The interplay of Criterion A of the Alternative Model for Personality Disorders, mentalization and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background and aims: The COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by a worsening of mental health levels in some, while others manage to adapt or recover relatively quickly. Transdiagnostic factors such as personality functioning are thought to be involved in determining mental health outcomes. The present study focused on two constructs of personality functioning, Criterion A of the Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD, DSM-5) and mentalization, as predictors of depressive symptoms and life satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. A second focus of the study was to examine whether this relationship was mediated by resilience. Methods: Linear regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between personality functioning measured by Criterion A (AMPD, DSM-5) and mentalizing abilities as predictors, and depression and life satisfaction as mental health outcomes. To assess the hypothesis that this relationship is mediated by resilience a structural equation modeling approach was conducted. Data from N = 316 individuals from the general population were collected. Results: Linear regression models revealed highly significant associations between Criterion A/mentalization and both outcome measures. Structural equation models showed a significant partial mediation by resilience of these relationships. Conclusion: Our results support the hypothesis that mentalizing serves as a protective function by promoting resilience to the impact of stress and threats. Criterion A and mentalization performed similarly as predictors of mental health outcomes, providing empirically overlapping operationalizations of personality functioning. This finding emphasizes the importance of personality functioning in positive and negative mental health outcomes. Furthermore, our results are consistent with a mediating role of resilience

Validity, reliability, and invariance across sex of a German version of the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire

ObjectiveSince there is no scientifically validated German version of the Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-3), the aim of this study was to assess its psychometric parameters and invariance across sex in a sample of German-speaking young adults. The BREQ-3 is an instrument measuring the social and internal influences of motivation toward exercising. This tool is widespread within the scientific community and has been validated in several languages.MethodsA total of 271 participants (45% women; mean age = 20.67 ± 2.17 years; effect size ≥ 0.5) filled in the BREQ-3 at one time point, with a small sub-sample (n = 37) responding it a second time after 15 days. Confirmatory Factorial Analysis, Structural Modeling, and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient were used to examine the German version of the questionnaire.ResultsResults highlighted a good fit of the six-dimensional model after the removal of two items (CFI = 0.912; SRMR = 0.0594; RMSEA = 0.064), as well as full invariance across sex (pχ2 = 0.218; ΔCFI < 0.01). Internal consistency and reliability were moderate to good.ConclusionsThe 22-item German BREQ-3 is a scientifically valid instrument that can be used in cross-national studies dealing with social aspects of exercise behaviors

A Short Functional Neuroimaging Assay Using Attachment Scenes to Recruit Neural Correlates of Social Cognition—A Replication Study

Attachment theory provides a conceptual framework to understand the impact of early child–caregiver experiences, such as loss or separation, on adult functioning and psychopathology. In the current study, scenes from the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP), a validated, commonly used standardized diagnostic instrument to assess adult attachment representations, were used to develop a short fMRI assay eliciting the neural correlates of encoding of potentially hurtful and threatening social situations such as social losses, rejections or loneliness. Data from healthy participants (N = 19) showed activations in brain areas associated with social cognition and semantic knowledge during exposure to attachment-related scenes compared to control scenes. Extensive activation of the temporal poles was observed, suggesting the use of semantic knowledge for generating social concepts and scripts. This knowledge may underlie our ability to explain and predict social interactions, a specific aspect of theory of mind or mentalization. In this replication study, we verified the effectiveness of a modified fMRI assay to assess the external validity of a previously used imaging paradigm to investigate the processing of emotionally negatively valenced and painful social interactions. Our data confirm the recruitment of brain areas associated with social cognition with our very short neuroimaging assay

