How do Non-clinical Paranoid Vs. Socially Anxious Individuals React to Failure Vs. Success? An Experimental Investigation

We did a quasi experimental study with 223 college students divided into three groups according to the presence of non-clinical paranoid ideation vs. social anxiety: the paranoia group (PG) vs. the social anxiety group (SAG) vs. the control group (CG). We measured participants’ trait anger, paranoid ideation, external shame, state anxiety, state anger and depressive symptomatology using self-reports at time 1. Afterwards, we randomly assigned participants to a success vs. a failure condition using a computer game task. We then assessed their emotional and paranoid reactions (time 2). Independent sample t tests showed that the PG was more temperamentally aggressive than the SAG. Wilcoxon Sign tests showed that during failure, the paranoia group significantly increased their paranoid ideation, negative emotional reactions to performance, state anger and state social paranoia from times 1 to 2. In contrast, the SAG increased their state anxiety and external shame from times 1 to 2. The PG didn’t significantly decrease in paranoid ideation but they showed a significant increase in positive emotional reactions while significantly decreasing in state anger during success. The SAG increased significantly in their positive emotional reactions during success but they also significantly increased in paranoid ideation. The negative impact of failure for PG and of success for the SAG alerts us to key individual differences and the importance of managing anger, anxiety and paranoid feelings during evaluation

Fear, social isolation and compulsive buying in response to COVID-19 in a religiously diverse UK sample

This study examines differences between Christians, Muslims and non-religious people on three key psychological variables in relation to COVID-19: fear, social isolation, and compulsive buying. A representative sample of 411 participants in the United Kingdom (UK) completed a survey consisting of measures of political trust, social isolation, compulsive buying behaviours, fear of COVID-19 and their preferred source of information regarding COVID-19. Independent samples t-tests showed that both Christians reported a stronger social network, more political trust but more fear of COVID-19 than non-religious people, and that Muslims reported more fear of COVID-19 and more compulsive buying than non-religious people. Non-religious people accessed more varied sources of information regarding COVID-19 than Christians and Muslims. Finally, source of information regarding COVID-19 had an impact on levels of political trust, fear of COVID-19, social isolation and compulsive buying behaviours. The results suggest that religious groups in the UK vary in the extent to which they experience fear, social isolation and compulsive buying in relation to the pandemic. Public health messaging and awareness-raising campaigns tailored to particular religious groups may be effective in reducing the psychological burden of COVID-19 in the UK

Assessment of bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of wine residues submitted to intermittent drying process

Mestrado de dupla diplomação com a UTFPR - Universidade Tecnológica Federal do ParanáDuring wine production a large amount of waste (grape pomace) is generated. This material is considered a rich source of bioactive compounds, thus being of interest for cosmetics, pharmaceutical and food industries. However, it is susceptible to microbial degradation due to its high moisture content, and therefore drying is frequently considered an essential process for grape pomace conservation and stabilization. Nevertheless, drying conditions such as temperature and time may affect grape pomace bioactive potential. Because drying represents a high energy consumption, an alternative for reducing the energy costs is the use of intermittent operation, which operates with transient inputs of air conditions, such as the supply temperature. Intermittent drying, in addition to promoting lower energy consumption, also enables less damage to heat-sensitive materials. In the present work, modeling of the drying process of grape skins and seeds from red wine grape pomace was performed at temperatures of 40 °C, 55 °C and 70 °C, both for drying in the conventional and in the intermittent mode, with intermittences of 5 and 10 minutes. Moreover, total phenolics content (TPC), total flavonoids content (TFC) and antioxidant activity (DPPH and reducing power assays) were determined by spectrophotometric methods before and after the drying process at the proposed conditions. The identification and quantification of phenolic compounds (non-anthocyanins and anthocyanins) was carried out through LC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS analysis. Modeling results showed that, among the 8 models tested for the conventional drying, the one that best suited the experimental data, for both skin and seeds, was the Approximation of diffusion model and therefore can be used in following studies to optimize drying parameters. For the intermittent drying, experimental data could be predicted by the intermittent drying model with a global maximum deviation of 10%. Results of TPC, TFC and antioxidant activity assays showed that conventional drying had the highest impact on lowering the content of bioactive compounds both on grape skins and seeds. By the contrary, the present work showed that intermittent drying can provide grape pomace samples with higher content of bioactive compounds and higher antioxidant activity, with 10 minutes intermittence in general performing best when compared to 5 minutes intermittent period, particularly for grape seeds pomace samples.Durante a produção do vinho, uma grande quantidade de resíduos (bagaço de uva) é gerada. Este material é considerado uma rica fonte de compostos bioativos, sendo de interesse para diversas indústrias. No entanto, o mesmo é suscetível à degradação microbiana devido ao seu alto teor de humidade e, portanto, a secagem é frequentemente considerada um processo essencial para a sua conservação e estabilização. No entanto, as condições de secagem, podem afetar o potencial bioativo do material. Como a secagem representa um alto consumo de energia, uma alternativa para redução dos custos é a utilização de operação intermitente, que, além de promover menor consumo de energia, possibilita menos danos aos materiais termossensíveis. No presente trabalho a modelação do processo de secagem de cascas e sementes de uva de vinho tinto foi realizada para temperaturas de 40°C, 55°C e 70°C, tanto para secagem no modo convencional quanto no modo intermitente, com intermitências de 5 e 10 minutos. Além disso, o teor de compostos fenólicos totais, o teor de flavonóides totais e a atividade antioxidante (ensaios de DPPH e poder redutor) foram determinados por métodos espectrofotométricos antes e após o processo de secagem. A identificação e quantificação dos compostos fenólicos (não-antocianinas e antocianinas) foram realizadas por LC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS. Os resultados da modelação mostraram que, para a secagem convencional, o que mais se adequou aos dados experimentais, tanto para a casca quanto para sementes, foi o modelo de Aproximação de difusão e, portanto, pode ser utilizado em estudos posteriores para otimizar os parâmetros do processo. Para a secagem intermitente, os dados experimentais puderam ser previstos pelo modelo de secagem intermitente com um desvio máximo global de 10%. Os resultados dos ensaios de compostos fenólicos, flavonoides e atividade antioxidante mostraram que a secagem convencional teve o maior impacto na redução do conteúdo de compostos bioativos tanto na casca como na semente da uva. O presente trabalho mostrou que a secagem intermitente pode fornecer amostras de bagaço de uva com maior teor de compostos bioativos e maior atividade antioxidante, com a intermitência de 10 minutos demonstrando em geral melhor desempenho quando comparada ao período intermitente de 5 minutos, principalmente para amostras de sementes de uva

