Prospective cognitions in anxiety and depression: Replication and methodological extension

The present study presents a replication and methodological extension of MacLeod, Tata, Kentish, and Jacobsen (1997) with a nonclinical sample, using future-directed imagery to assess prospective cognitions. Results showed that only anxiety (but not depression) was related to enhanced imagery for future negative events. Both anxiety and depression showed significant zero-order correlations with reduced imagery for future positive events. However, when the overlap between anxiety and depression was controlled for, only depression (but not anxiety) showed a unique association with reduced imagery for positive events. Implications of these findings for cognitive models of anxiety and depression are discussed

A trans-diagnostic perspective on obsessive-compulsive disorder

© Cambridge University Press 2017. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Progress in understanding the underlying neurobiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has stalled in part because of the considerable problem of heterogeneity within this diagnostic category, and homogeneity across other putatively discrete, diagnostic categories. As psychiatry begins to recognize the shortcomings of a purely symptom-based psychiatric nosology, new data-driven approaches have begun to be utilized with the goal of solving these problems: specifically, identifying trans-diagnostic aspects of clinical phenomenology based on their association with neurobiological processes. In this review, we describe key methodological approaches to understanding OCD from this perspective and highlight the candidate traits that have already been identified as a result of these early endeavours. We discuss how important inferences can be made from pre-existing case-control studies as well as showcasing newer methods that rely on large general population datasets to refine and validate psychiatric phenotypes. As exemplars, we take 'compulsivity' and 'anxiety', putatively trans-diagnostic symptom dimensions that are linked to well-defined neurobiological mechanisms, goal-directed learning and error-related negativity, respectively. We argue that the identification of biologically valid, more homogeneous, dimensions such as these provides renewed optimism for identifying reliable genetic contributions to OCD and other disorders, improving animal models and critically, provides a path towards a future of more targeted psychiatric treatments.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Online gaming addiction: the role of sensation seeking, self-control, neuroticism, aggression, state anxiety and trait anxiety

Research into online gaming has steadily increased over the last decade, although relatively little research has examined the relationship between online gaming addiction and personality factors. This study examined the relationship between a number of personality traits (sensation seeking, self-control, aggression, neuroticism, state anxiety, and trait anxiety) and online gaming addiction. Data were collected over a 1-month period using an opportunity sample of 123 university students at an East Midlands university in the United Kingdom. Gamers completed all the online questionnaires. Results of a multiple linear regression indicated that five traits (neuroticism, sensation seeking, trait anxiety, state anxiety, and aggression) displayed significant associations with online gaming addiction. The study suggests that certain personality traits may be important in the acquisition, development, and maintenance of online gaming addiction, although further research is needed to replicate the findings of the present study

Intoxicated eyewitnesses:the effect of a fully balanced placebo design on event memory and metacognitive control

Few studies have examined the impact of alcohol on metacognition for witnessed events. We used a 2x2 balanced placebo design, where mock-witnesses expected and drank alcohol, did not expect but drank alcohol, did not expect nor drank alcohol, or expected but did not drink alcohol. Participants watched a mock-crime in a bar-lab, followed by free recall and a cued-recall test with or without the option to reply ‘don’t know’ (DK). Intoxicated mock-witnesses’ free recall was less complete but not less accurate. During cued-recall, alcohol led to lower accuracy, and reverse placebo participants gave more erroneous and fewer correct responses. Permitting and clarifying DK responses was associated with fewer errors and more correct responses for sober individuals; and intoxicated witnesses were less likely to opt out of erroneous responding to unanswerable questions. Our findings highlight the practical and theoretical importance of examining pharmacological effects of alcohol and expectancies in real-life settings

Differentiating the effects of negative state on optimism and the implicit perception of everyday injury risk

To date no research has examined the effects of negative state on the perception of everyday injury risk. Instead, studies have focussed more broadly on the relationship between mood and self- reported optimism. The present study had two aims. Firstly, to assess the effect of incidental anxiety on implicit injury risk perception using a modified Implicit Association Test (IAT). Secondly, it sought to compare any effect with that on a conventional measure of risk perception (optimism). In line with previous research, anxious participants perceived more risk (were less optimistic). In contrast, there was no significant correlation between anxiety and the implicit perception of everyday injury risk. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed

The Differential Effect of Anxiety and ADHD Symptoms on Inhibitory Control and Sustained Attention for Threat Stimuli: A Go/No-Go Eye-Movement Study

Objective: This study examined the synergistic effects of ADHD and anxiety symptoms on attention and inhibitory control depending on the emotional content of the stimuli. Method: Fifty-four typically developing individuals (27 children/adolescents and 27 adults) completed an eye-movement based emotional Go/No-Go task, using centrally presented (happy, angry) faces and neutral/symbolic stimuli. Sustained attention was measured through saccade latencies and saccadic omission errors (Go trials), and inhibitory control through saccadic commission errors (No-Go trials). ADHD and anxiety were assessed dimensionally. Results: Elevated ADHD symptoms were associated with more commission errors and slower saccade latencies for angry (vs. happy) faces. In contrast, angry faces were linked to faster saccade onsets when anxiety symptoms were high, and this effect prevailed when both anxiety and ADHD symptoms were high. Conclusion: Social threat impacted performance in individuals with sub-clinical anxiety and ADHD differently. The effects of anxiety on threat processing prevailed when both symptoms were high

Wearing a Bicycle Helmet Can Increase Risk Taking and Sensation Seeking in Adults.