Neuronale Korrelate bei der Betrachtung bindungsrelevanter Szenen bei gesunden ProbandInnen

menschliche Bindungssystem wird in Gefahrensituationen wie z. B. durch eine mögliche Trennung oder Bedrohungen des Verlustes einer Bindungsperson oder bei Unsicherheit über die Verfügbarkeit dieser wichtigen Person aktiviert. Obwohl bereits einige Befunde zu den neuronalen Korrelaten von Bindung vorliegen, fehlt jedoch eine genauere Charakterisierung der neuronalen Korrelate des Bindungssystems bei gesunden ProbandInnen. Diese fMRI-Studie versucht die neuronalen Substrate zu charakterisieren, die bei der Exposition bindungsrelevanten Szenen im Vergleich zu nicht-bindungsrelevanten Szenen aktiviert werden. In der aktuellen Studie wurden gesunde ProbandInnen (N = 25) bindungsrelevante Szenen aus dem AAP (Adult Attachment Projective Picture System), einem etablierten Interviewverfahren, zusammen mit neu entwickelten Kontrollszenen präsentiert. Im Vergleich zu den nicht-bindungsrelevanten Kontrollbildern aktivierten die AAP-Szenen den inferioren Parietallappen, den mittleren temporalen Gyrus und den vorderen medialen präfrontalen Kortex. Diese Gehirnstrukturen wurden in anderen Studien, die mit fMRT durchgeführt wurden bei der Verarbeitung von mentalen Repräsentationen, dem semantischen Gedächtnis von sozial-vermitteltem Wissen und der sozialer Kognition aktiviert. Grundsätzlich kann bestätigt werden, dass das neu entwickelte Paradigma mit den angewendeten experimentellen Parametern für die Stimuluspräsentation und die Durchführung in einer wissenschaftlichen fMRT Untersuchung ausreichend sensitiv waren, um die neuronalen Korrelate der AAP-Bilderszenen im Vergleich zu den Kontrollbildern erfassen zu können. Der spezifische Befund, dass Probanden bei der Präsentation von bindungsrelevanten Stimuli Areale aktiviert haben, die mit Mentalisierungsprozessen assoziiert werden, verweisen auf die mögliche Verwendung des hier entwickelten Paradigmas, um individuelle Unterschiede der Mentalisierungsfähigkeit in unterschiedlichen Stichproben (gesunde Teilnehmer oder klinische Stichproben) untersuchen zu können.human attachment system is a behavioural system activated in situations with attachment-related threat such as loss of a significant other person, potential separation, illness, and loneliness. While several fMRI studies have focused on identifying neural substrates involved in the human attachment system in healthy or in clinical populations, a detailed understanding of the neural correlates of the attachment system related to the individuals own representations is still lacking. This fMRI study investigated the neural correlates activated by appraising attachment-related scenes versus non-attachment scenes. Healthy participants (N=25) were scanned while presenting scenes depicting hypothetical attachment situations from the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP). The AAP set consists of eight-pictures designed to elicit own attachment representations. Each scene was shown for 15 sec. In this study, the AAP pictures were extended by a new developed control picture stimulus set. When comparing attachment-related scenes with control scenes we found increased activation in the temporoparietal areas, the middle temporal gyrus, and the anterior medial prefrontal cortex. The results suggest that by the exposure to attachment scenes, especially depicting dyadic interactions, processing takes place in brain areas associated with social cognition, understanding mental states of others and processing of semantic information. In conclusion, these findings point to the distinctive quality of this stimulus set, and propose its value as a potential assay to elicit activation in brain areas associated with mentalizing and theory of mind in healthy and clinical populations.eingereicht von Mag. Karin LabekKurzfassung in englischer und deutscher SpracheGZ:UNI - 0404/1514Universität Innsbruck, Dissertation, 2017OeBB(VLID)172967

Cognitions in antisocial personality and their association with “dark” traits

Unlike those associated with depressive symptoms, little is known about cognitions associated with antisocial personality and with its related traits (“dark traits”). Using the Scrambled Sentences Task, an instrument from depression research, we investigated cognitions such as justifications (external blaming for one’s behavior) and harm to others (based on the notion that some of these individuals enjoy harming or humiliating others) that we hypothesized may be prevalent in antisocial personality. Confirming our hypothesis, these cognitions were associated with ratings in different antisocial personality scales and with antisocial and detachment scores in the Alternative Model of Personality Disorders of the DSM-5 (AMPD) in three non-clinical samples, but not with depressive symptoms or neuroticism. Cognitions including harm to others were differentially associated with high sadism. These findings characterize empirically cognitions classes that are shared by all individuals with antisocial tendencies, and that differ from those associated with depressiveness

A Short Functional Neuroimaging Assay Using Attachment Scenes to Recruit Neural Correlates of Social Cognition—A Replication Study

Attachment theory provides a conceptual framework to understand the impact of early child–caregiver experiences, such as loss or separation, on adult functioning and psychopathology. In the current study, scenes from the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP), a validated, commonly used standardized diagnostic instrument to assess adult attachment representations, were used to develop a short fMRI assay eliciting the neural correlates of encoding of potentially hurtful and threatening social situations such as social losses, rejections or loneliness. Data from healthy participants (N = 19) showed activations in brain areas associated with social cognition and semantic knowledge during exposure to attachment-related scenes compared to control scenes. Extensive activation of the temporal poles was observed, suggesting the use of semantic knowledge for generating social concepts and scripts. This knowledge may underlie our ability to explain and predict social interactions, a specific aspect of theory of mind or mentalization. In this replication study, we verified the effectiveness of a modified fMRI assay to assess the external validity of a previously used imaging paradigm to investigate the processing of emotionally negatively valenced and painful social interactions. Our data confirm the recruitment of brain areas associated with social cognition with our very short neuroimaging assay

Self-Rated Health Status of Upper Secondary School Pupils and Its Associations with Multiple Health-Related Factors

Health is an essential part of any individual, and gains particular importance in youth, as a good health at this age is more likely to reduce health risks both in the short and long term. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of physical and contextual parameters on youths’ perceived health. A total of 919 adolescents completed questionnaires on self-rated health status, electronic media use, leisure time and club physical activity, alcohol and tobacco consumption, and back pain, as well as performed the German Motor Performance Test. Participants with very good health had significantly higher physical fitness, leisure time exercise, and participated in sports clubs more often than those with poorer health. Electronic media use was significantly higher for those with poor/very poor health. Future intervention programs to improve youth health status should not only focus on active lifestyle but might also consider the impact of socioenvironmental factors, such as daily media use

Mirror neuron activations in encoding of psychic pain in borderline personality disorder

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by pronounced emotional instability in interpersonal relations. Previous studies have shown increased activity in the amygdala, an imaging phenotype of negative affect. However, clinical accounts of BPD have drawn attention to deficits in social cognition and their likely role in engendering emotional instability. BPD patients show enhanced sensitivity to other people's emotions, while being less proficient in reading motives and reasons. In the present functional imaging study, we exposed BPD participants to stylized scenes of individuals affected by loss or separation, an issue to which these patients are particularly sensitive. Previously shown to activate the mirror neuron system, these mourning scenes were here also used to assess differential amygdala activity in stimuli of negative valence, but low arousal. Relative to controls, BPD patients were found to activate sensorimotor areas, a part of the mirror neuron system thought to encode basic aspects of the perception of motoric activity and pain. This contrasted with the activity of areas related to more complex aspects of social cognition, such as the inferior frontal gyrus. The amygdala was more active in patients when viewing these scenes, but this effect also showed a strong association with levels of depressiveness and neuroticism. After adjusting for these covariates, differences in amygdala activation were no longer significant. These findings are consistent with models of social cognition in BPD that attribute emotional sensitivity to emotional contagion through the mirror neuron system, in contrast to areas associated with more sophisticated forms of social cognition. These effects were accompanied by increased amygdala reactivity, consistently with the common occurrence of affective symptoms in these patients. Keywords: Borderline personality disorder, Mirror neuron system, Empathy, Neurobiological models of borderline personality disorder, Neuroimaging of borderline personality disorde