstrate that variability in the ability of high-risk personality-disordered prisoners to recognise emotional expressions in the face  in particular, fear and disgust  reflect both the affective and antisocial aspects of psychopathy, and is moderated by cognitive ability.

End-stage renal disease (ESRD), a chronic life-threatening condition, and its treatment by hemodialysis impose severe limitations over a number of significant life dimensions. Variations in treatment, however, afford patients with differing degrees of control over this facet of their illness, and renal transplantation removes these constraints. This situation was employed as a naturally occurring experiment to test the reformulated learned helplessness theory of depression and to explore the psychological impact of limited controllability in ESRD. Participants were 45 dialysis and 25 posttransplant patients. Standardized interviews were conducted by two experimenter-interviewers. The data package sampled information from a concept formation task, psychometric tests of depression, self-esteem, generalized and health locus of control, and separate ratings by hospital staff, family, and participants themselves. Principal-components analysis reduced the 16 dependent variables to six factor scores (accounting for 69.0% of the variance). A hierarchical multiple regression-correlation data-analytic strategy tested two families of hypotheses that applied helplessness theory to (a) control over a variety of nontreatment life dimensions and (b) the dialysis treatment itself. Demographic and medical variables were controlled statistically. Perceived control over nontreatment life dimensions was importantly related to depression, although results failed to provide strong support for the reformulated helplessness theory. Implications for helplessness theory and ESRD are discussed. End-stage renal disease (ESRD; i.e., renal the introduction of maintenance hemodifailure), once considered a fatal and irre-alysis in the early 1960s. Hemodialysis 1 is mediable condition, has been treatable since presently the most widely used treatment for ESRD, and it is estimated that 80,000 paw e would like to express our appreciation to the fol-***** are currently receiving this form of lowing people without whose interest and help this re-therapy throughout the world (Mams & search could not have been conducted: M. Dattel of the . Life on maintenance di-Royal Victoria Hospital Dialysis Unit; P. Gorman of alysis, however, is generally considered to be the Royal Victoria Hospital Transplantation Service; N. stressful. Among the Stressors most Frezza of the Centre Hospitaller Cote des Neiges Di-J alysis Unit; M. Kaye, B. McCloskey, and G. Oscar of the Montreal General Hospital Dialysis Unit; and M. ," , . ,," .•"• .., . Prud'Homme and L. McMullen of the Notre Dame of Canada d< f ora ' fe "°W sh To^ f , Hospital Dialysis Unit. Special thanks to D. Kaloger-W 5£ P r f ented at J he f™ and , * 8th an " ual c °nven t>°« s opoulos for his help in serving as an experimenter-in-**• Ame " ca , n S^l Assocla . tlon ' New *>*• terviewer. Thanks also to F.

Cramer et al&#39;s proposal to view mental disorders as the outcome of network dynamics among symptoms obviates the need to invoke latent traits to explain co-occurrence of symptoms and syndromes. This commentary considers the consequences of such a network view for genetic association studies.

Objective: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Satisfaction with Food-related Life (SWFL) scale and its relation to the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) in southern Chile. Methods: A survey was applied to a sample of 316 persons in the principal cities of southern Chile distributed with proportional attachment per city. Results: The results of the confirmatory factor analysis showed an adequate level of internal consistency and a good fit (root mean square error of approximation ¼ 0.071, goodness-of-fit index ¼ 0.95, adjusted goodness-of-fit index ¼ 0.92) to the SWFL data (1-dimensional). The evaluation of a causal covariance structure analysis model composed of the SWFL as antecedent construct and the SWLS as consequent construct indicates a medium level of relation between the 2 constructs. Conclusions and Implications: A medium level of relation between the SWFL and SWLS was found. In future studies, the SWFL may serve as a useful dependent variable in the analysis of objective indicators that may predict this variable.

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the effect of impulsive and callous personality traits on delinquent behavior varied across neighborhood context in a populationbased, statewide sample of 85,000 Iowa schoolchildren ages 10-19. Two previous studies examining the association between impulsivity and delinquency across disadvantaged and affluent neighborhoods have yielded contrasting findings. Results of the present study suggested a robust moderating effect of neighborhood context on personality risk for delinquency. The relation between impulsivity and delinquency was greater in neighborhoods low in collective efficacy compared to neighborhoods high in collective efficacy. A similar interaction was found for callous personality traits, indicating the consistency of the moderating effect of neighborhood context on personality risk for delinquency. Gender differences were also examined, and results were replicated in a holdout sample. Much research has demonstrated that children and adolescents with impulsive personality traits are at increased risk of engaging in delinquent behavior , and more recent research indicates that callous/unemotional personality traits are also robust predictors of delinquent behavior . Research on psychopathy in adolescents suggests that callous/unemotional traits are at least as important as impulsive traits in differentiating a subgroup of adolescents with severe and chronic conduct problems . Thus, adolescents who, for