Humans adapt their risk-taking behavior on the basis of perceptions of safety; this risk-compensation phenomenon is typified by people taking increased risks when using protective equipment. Existing studies have looked at people who know they are using safety equipment and have specifically focused on changes in behaviors for which that equipment might reduce risk. Here, we demonstrated that risk taking increases in people who are not explicitly aware they are wearing protective equipment; furthermore, this happens for behaviors that could not be made safer by that equipment. In a controlled study in which a helmet, compared with a baseball cap, was used as the head mount for an eye tracker, participants scored significantly higher on laboratory measures of both risk taking and sensation seeking. This happened despite there being no risk for the helmet to ameliorate and despite it being introduced purely as an eye tracker. The results suggest that unconscious activation of safety-related concepts primes globally increased risk propensity

Non-invasive genetic approaches for estimation of ungulate population size: a study on roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) based on faeces

Estudios genéticos no invasivos, para la estimación del tamaño de una población de ungulados: estudio sobre el corzo (Capreolus capreolus) basado en sus heces La estimación de los tamaños de población es particularmente difícil en las especies de animales que viven en hábitats de vegetación densa, en la que se pueden mimetizar. Este es el caso del corzo, al igual que el de muchos otros ungulados. Nuestro objetivo fue desarrollar una aproximación genética no invasiva de captura–marcado–recaptura basada en las heces de corzo recogidas a lo largo de transectos. En un estudio piloto, recogimos 1.790 heces de corzo durante cinco días de muestreo en un área de estudio boscosa en el sudoeste de Alemania. Extrajimos el ADN de 410 de dichas muestras y llevamos a cabo un análisis de microsatélites utilizando siete marcadores de dinucleótidos. Los análisis tuvieron como resultado 328 genotipos consenso, que se asignaron a 174 individuos. La población estimada usando el enfoque bayesiano fue de 94 (82–111) machos y 136 (121–156) hembras. Nuestro estudio demuestra que los métodos genéticos no invasivos constituyen una herramienta de gestión muy valiosa para el corzo.Estudios genéticos no invasivos, para la estimación del tamaño de una población de ungulados: estudio sobre el corzo (Capreolus capreolus) basado en sus heces La estimación de los tamaños de población es particularmente difícil en las especies de animales que viven en hábitats de vegetación densa, en la que se pueden mimetizar. Este es el caso del corzo, al igual que el de muchos otros ungulados. Nuestro objetivo fue desarrollar una aproximación genética no invasiva de captura–marcado–recaptura basada en las heces de corzo recogidas a lo largo de transectos. En un estudio piloto, recogimos 1.790 heces de corzo durante cinco días de muestreo en un área de estudio boscosa en el sudoeste de Alemania. Extrajimos el ADN de 410 de dichas muestras y llevamos a cabo un análisis de microsatélites utilizando siete marcadores de dinucleótidos. Los análisis tuvieron como resultado 328 genotipos consenso, que se asignaron a 174 individuos. La población estimada usando el enfoque bayesiano fue de 94 (82–111) machos y 136 (121–156) hembras. Nuestro estudio demuestra que los métodos genéticos no invasivos constituyen una herramienta de gestión muy valiosa para el corzo.Estimating population size is particularly difficult for animal species living in concealing habitats with dense vegetation. This is the case for roe deer as for many other ungulates. Our objective was to develop a non–invasive genetic capture–mark–recapture approach based on roe deer faeces collected along transects. In a pilot study, we collected 1,790 roe deer faeces during five sampling days in a forested study area in south western Germany. We extracted DNA from 410 of these samples and carried out microsatellite analysis using seven dinucleotide markers. The analyses resulted in 328 useable consensus genotypes which were assigned to 174 individuals. The population size estimated using a Bayesian approach was 94 (82–111) male and 136 (121–156) female roe deer. Our study shows that non–invasive genetic methods are a valuable management tool for roe deer

Pylons ablaze: Examining the role of 5G COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs and support for violence

Amid increased acts of violence against telecommunication engineers and property, this pre‐registered study (N = 601 Britons) investigated the association between beliefs in 5G COVID‐19 conspiracy theories and the justification and willingness to use violence. Findings revealed that belief in 5G COVID‐19 conspiracy theories was positively correlated with state anger, which in turn, was associated with a greater justification of real‐life and hypothetical violence in response to an alleged link between 5G mobile technology and COVID‐19, alongside a greater intent to engage in similar behaviours in the future. Moreover, these associations were strongest for those highest in paranoia. Furthermore, we show that these patterns are not specific to 5G conspiratorial beliefs: General conspiracy mentality was positively associated with justification and willingness for general violence, an effect mediated by heightened state anger, especially for those most paranoid in the case of justification of violence. Such research provides novel evidence on why and when conspiracy beliefs may justify the use of violence

Mindful Construal Diaries: A Less Anxious, More Mindful, and More Self-Compassionate Method of Eating

Mindful construal diaries were found to assist in weight regulation during a long-term intervention. The current study attempted to expand previous findings by testing the consideration (or priming) of questions within the diary (instead of filling in the answers), and investigated levels of state mindfulness, state self-compassion, and state anxiety in an observational trial of pre- to postintervention. Forty-five participants completed State Mindfulness, State Self-Compassion, and State Anxiety scales before and after their meal and were asked to read and consider the mindful concrete construal diary questions. The results illustrate that state mindfulness, state self-compassion, and state anxiety levels were significantly improved (i.e., increased mindfulness and self-compassion, and decreased anxiety) after participation. Findings provide further evidence as to why the diaries might work in supporting weight regulation, and suggest another method of making eating more mindful. Current findings, limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed