Exploring the emotional dynamics of subclinically depressed individuals with and without anhedonia:An experience sampling study

Background: Anhedonia has been linked to worse prognosis of depression. The present study aimed to construct personalized models to elucidate the emotional dynamics of subclinically depressed individuals with versus without symptoms of anhedonia. Methods: Matched subclinically depressed individuals with and without symptoms of anhedonia (N = 40) of the HowNutsAreTheDutch sample completed three experience sampling methodology assessments per day for 30 days. For each individual, the impact of physical activity, stress experience, and high/low arousal PA/NA on each other was estimated through automated impulse response function analysis (IRF). These individual IRF associations were combined to compare anhedonic versus non-anhedonic individuals. Results: Physical activity had low impact on affect in both groups. In non-anhedonic individuals, stress experience increased NA and decreased PA and physical activity more strongly. In anhedonic individuals, PA high arousal showed a diminished favorable impact on affect (increasing NA/stress experience, decreasing PA/physical activity). Finally, large heterogeneity in the personalized models of emotional dynamics were found. Limitations: Stress experience was measured indirectly by assessing level of distress; the timeframe in between measurements was relatively long with 6 h; and only information on one of the two hallmarks of anhedonia, loss of interest, was gathered. Conclusions: Our results suggest different pathways of emotional dynamics underlie depressive symptomatology. Subclinically depressed individuals with anhedonic complaints are more strongly characterized by diminished favorable impact of PA high arousal and heightened NA reactivity, whereas subclinically depressed individuals without these anhedonic complaints seem more characterized by heightened stress reactivity. The automatically generated personalized models may offer patient-specific insights in emotional dynamics, which may show clinical relevance

What do centrality measures measure in psychological networks?

Centrality indices are a popular tool to analyze structural aspects of psychological networks. As centrality indices were originally developed in the context of social networks, it is unclear to what extent these indices are suitable in a psychological network context. In this article we critically examine several issues with the use of the most popular centrality indices in psychological networks: degree, betweenness, and closeness centrality. We show that problems with centrality indices discussed in the social network literature also apply to the psychological networks. Assumptions underlying centrality indices, such as presence of a flow and shortest paths, may not correspond with a general theory of how psychological variables relate to one another. Furthermore, the assumptions of node distinctiveness and node exchangeability may not hold in psychological networks. We conclude that, for psychological networks, betweenness and closeness centrality seem especially unsuitable as measures of node importance. We therefore suggest three ways forward: (a) using centrality measures that are tailored to the psychological network context, (b) reconsidering existing measures of importance used in statistical models underlying psychological networks, and (c) discarding the concept of node centrality entirely. Foremost, we argue that one has to make explicit what one means when one states that a node is central, and what assumptions the centrality measure of choice entails, to make sure that there is a match between the process under study and the centrality measure that is used.ISSN:0021-843XISSN:0096-851XISSN:0145-2339ISSN:0145-2347ISSN:1939-184

Network dynamics of affect and physical activity in a heterogeneous clinical sample with high negative affect: an ecological momentary assessment study

In clinical psychology, contemporary classification systems for mental disorders assume that abnormal behaviors are expressions of latent disease entities. Although the latent disease model has been influential in both medicine and clinical psychology, there are substantive and empirical reasons for disputing its validity in psychiatric disorders. An alternative to the latent disease model is the network approach. Rather than assuming that symptoms arise from an underlying disease entity, the network approach posits that disorders exist as systems of interrelated elements of a network. Although several studies have examined the network structure of depression and related emotional disorders using a cross-sectional design, there has been an increasing emphasis on the network dynamics that underlie emotional psychopathology. Several intensive longitudinal studies have been conducted on affect in clinical psychology; however, none have attempted to characterize the network dynamics of positive and negative affect as they relate to objective measurements of physical activity using smartphone-based sensing data. The current study examined the network dynamics of positive affect, negative affect, perceived stress, and physical activity in a heterogeneous clinical sample of 34 individuals with high levels of negative affect. Participants underwent a two-week ecological momentary assessment phase. Results of the study revealed that in both the temporal and contemporaneous dynamic networks same-valence nodes exhibited positive associations and opposite-valence nodes evidenced negative associations. Physical activity exhibited significant auto-correlation, yet it was unrelated to other affect nodes in the network. Furthermore, critical slowing down, as indicated by temporal autocorrelation, in the affect and physical activity nodes were not predictive of symptom changes. However, momentary stressors were predictive of temporal autocorrelation in physical activity and affect. Baseline symptoms and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies were predictive of dynamics in negative affect. Finally, impulse response function analyses revealed that variance in negative affect nodes is accounted for largely by increases in negative affect, whereas variance in positive affect nodes is accounted for by increases in both positive and negative affect. These results provide insight into factors that influence the dynamics of positive and negative affect in patients with emotional disorders

Towards Our Common Digital Future. Flagship Report.