A prominent view of psychopathic moral reasoning suggests that psychopathic individuals cannot properly distinguish between moral wrongs and other types of wrongs. The present study evaluated this view by examining the extent to which 109 incarcerated offenders with varying degrees of psychopathy could distinguish between moral and conventional transgressions relative to each other and to non-incarcerated healthy controls. Using a modified version of the classic Moral/Conventional Transgressions task ) that employs a forced-choice format to minimize strategic responding, the present study found that total psychopathy score did not predict performance on the task. Task performance was explained by some individual subfacets of psychopathy and by other variables unrelated to psychopathy, such as IQ. The authors conclude that, contrary to earlier claims, insufficient data exist to infer that psychopathic individuals cannot know what is morally wrong.

In a longitudinal study of war-affected children, we tested, first, whether posttraumatic cognitions (PTCs) mediated the relationship between initial and later posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSSs). Second, we analyzed the relative strength of influences that PTCs and PTSSs have on each other in cross-lagged models of levels and latent change scores. The participants were 240 Palestinian children 10 -12 years of age, reporting PTSSs and PTCs measures at 3, 5, and 11 months after a major war. Results show that PTCs did not mediate between initial and later PTSSs. The levels and changes in PTCs statistically significantly predicted later levels and changes in PTSSs, but PTSSs did not statistically significantly predict later PTCs. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that PTCs have a central role in the development and maintenance of PTSSs over time, but they do not support the hypothesis that initial PTSSs develop to chronic PTSSs through negative PTCs.

This short article is a recollection of my brief friendship with Dr Cecil Keen in Cape Town, South Africa in the late 1970’s and 80’s.  I first met him through a lecture he gave at the University of Cape Town on his experiences of UFO activity.  This was my first introduction to an academic side of the subject because Dr Keen brought his training and critical thinking skills as a meteorologist and climatologist to bear on this topic.

The direct and interactive effects of neuroticism and stressful life events (chronic and episodic stressors) on the severity and temporal course of depression symptoms were examined in 826 outpatients with mood and anxiety disorders, assessed on three occasions over a one-year period (intake, 6-and 12-month follow-ups). Neuroticism, chronic stress, and episodic stress were uniquely associated with intake depression symptom severity. A significant interaction effect indicated that the strength of the effect of neuroticism on initial depression severity increased as chronic stress increased. Although neuroticism did not have a significant direct effect on the temporal course of depression symptoms, chronic stress significantly moderated this relationship such that neuroticism had an increasingly deleterious effect on depression symptom improvement as the level of chronic stress over follow-up increased. In addition, chronic stress over follow-up (but not episodic stress) was uniquely predictive of less depression symptom improvement. Consistent with a stress generation framework, however, initial depression symptom severity was positively associated with chronic stress during follow-up. The results are discussed in regard to diathesis-stress conceptual models of emotional disorders and the various roles of stressful life events in the onset, severity, and maintenance of depressive psychopathology. Over the past several decades, sizeable literatures have accrued on the constructs that act as putative risk factors for unipolar depression. Although a number of vulnerability dimensions has been identified, a considerable portion of this research has focused on two constructs: neuroticism and stressful life events. Indeed, there are two largely separate literatures that attest to the empirical and conceptual significance of neuroticism and stressful life events in predicting the onset, severity, and course of depression (for reviews, see . However, fewer studies have simultaneously examined the role of neuroticism and stressful life events on depression, and thus the nature of the relationships among these variables is not well understood. Moreover, most studies of life stress and depression have examined episodic stressors, despite recent indications of the relevance of ongoing strains in predicting the severity and course of depression symptoms. Thus, the goal of the present study was to examine the nature of the effects of neuroticism, chronic stress, and episodic stress on the severity and temporal course of depression symptoms in a large sample of outpatients with mood and anxiety disorders.

The amount of research investigating psychological networks has grown substantially over the last decade but to our knowledge this is the first study applying network analysismethodology to the fields of OB/HRM. As such, this study aims to provide researchers and practitioners with an easy-to-use syntax to conduct network analysis for the exploration of relationships among organizational behaviors. Unlike the mainstream techniques used in psychometrics (e.g., principal component analysis and structural equation modelling), which are constrained by the number of associations among variables or assumptions regarding dimensionality, network analysis is able to analyze the whole set of items at once in order to find the most representative associations among them. A step-by-step guide is provided with an example showing how to test potential relationships between engagement and authentic leadership using the R package bootnet. Besides information on edge-weights and centrality measures,...