Who do you troll and why: An investigation into the relationship between the Dark Triad Personalities and online trolling behaviours towards popular and less popular Facebook profiles.

open access articleThis experiment examined the influence of Dark Personalities in trolling behaviour towards popular and less popular Facebook profiles. One-hundred and thirty-five participants were recruited to view two fake Facebook profiles and rated on how much they would agree with some trolling comments to each profile, as well as how they perceived themselves in comparison to each profile in terms of social acceptance and rank. In addition, participants completed the short dark personality questionnaire. Results suggested Psychopathy was positively associated with trolling behaviours while Narcissism was associated with a tendency to see oneself superior to others. Moreover, the higher the Psychopathy score the more likely the participants would troll the popular profile. On the other hand, the higher the Narcissism score, the more likely participants perceive themselves more superior to the popular profile. These analyses revealed the different influence Dark Personality traits play on different behavioural tendencies. The discussion on the dynamics among the Dark Personalities in relationship with online behaviours and the implications of the study were also included

The Role of Predisposition to Hallucinations on Non-Clinical Paranoid vs. Socially Anxious Individuals after Hearing Negative Affective-Laden Sounds: An Experimental Investigation

Background: Research suggested that negative affective-laden sounds act as environmental stressors that elicit negative affect (Bradley and Lang, 2000a). Aims: We tried to test for the role of an interaction between predisposition to hallucinatory experiences and exposure to negative affective laden sounds for the presence of paranoid ideation. Method: We used an experimental design that followed the vulnerability × stress model. We defined three groups from a sample of students: paranoia group vs. social anxiety group vs. control group. Their psychological characteristics were measured through self-reports of paranoia, anxiety, predisposition to hallucinations and depressive symptoms at Time 1 (before the experiment). Participants had to listen to either negative affective laden sounds (e.g. screaming) or positive affective laden sounds (e.g. sound of ocean waves). Their paranoid ideation and positive vs. negative emotional reactions to sounds were measured through self-reports at Time 2 (after the experiment). Results: Data showed that the paranoia group presented more serious psychological vulnerabilities than the social anxiety group. A MANCOVA also showed that the independent variables (“group” and “experimental sound conditions”) had statistically significant main effects on general paranoia ideation at Time 2. Furthermore, there was a significant three-way interaction between group x predisposition to hallucinatory experiences × experimental condition of sounds for the presence of general paranoid ideation at Time 2. Limitations included the small sample size and the effects of parasite variables, e.g. noise. Conclusions: Individuals’ predisposition for hallucinatory experiences increases the probability of possessing paranoid ideation. This tendency is a characteristic of paranoid nonclinical individuals

The Relationship between Childhood Experiences of Submissiveness, External shame and Paranoia in a Portuguese Student Sample