In the report “Towards Our Common Digital Future”, the WBGU makes it clear that sustainability strategies and concepts need to be fundamentally further developed in the age of digitalization. Only if digital change and the Transformation towards Sustainability are synchronized can we succeed in advancing climate and Earth-system protection and in making social progress in human development. Without formative political action, digital change will further accelerate resource and energy consumption, and exacerbate damage to the environment and the climate. It is therefore an urgent political task to create the conditions needed to place digitalization at the service of sustainable development

Reframing the Role of Companies in Sustainability: Toward business sustainability transitions

Kestävästä tulevaisuudesta on tullut ääneen lausuttu yhteiskunnallinen tavoite. Ottaen huomioon yritysten merkittävän aseman tämän päivän yhteiskunnissa, se, miten ne kehystävät oman roolinsa suhteessa kestävään kehitykseen ja käsillä oleviin kestävyyden haasteisiin, kuten ilmastonmuutokseen, ihmisoikeusrikkomuksiin ja tautipandemioihin, vaikuttaa keskeisesti tavoitteen toteutumiseen. Kestävän tulevaisuuden tavoittelu edellyttää laaja-alaisia muutoksia nykyisiin tuotantoja kulutustapoihin, mikä johtaa myös yritysten roolin uudelleentarkasteluun. Tutkimukseen perustuva ymmärryksemme yritysten uudenlaisista rooleista ja toimista kestävyyden edistämiseksi on kuitenkin vielä jäsentymätön. Vaikka kestävyys näkyykin yhä useamman yrityksen arvoissa, ovat yritysten aikaansaamat parannukset kestävyyden kentässä vielä melko pienimuotoisia ja siten usein riittämättömiä. Myös kestävyyteen kytkeytyvät liiketoimintamahdollisuudet pysyvät useimpien yritysten ulottumattomissa. Tämä tutkimus tarkastelee yritysten roolia suhteessa kestävyyteen moninäkökulmaisesti. Neljä toisiaan täydentävää näkökulmaa (strategia, johtaminen, yhteisluominen ja holistisuus) luodaan erillisjulkaisuissa, jotka yhdessä tämän kokoomaosion kanssa muodostavat väitöskirjan. Erillisjulkaisut tarttuvat tutkimusilmiöön eri metodologisin keinoin, jotka sosiaalisen konstruktionismin paradigma ja laadullinen tutkimusote sitovat yhteen. Teoreettisesti yritysten roolia tarkastellaan markkinointi- ja transitiokirjallisuuden muodostamien linssien läpi. Kokonaisuutena väitöstutkimus tarjoaa näkökulmia siihen, miten yritykset voivat uudelleenkehystää (reframe) roolinsa suhteessa kestävyyteen kolmella keskeisellä osa-alueella. Nämä osa-alueet; liiketoimintastrategia, johtamisen aktiviteetit ja yhteisluomisen käytänteet, toimivat joko uudistumisen lähteenä tai sen esteenä yrityksissä. Tutkimus ehdottaa, että uudelleenkehystämällä roolinsa yritykset voivat vahvistaa strategista asemaansa tulevaisuuden markkinoilla sekä edistää nykyisten tuotanto- ja kulutustapojen siirtymiä kohti taloudellista, ekologista ja sosiaalista kestävyyttä markkinoilla tapahtuvan vuorovaikutuksen kautta. Näitä siirtymiä kuvaamaan tutkimuksessa luodaan käsite liiketoiminnan transitio kestävyyteen, joka muodostaa työn teoreettisen kontribuution. Liikkeenjohtajille väitöskirja tuo uusia keinoja tarttua yhteiskuntia ja liike-elämää koetteleviin kestävyyden ongelmiin ja mahdollisuuksiin. Tutkimuksessa luodaan uudelleenkehystämisen kuutio, joka toimii metaforisena työkaluna johtajille. Kuutio kokoaa yhteen kestävyyden eri osa-alueet, jotka yritysjohtajien tulee tunnistaa ja saattaa tasapainoon, ja joiden avulla he voivat johtaa liiketoiminnan transitioita kohti kestävyyttä. Väitöstutkimuksen tuloksia hyödyntämällä yritykset voivat menestyksekkäästi kasvaa kestävän tulevaisuuden ajureiksi.The ways in which companies address sustainability today shape the future for businesses, societies, and ecosystems at large. Yet, companies keep addressing the world’s most serious evolving challenges with varying degrees of concern, urgency, and strategic importance for as long as their role in relation to sustainability remains unclear. To develop a broader business commitment to sustainability and participate in tackling grand challenges such as climate change, human rights violations, the widening wealth gap, and disease outbreaks, companies need to rethink their current role of being in relation with the world that is facing mounting environmental, social, and economic pressures. The purpose of this dissertation is, therefore, to explore the role of companies in relation to sustainability from multiple viewpoints. The four articles comprising the dissertation represent such viewpoints—strategy, management, co-creation, and holistic—that, together with this introductory part, provide a broad and timely outlook on companies’ role. Theoretically, this dissertation combines the previously disconnected fields of marketing and sustainability transition to create a lens through which companies’ role is explored. Methodologically, the articles use different methods but are bound together by a social constructionist research philosophy and a qualitative research strategy. Altogether, the primary data were generated from interviews with 13 managers and top executives and 25 millennial consumers in the Finnish business environment. The secondary data consist of annual reports, sustainability documents, and other public materials. Basing on the insights gleaned from the articles, this dissertation proposes reframing as a method for companies to break out of their old roles and enact new responses to sustainability. Reframing can expand horizons and capacity for action by bringing the two frames of business and sustainability together. Reframing—that is, making new interpretations of a current situation and creating novel responses—is suggested to be particularly useful in three organizational areas, namely business strategies, management activities, and co-creation practices. By conceptualizing a new construct, business sustainability transition, the dissertation makes its main theoretical contribution to the sustainability transition literature. The new construct captures the fundamental, system-wide sustainability improvements that companies can initiate in their business environment through purposeful marketplace interactions. The key managerial takeaways are provided in the form of the Reframing Cube. As a metaphorical tool, the Cube can help managers think and address sustainability in new ways that can readily be translated into actions. While letting go of the old ways of being in relation with the world is not easy, it is suggested that by reframing their role in sustainability, companies can reap strategic advantages while facilitating much-needed business sustainability transitions. Therefore, companies are key actors in shaping our common future for economically healthier, environmentally friendlier, and socially more balanced modes of production and consumption