Schematic overview over experimental procedure.

<p>In the implicit task, subjects were asked to react as quickly and accurately as possible to a visual target (parallelogram). Prior to target presentation, an olfactory cue was presented either to the same (congruent) or opposite (incongruent) side of the target. In the explicit task, a lateralized odor was presented, and subjects had to indicate the stimulated nostril.</p

Analysis outline of time effects in the implicit task.

<p>In a first step, mean reaction time (RT) to the visual target was averaged across all time points and compared between congruency conditions (congruent, incongruent, control) by means of an rmANOVA. In the second and third step, RT was analyzed as a function of time. A regression approach was used to analyze linear time effects (step 2). Non-linear time effects were explored by comparing mean RT during the first, second and last third of the experiment (step 3).</p

Exploratory analysis of the time-dependent cueing effect.

<p>Mean RT (+ SE, in ms) was compared for each cueing condition (congruent, incongruent, control) for the 1^st, 2^nd, and last third of the experimental time course. This analysis reveals that subjects initially responded significantly slower to visual targets that were preceded by a side-congruent olfactory cue. This difference disappeared towards the end of the experiment. C: congruent, IC: incongruent, Ctl: control, * p<.05.</p

Definition of outliers.

<p>For each subject and cueing condition (i.e. congruent, incongruent, control), slopes were calculated using robust regression analysis. Slopes were subjected to a 3×2-way rmANOVA with within-factor “cue” and between-factor “sex”, and the resulting residual distribution was examined. Panel (A) shows condition-wise boxplots of the residuals. Cases deviating 2.5 times the standard deviation from the mean of the global residual distribution (# 7, 21, 26) were defined as outliers. Condition-wise boxplots over the actual slopes confirmed this outlier definition as accurate but less conservative (B, outliers shown in grey).</p

Effects of target side and cue congruency on behavioral performance.

<p>Subjects' response (mean RT + SE, in ms) was significantly faster to visual targets presented on the right as compared to targets presented on the left side of the screen. Olfactory cue congruency had no impact on response speed. In contrast, response accuracy (mean accuracy + SE, in % correct) was significantly influenced by olfactory cue congruency, with more accurate responses to cued as compared to non-cued targets. C: congruent, IC: incongruent, Ctl: control, * p<.05.</p

Regression-based analysis of the time-dependent cueing effect.

<p>A–C) For illustration of the time-dependent cueing effect, median RT across all subjects was calculated in a trial-by-trial manner, and simple regression slopes were fitted for each condition separately (with standardized slope β and the corresponding statistics of H₀: β = 0 indicated in the upper right corner of each subplot). The slope in the congruent condition (A) reveals a significant acceleration of RT, based on slower responses at the beginning of the cueing experiment, which is not the case for the incongruent (B) and control (C) condition. D) Mean slope (+ SE) of regression coefficients of the different conditions. A significant difference (* p<.05) was found between the effect of the congruent and the combined effect of the incongruent and control condition (planned comparisons analysis). A significant deviation (* p<.05) from ß = 0 was only found for the congruent condition (one-sample t-test). C: congruent, IC: incongruent, Ctl: control.</p

Additional file 1 of Dose-dependent changes in real-life affective well-being in healthy community-based individuals with mild to moderate childhood trauma exposure

Supplementary Material