Adult participants recruited from the community, one half of whom met criteria for clinical depression, described their day-to-day social interactions using a variant of the Rochester Interaction Record. Compared with the nondepressed participants, depressed participants found their interactions to be less enjoyable and less intimate, and they felt less influence over their interactions. Differences between the two groups in intimacy occurred only in interactions with close relations and not in interactions with nonintimates, and differences in influence were more pronounced for those who were cohabiting than for those who were not. There were no differences in how socially active depressed and nondepressed people were or in the amount of contact they had with different relational partners.

Adult participants recruited from the community, one half of whom met criteria for clinical depression, described their day-to-day social interactions using a variant of the Rochester Interaction Record. Compared with the nondepressed participants, depressed participants found their interactions to be less enjoyable and less intimate, and they felt less influence over their interactions. Differences between the two groups in intimacy occurred only in interactions with close relations and not in interactions with nonintimates, and differences in influence were more pronounced for those who were cohabiting than for those who were not. There were no differences in how socially active depressed and nondepressed people were or in the amount of contact they had with different relational partners.

Despite the increased attention that researchers have paid to social anxiety disorder (SAD), compared with other anxiety and mood disorders, relatively little is known about the emotional and social factors that distinguish individuals who meet diagnostic criteria from those who do not. In this study, participants with and without a diagnosis of SAD (generalized subtype) described their daily face-to-face social interactions for 2 weeks using handheld computers. We hypothesized that, compared with healthy controls, individuals diagnosed with SAD would experience fewer positive emotions, rely more on experiential avoidance (of anxiety), and have greater self-control depletion (feeling mentally and physically exhausted after socializing), after accounting for social anxiety, negative emotions, and feelings of belonging during social interactions. We found that compared with healthy controls, individuals with SAD experienced weaker positive emotions and greater experiential avoidance, but there were no differences in self-control depletion between groups. Moreover, the differences we found could not be attributed to comorbid anxiety or depressive disorders. Our results suggest that negative emotions alone do not fully distinguish normal from pathological social anxiety, and that assessing social anxiety disorder should include impairments in positive emotional experiences and dysfunctional emotion regulation (in the form of experiential avoidance) in social situations.

Only a few studies have examined hormones in psychopathy, and results have been mixed. It has been suggested that because hormone systems are highly interconnected, it may be important to examine multiple systems simultaneously to gain a clearer picture of how hormones work together to predispose for a certain construct. In the present study, we attempt to clarify the role of the hormones cortisol and testosterone in psychopathy by examining both hormones in a community sample of 178 adults demonstrating a wide range of psychopathy scores. Results showed that psychopathy scores were associated with an increased ratio of testosterone (baseline) to cortisol responsivity to a stressor. Psychopathy was not associated with either of these measures independently or with baseline cortisol levels. These findings suggest that these highly interconnected hormone systems may work in concert to predispose to psychopathy.

The authors examined the role of family factors and the course of schizophrenia by carrying out additional assessments and analyses in 2 previously published studies of Mexican American and Anglo American patients and families. The authors found partial support for an attributional model of relapse for families who are low in emotional overinvolvement. Attributions of control, criticism, and warmth together marginally predicted relapse. The data also indicated that for Mexican Americans, family warmth is a significant protective factor, whereas for Anglo Americans, family criticism is a significant risk factor. These findings suggest that the sociocultural context shapes the pathways by which family processes are related to the course of illness. Moreover, the warmth findings suggest that families may contribute to preventing relapse.

Alcohol expectancies appear in children before drinking begins and mediate the effects of other drinking antecedents. Hence, application of memory models to expectancies in children may increase understanding of drinking initiation. To this end, an instrument to assess children's expectancies within a memory network model was developed and administered to 470 children in 2nd-5th grades. Multidimensional scaling analyses revealed that children generally organize expectancy information along the same evaluative and arousal-sedation dimensions as do adults, and older children become more likely to expect positive and arousing outcomes from drinking. These results suggest a cognitive process that prepares children for drinking initiation during adolescence as well as new, theory-based approaches to prevention. As evidence has accumulated that alcohol expectancies can influence drinking and statistically mediate the effects of other drinking antecedents, efforts have begun to decipher the mechanism of this influence (see ; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism [NIAAA], 1993, pp. 133-135). Beginning with Tolman (1932), expectancies have been closely linked to memory (e.g.. Holies, 1972;. Recent approaches to studying memory may be useful, therefore, for understanding how expectancies influence alcohol use. To date, memory approaches to relating expectancies to adult drinking have included theoretical state-