Paranoia has been conceptualised as a form of defence against perceived threat that is associated to internal shame, issues of rank and history of trauma in clinical populations. We aimed to explore whether a student sample would show external and internal shame with paranoid ideation and if this is related to childhood experiences of threat. A total of 165 college students were given a battery of scales measuring non-clinical paranoid ideation and experiences of paranoia, submission, external and internal shame, forms of self-blame vs. blame others and childhood memories of a threatening family environment. Results supported our hypotheses. Portuguese students acknowledge experiences of paranoia and those that acknowledged paranoid experiences presented statistically significantly more shame and childhood experiences of threat and submissiveness towards significant others than the ones that do not acknowledge having paranoia. A linear regression with a LASSO model also showed that external shame was the only significant predictor of paranoia which supports new literature about the importance of shame memories in shaping paranoia. Clinical implications are inferred suggesting the importance of teaching students to manage feelings of shame as a way of preventing the onset of paranoid ideation

Wild mice with different social network sizes vary in brain gene expression

Background Appropriate social interactions influence animal fitness by impacting several processes, such as mating, territory defense, and offspring care. Many studies shedding light on the neurobiological underpinnings of social behavior have focused on nonapeptides (vasopressin, oxytocin, and homologues) and on sexual or parent-offspring interactions. Furthermore, animals have been studied under artificial laboratory conditions, where the consequences of behavioral responses may not be as critical as when expressed under natural environments, therefore obscuring certain physiological responses. We used automated recording of social interactions of wild house mice outside of the breeding season to detect individuals at both tails of a distribution of egocentric network sizes (characterized by number of different partners encountered per day). We then used RNA-seq to perform an unbiased assessment of neural differences in gene expression in the prefrontal cortex, the hippocampus and the hypothalamus between these mice with naturally occurring extreme differences in social network size. Results We found that the neurogenomic pathways associated with having extreme social network sizes differed between the sexes. In females, hundreds of genes were differentially expressed between animals with small and large social network sizes, whereas in males very few were. In males, X-chromosome inactivation pathways in the prefrontal cortex were the ones that better differentiated animals with small from those with large social network sizes animals. In females, animals with small network size showed up-regulation of dopaminergic production and transport pathways in the hypothalamus. Additionally, in females, extracellular matrix deposition on hippocampal neurons was higher in individuals with small relative to large social network size. Conclusions Studying neural substrates of natural variation in social behavior in traditional model organisms in their habitat can open new targets of research for understanding variation in social behavior in other taxa

The Attitudes toward Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Scale:Development and validation

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.PrEP is a novel, clinically effective biomedical HIV prevention tool but it has not met with widespread public acceptance. In this article, the results of a study designed to develop a scale for measuring attitudes toward PrEP is presented. The psychometric properties of the scale are described for use in both the general population and in patient samples. 222 university students completed the Attitudes toward PrEP Scale (APS) and additional measures of attitudes toward gay men, Black Africans and condom use. The APS comprised 3 factors (Attitudes toward the Science of PrEP, Perception of Sexual Health Risks of PrEP, and Perception of Dangerous Effects of PrEP) which explained 49.31% of the variance. The 14-item APS had a good internal consistency, α=.72, and satisfactory concurrent validity with measures of condom use, and attitudes toward social groups associated with PrEP. Additional studies in other non-student samples are required to assess the external validity of the scale

The Roles of Socioeconomic Status, Occupational Health and Job Rank on the Epidemiology of Different Psychiatric Symptoms in a Sample of UK Workers

There is a considerable gap in epidemiological literature about community mental health showing how psychiatric symptoms\ud are associated with job rank, socioeconomic status, and occupational health. We examine data from 4596 employees collected\ud in the United Kingdom’s Psychiatric Morbidity among Adults Living in Private Households Survey. There were 939\ud workers in managerial jobs, 739 in supervisory jobs and 2918 employees in lower ranking jobs. Of the 4596 workers, 2463\ud had depressive symptoms and 2133 no depressive symptoms. Job rank, household gross income, social class, personal gross\ud income and socio-economic group were significantly associated with general health, occupational health and depressive\ud and avoidant symptoms. Job rank, occupational and physical health also explained the variance in paranoid and avoidant\ud symptoms among the employees. This study shows that severe psychopathology is related to workers’ job rank

A New Measure of General Trait Neuroticism about Body Signals and Worry Specific to Body Signals: The Body Signals Attention and Worry Scale (BSAWS)

A new scale was developed to measure trait neuroticism and state worry about bodily signals (the BSAWS). 72 British participants were recruited to complete a heartbeat counting task and then a battery of questionnaires comprising of the BSAWS, the state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI), the emotion regulation questionnaire (ERQ) and the paranoid checklist (PC) and state social paranoia scales (SSPS). Confirmatory factor analysis supported a four-factor model of the BSAWS, with factors of ‘trait neuroticism’, ‘trait unconcern’, ‘state mindfulness’ and ‘state worry’. These results broadly support a two–dimensional model of bodily signals’ attention and worry. Correlational analyses showed concurrent validity of the BSAWS construct with other previously established measures of anxiety, paranoia and emotional regulation. Applications for the scale include measurement of attention and worry during different tasks and/or behaviours, with the potential for clinical use to study the aetiology of various body-related mental health disorders