The Indirect Effects of Psychopathy On Trait Aggression Through Anxiety Sensitivity Across Genders

Prior literature has supported associations between psychopathic personality traits and aggressive behavior among criminal and non-criminal populations. Extant literature is limited in examining affective variables that may account for variance within the association between psychopathic personality and aggression, as well as the role of gender in this association. The current study sought to fill this gap in the literature by examining the indirect effects of triarchic model psychopathic traits on trait physical aggression through the Cognitive Concerns domain of anxiety sensitivity for males and females, respectively, from a community sample. We expected that Cognitive Concerns would have significant indirect effects on the association between the psychopathic traits of Boldness and Disinhibition and trait physical aggression. Further, we expected that these indirect effects would only be detected for males and not females. Results partially supported our hypotheses, with Disinhibition significantly and positively predicting physical aggression for males, and not females, in part because males reported greater Cognitive Concerns. Contrary to our hypotheses, Cognitive Concerns exhibited a suppression effect on the association between Boldness and trait physical aggression. These findings illustrate the importance of examining the psychopathy-aggression link at the subscale level. Additionally, the current study delineates the importance of examining affective variables and gender difference within this association. Further implications and future directions will be discussed

Emotion-induced memory dysfunction in borderline personality disorder

Mensebach C, Wingenfeld K, Driessen M, et al. Emotion-induced memory dysfunction in borderline personality disorder. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry. 2009;14(6):524-541.Introduction. Although emotional dysregulation is a core problem in borderline personality disorder (BPD), few neuropsychological studies have evaluated the impact of emotion. The present study aimed at the comprehensive investigation of verbal memory functions with and without emotionally relevant interference in BPD. BPD patients were expected to perform as well as healthy subjects in standard memory tasks but to show fewer capacities to control for emotionally negative interference. Methods. 47 patients with BPD and 70 healthy control subjects participated. An experimental task assessed verbal memory with respect to standard and emotionally relevant and neutral interference learning conditions. Applied standard tests covered working memory, delayed memory, and word fluency. Results. Memory performances of BPD patients were impaired when negatively valenced interference was conducted but normal in all other conditions. These results remained stable after controlling for comorbid major depression and posttraumatic stress disorder. Discussion. The present findings suggest no general impairment of verbal memory functions in BPD but control and inhibition of interference by emotionally significant material seem to be disturbed

Age and frailty are independently associated with increased COVID-19 mortality and increased care needs in survivors: results of an international multi-centre study

Introduction: Increased mortality has been demonstrated in older adults with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but the effect of frailty has been unclear. Methods: This multi-centre cohort study involved patients aged 18 years and older hospitalised with COVID-19, using routinely collected data. We used Cox regression analysis to assess the impact of age, frailty and delirium on the risk of inpatient mortality, adjusting for sex, illness severity, inflammation and co-morbidities. We used ordinal logistic regression analysis to assess the impact of age, Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) and delirium on risk of increased care requirements on discharge, adjusting for the same variables. Results: Data from 5,711 patients from 55 hospitals in 12 countries were included (median age 74, interquartile range [IQR] 54–83; 55.2% male). The risk of death increased independently with increasing age (>80 versus 18–49: hazard ratio [HR] 3.57, confidence interval [CI] 2.54–5.02), frailty (CFS 8 versus 1–3: HR 3.03, CI 2.29–4.00) inflammation, renal disease, cardiovascular disease and cancer, but not delirium. Age, frailty (CFS 7 versus 1–3: odds ratio 7.00, CI 5.27–9.32), delirium, dementia and mental health diagnoses were all associated with increased risk of higher care needs on discharge. The likelihood of adverse outcomes increased across all grades of CFS from 4 to 9. Conclusion: Age and frailty are independently associated with adverse outcomes in COVID-19. Risk of increased care needs was also increased in survivors of COVID-19 with frailty or older age.</p

Analysis of Outcomes in Ischemic vs Nonischemic Cardiomyopathy in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation A Report From the GARFIELD-AF Registry

IMPORTANCE Congestive heart failure (CHF) is commonly associated with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF), and their combination may affect treatment strategies and outcomes