Does prospective mental imagery predict symptoms of negative affect and anhedonia in young people?

Adolescent depression is associated with unhelpful emotional mental imagery. Here, we investigated whether vividness of negative and positive prospective mental imagery predict negative affect and anhedonia in adolescents. 111 people from Israel completed measures of prospective mental imagery, negative affect, and anhedonia at two time-points approximately three months apart. Using three cross-lagged panel models, we showed once ‘concurrent’ (across-variable, within-time) and ‘stability’ paths (across-time, within-variable) were estimated, there were no significant cross-lag paths between: i) T1 prospective negative mental imagery and T8 negative affect (i.e., increased vividness of negative future imagery at Time 1 did not predict increased negative affect at Time 8); ii) T1 prospective positive mental imagery and T8 negative affect (i.e., reduced vividness of positive future imagery at Time 1 did not predict increased negative affect at Time 8); and iii) T1 prospective positive mental imagery and T8 anhedonia (i.e., reduced vividness of positive future imagery at Time 1 did not predict increased anhedonia at Time 8). Given high levels of attrition, future research should aim to explore these associations in a larger, more diverse population, as such data could inform on whether modifying earlier prospective mental imagery may influence later time/context-specific effects of prospective mental imagery on negative affect and anhedonia

Maintaining Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Network Analysis of Well-Being Responses from British Youth

COVID-19 has significant impacts on young peoples’ lives and emotions. Understanding how young people maintain well-being in the face of challenges can inform future mental health intervention development. Here we applied network analysis to well-being data gathered from 2532 young people (12-25 years) residing in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic to identify the structure across well-being and crucially, its central defining features. Gender and age differences in networks were also investigated. Across all participants, items emerged in two clusters: 1) optimism, positive self-perception, and social connectedness, and 2) processing problems and ideas. The two central features of well-being were: “I’ve been dealing with problems well” and “I’ve been thinking clearly”. There were minimal age and gender differences. Our findings suggest that the perception of being able to process problems and ideas efficiently could be a hallmark of well-being, particularly in the face of challenging circumstances. These findings contrast with pre-pandemic studies that point to positive affect as central aspects of well-being networks. Future interventions that encourage problem-solving and mental flexibility could be useful in helping young people maintain well-being during times of stress and uncertainty

Harnessing mental imagery and enhancing memory specificity: Developing a brief early intervention for depressive symptoms in adolescence

Background Treatment innovation for depressive symptoms in adolescence is urgently needed. Adult research suggests interventions targeting underlying cognitive mechanisms, such as dysfunctional mental imagery and overgeneral memory, are promising. Here, we describe and evaluate in a case series a brief imagery-based intervention for depressive symptoms that targets these cognitive mechanisms. Methods Nine participants completed the four-session intervention, whose principle components were imagery rescripting and memory specificity training. Questionnaires and experimental tasks (assessing symptomatology and cognitive mechanisms) were administered at three time points: pre-intervention, post-intervention and 3-month follow-up. Results The intervention was feasible to deliver and acceptable to participants. There was a large reduction in depression symptom scores from pre to post intervention (d = 1.32; 67% showed reliable improvement, RI) and this was maintained at follow-up (d = 1.46; RI = 75%). There were also reductions in anxiety (post: d = 1.15, RI = 44%; follow-up: d = 1.67, RI = 63%), increases in self-esteem (post: d = − 0.70, RI = 44%; follow-up: d = − 1.20, RI = 50%) and noteworthy changes in memory specificity (post: d = − 1.80, RI = 67%; follow-up: d = − 0.94, RI = 63%). Conclusions This is the first study to use imagery rescripting and memory specificity training in adolescence. Initial evidence is provided that the intervention is acceptable and may have clinical utility. Future randomised controlled trials are needed to further assess the intervention

Tolerance of sponge assemblages to temperature anomalies: resilience and proliferation of sponges following the 1997-8 El-Niño southern oscillation.

