Social reorientation in adolescence : neurobiological changes and individual differences in empathic concern

One of the most prominent changes in adolescence is social reorientation. In other words, adolescents develop more intimate relationships with peers, they discover what it is like to be involved in a romantic relationship, and they take (social) risks by for example showing risky driving in the presence of friends. Given that social networks with peers become central elements in the adolescent’s life, investigating the role of individual differences related to the development of social reorientation seems highly relevant. This dissertation contributes to a better understanding of stability and change in social reorientation during adolescence by explaining the crucial role of empathy in social interactions from a brain and behavioral perspective. Future research can benefit from the presented studies by applying it to a more detailed analysis of individual differences in this important period in life, which may help to explain why some adolescents are successful in developing social competencies and relationships, whereas others experience difficulties. Eventually, this may lead to the development of interventions for youth who do not cope well with the social requirements from the environments, and help to improve their lives and the lives of individuals around themPathways through Adolescenc

Empathy and mentalizing abilities in relation to psychosocial stress in healthy adult men and women

Stress and Psychopatholog

Self-centered or other-directed: neural correlates of performance monitoring are dependent on psychopathic traits and social context

Stress and Psychopatholog

Enhanced error-related brain activations for mistakes that harm others: ERP evidence from a novel social performance-monitoring paradigm

Our mistakes often have negative consequences for ourselves, but may also harm the people around us. Continuous monitoring of our performance is therefore crucial for both our own and others’ well-being. