Assessment of Different Dimensions of Shame Proneness: Validation of the SHAME

A large body of research revealed that shame is associated with adaptive and maladaptive correlates. The aim of this work was to validate a new dimensional instrument (SHAME), which was developed to disentangle adaptive and maladaptive dimensions of shame proneness. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the three-factorial structure (bodily, cognitive, and existential shame) in American (n = 502) and German (n = 496) community samples, using invariance testing. Bifactormodel analyses exhibited distinct associations of adaptive (bodily and cognitive shame) and maladaptive (existential shame) dimensions of shame with psychopathology and social functioning. Network analyses highlighted the role of existential shame in psychopathology, especially for a clinical sample of patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (n = 92). By placing shame pronenesss into a network of similar and dissimilar constructs, the current findings serve as a foundation for drawing conclusions about the adaptive and maladaptive nature of shame

SHAME - Entwicklung eines Fragebogens zur Erfassung positiver und negativer Aspekte von Scham

Hintergrund: Scham wird mit unterschiedlichen psychischen Störungen, insbesondere mit der Borderline-Persönlichkeitsstörung (BPS), aber auch mit der Einhaltung sozialer Normen und der Selbstregulation in Zusammenhang gebracht. Fragestellung: Können mit einem Instrument positive wie negative Schamaspekte erfasst werden? Methode: Ein Fragebogen (SHAME) wurde entwickelt, der körperliche und kognitive Scham als adaptive sowie existenzielle Scham als pathologisch-dysfunktionale Subskala konzipiert und itemanalytisch (Stichprobe 1) überprüft, sowie an Gesunden (Stichprobe 2) und BPS-Patientinnen (Stichprobe 3) getestet. Ergebnisse: In einer Validierungsstudie (N= 506, Stichprobe 2) weist der SHAME gute Reliabilität sowie eine stabile Faktorstruktur auf. Frauen berichteten insgesamt höhere Schamwerte als Männer. Im Vergleich zu gesunden Frauen erreichten BPS-Patientinnen insgesamt und insbesondere hinsichtlich existenzieller Scham höhere Werte. Schlussfolgerungen: Der Fragebogen SHAME erscheint geeignet für die Erfassung verschiedener Schamaspekte. Dabei kann durch existenzielle Scham ein dysfunktionaler Schamaspekt abgebildet werden, wohingegen die mittleren Ausprägungen körperlicher und kognitiver Scham in Stichprobe zwei auf funktionale Aspekte hindeuten. Zusammenfassung (englisch) Background: Shame is connected to different mental disorders, but seems to have a positive impact on the acceptance of social norms and self-regulation. Notably, shame is a relevant emotion for borderline personality disorder (BPD). Objective: Can one instrument assess positive and negative aspects of shame? Methods: Based on scientific literature, the questionnaire SHAME was developed. An item analysis was conducted (Sample 1) and the questionnaire was tested with a community sample (Sample 2) and BPD patients (Sample 3). It includes bodily and cognitive shame as adaptive subscales and existential shame, developed to measure pathological-dysfunctional shame. Results: A validation study (N = 506) showed good reliability and stable factor structure. Women reached an overall higher shame level than men. Overall and especially concerning existential shame, a significant difference appeared between healthy women and female BPD patients. Conclusions: The idea of existential shame as a maladaptive aspect of shame is underpinned. The moderate scores of bodily and cognitive shame in Sample 2 support their meaning as functional aspects of shame

You don't like me, do you? Enhanced ERP responses to averted eye gaze in social anxiety

Social anxiety is associated with an attentional bias toward angry and fearful faces, along with an enhanced processing of faces per se. However, little is known about the processing of gaze direction, a subtle but important social cue. Participants with high or low social anxiety (HSA/LSA) observed eye pairs with direct or averted gaze while subjective ratings and event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured. Behaviorally, all participants rated averted gaze as more unpleasant than direct gaze. Neurally, only HSA participants showed a trend for higher P100 amplitudes to averted gaze and significantly enhanced processing at late latencies (Late positive potential [LPP]), indicative of a specific processing bias for averted gaze. Furthermore, HSA individuals showed enhanced processing of both direct and averted gaze relative to the LSA group at intermediate latencies (Early posterior negativity [EPN]). Both general and specific attentional biases play a role in social anxiety. Averted gaze--potential sign of disinterest--deserves more attention in the attentional bias literature

Bewältigungsverhalten in Notfallsituationen aus klinisch-psychologischer Perspektive

Ziel des vorliegenden Beitrags ist es, eine aktuelle Übersicht zu Annahmen und Befunden zu geben, die Hinweise darauf geben, welche Reaktionen bzw. welches Verhalten für die Bewältigung von Notfällen oder traumatischen Erlebnissen hilfreich bzw. gesundheitsförderlich sind. Ließen sich konkrete Aspekte von Bewältigungsverhalten während traumatischer Situationen identifizieren, die besonders adaptiv in Bezug auf die psychische bzw. psychobiologische Anpassung sind, so könnte dieses Wissen perspektivisch zur Entwicklung von Präventions- und Trainingsmaßnahmen genutzt werden. Der Beitrag beschreibt einleitend Traumareaktionen, psychische Traumafolgestörungen und deren Prävalenzraten und gibt eine knappe Übersicht über Prädiktoren für psychische Störungen in Folge traumatischer Erlebnisse. Im Unterschied zu dem Beitrag von Becker-Nehring, Witschen und Bengel (in diesem Heft) fokussiert unser Beitrag vor allem auf die Posttraumatische Belastungsstörung als Traumafolgestörung und auf Bewältigungsverhalten während einer Notfallsituation. Bewältigungsverhalten während und nach einer traumatischen Situation kann zum Teil auch im Forschungslabor experimentell untersucht werden, indem z. B. Methoden der Virtuellen Realität genutzt werden. Dies ist ein weiterer Fokus des Beitrags. The present report provides a review of human responses to emergency situations or potentially traumatic events (PTE). The identification of specific reactions to PTEs that turn out to be adaptive in later psychological or biological reactions is crucial for prevention and intervention efforts. First, we will review common reactions to trauma and psychopathological responses, including a brief review of prevalence rates and predictors of psychopathology following PTEs with focus on posttraumatic stress disorder (one of the main anxiety disorders following trauma–see Becker-Nehring, Witschen & Bengel for a review of other mental disorders in this issue). Secondly, we will discuss the findings related to peritraumatic and posttraumatic reactions, i. e., reactions that take place either during or after the PTE. Some of these processes can be examined and potentially manipulated in the laboratory, for instance with methods of virtual reality, which is also part of this report. A good understanding of the relationship between key peritraumatic and posttraumatic reactions and later psychopathology is of vital importance for the development and implementation of prevention and intervention strategies, which will be discussed at the end of the report

Effects of shame induction in borderline personality disorder

Shame is a powerful emotion with a strong link to borderline personality disorder. This study investigates shame levels in borderline personality disorder, compared to major depressive disorder and healthy women. A total of 25 women with borderline personality disorder, 25 women with major depression and 23 healthy women underwent a shame induction exercise. The self-reported intensity of shame, anger, anxiety, sadness, joy, annoyance, and boredom, was measured five times. Compared to participants with major depression and healthy women, patients with borderline personality disorder had higher baseline levels of shame, but there was no evidence of greater emotional intensity or a prolonged return to baseline after shame induction. They were the only group to express increased anger following the exercise. These findings strengthen the view of stronger emotional negativity in borderline personality disorder. The differences in the impact of shame on anger may contribute toward understanding emotion regulation difficulties in borderline personality disorder

Psychophysiologische Belastungsreaktivität nach einem simulierten Feuer in einer Parkgarage

Theoretischer Hindergrund: Bewältigungsverhalten in Notfallsituationen wird meistens retrospektiv erfasst oder ist aufgrund der Verschiedenheit der Notfallsituationen schlecht vergleichbar. Methoden der Virtuellen Realität (VR) ermöglichen die Erfassung von Verhaltensparametern und psychophysiologischen Belastungsreaktionen während eines belastenden Ereignisses und erlauben zudem das standardisierte Wiederholen für mehrere Personen. Fragestellung: Ziel unserer Studie war es, ein neues Notfallszenario (Feuer in einer Parkgarage) in VR zu entwickeln und zu testen, ob sich anhand dessen substanzielle psychische und physiologische Belastungsreaktionen induzieren lassen. Methode: Mehrfach im Untersuchungsablauf wurden das emotionale Erleben und physiologische Parameter erhoben. Ergebnisse: Das VR Szenario führte bei den teilnehmenden Probanden sowohl zu subjektiven als auch zu physiologischen Veränderungen im Sinne einer Stressinduktion. Das von uns entwickelte Szenario erscheint daher brauchbar, Verhaltensstrategien und Bewältigungsverhalten in Notfallsituationen zu simulieren. Schlussfolgerungen: Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der VR-Methode mit Blick auf klinisch-psychologische Implikationen werden diskutiert. </jats:p

Comparison of different strategies to decrease negative affect and increase positive affect in women with borderline personality disorder

BACKGROUND:In this study we compared the effect of different emotion regulation strategies on positive and negative emotions in patients with borderline personality disorder. METHODS:Emotion regulation strategies were a distracting task, individual positive memory imagery, individual soothing imagery, and a neutral comparison condition. During two separate sessions, 17 participants watched either neutral or negative movie segments before using these strategies. RESULTS:All three strategies influenced emotions into a favorable direction as compared to the neutral comparison condition. The positive memory image increased positive emotions significantly stronger than counting colors and distracting. DISCUSSION:Different strategies seem to have similar effects in decreasing negative emotions. Positive emotions may be affected in particular by positive and soothing imagery techniques

ADHD as a serious risk factor for early smoking and nicotine dependence in adulthood

Objective: Tobacco smoking and ADHD frequently co-occur. So far, the bulk of research on the ADHD-smoking comorbidity has been done in children with ADHD and nonclinical adult samples. To assess smoking habits in adults with ADHD, the authors used the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND). Method: In 60 adult outpatients, with an ADHD diagnosis according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV) criteria and 60 age- and gender-matched controls, smoking habits were assessed with the FTND. Results: The authors replicated earlier findings in children confirming a higher rate of smokers in the ADHD group. The adult smokers with ADHD suffered from more severe nicotine dependence and smoked significantly more often when being sick. Females with ADHD smoked significantly more often and started smoking at an earlier age. Conclusion: Applying the FTND, the authors confirmed a high rate of highly dependent smokers among adult ADHD patients. The authors’ findings point to a higher vulnerability for the development of nicotine dependence in women with ADHD