Coral reefs across the world are under threat from a range of stressors, and while there has been considerable focus on the impacts of these stressors on corals, far less is known about their effect on other reef organisms. The 1997-8 El-Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) had notable and severe impacts on coral reefs worldwide, but not all reef organisms were negatively impacted by this large-scale event. Here we describe how the sponge fauna at Bahia, Brazil was influenced by the 1997-8 ENSO event. Sponge assemblages from three contrasting reef habitats (reef tops, walls and shallow banks) at four sites were assessed annually from 1995 to 2011. The within-habitat sponge diversity did not vary significantly across the study period; however, there was a significant increase in density in all habitats. Multivariate analyses revealed no significant difference in sponge assemblage composition (ANOSIM) between pre- and post-ENSO years for any of the habitats, suggesting that neither the 1997-8 nor any subsequent smaller ENSO events have had any measurable impact on the reef sponge assemblage. Importantly, this is in marked contrast to the results previously reported for a suite of other taxa (including corals, echinoderms, bryozoans, and ascidians), which all suffered mass mortalities as a result of the ENSO event. Our results suggest that of all reef taxa, sponges have the potential to be resilient to large-scale thermal stress events and we hypothesize that sponges might be less affected by projected increases in sea surface temperature compared to other major groups of reef organisms

Can cognitive bias modification of interpretations training alter mood states in children and adolescents? A reanalysis of data from six studies

Anxiety disorders are common and impairing in childhood and adolescence. Cognitive bias modification of interpretations (CBM-I) training aims to alter information biases associated with anxiety disorders by training the person to endorse benign, rather than negative, interpretations of ambiguous situations. With an expanding evidence base, CBM-I training in childhood and adolescence may provide a key opportunity to prevent the development of anxiety disorders, particularly by capitalizing on the inherent flexibility of the adolescent brain to make durable changes. This article augments existing data with a reanalysis of a large sample of data ( N = 387). The reanalysis highlights that CBM-I is (a) effective in altering interpretation styles; (b) that changes in mood state, although weak, are evident; and (c) tentatively, that effectiveness may vary across age in males and females. We conclude by offering further suggestions on which factors associated with protocol (e.g., multiple sessions) and training package (e.g., use of imagery) may maximize training effectiveness.</jats:p

Updating versus Exposure to Prevent Consolidation of Conditioned Fear.

Targeting the consolidation of fear memories following trauma may offer a promising method for preventing the development of flashbacks and other unwanted re-experiencing symptoms that characterise Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Research has demonstrated that performing visuo-spatial tasks after analogue trauma can block the consolidation of fear memory and reduce the frequency of flashbacks. However, no research has yet used verbal techniques to alter memories during the consolidation window. This is surprising given that the most effective treatments for PTSD are verbally-based with exposure therapy and trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy gaining the most evidence of efficacy. Psychological therapies aim to reduce the conditioned fear response, which is in keeping with the preliminary finding that an increased propensity for fear conditioning may be a vulnerability factor for PTSD. Our research had two aims. We investigated the degree to which individual differences in fear conditioning predict the development of PTSD symptoms. We also compared the preventative effects of two clinically informed psychological techniques administered during the consolidation window: exposure to the trauma memory and updating the meaning of the trauma. 115 healthy participants underwent a fear conditioning paradigm in which traumatic film stimuli (unconditioned stimuli) were paired with neutral stimuli (conditioned stimuli). Participants were randomly allocated to an updating, exposure or control group to compare the effects on the conditioned fear response and on PTSD symptomatology. The results showed that stronger conditioned responses at acquisition significantly predicted the development of PTSD symptoms. The updating group, who verbally devalued the unconditioned stimulus within the consolidation window, experienced significantly lower levels of PTSD symptoms during follow-up than the exposure and control groups. These findings are consistent with clinical interventions for chronic PTSD and have important implications for identifying those at risk as well as for designing novel early interventions to prevent the development of PTSD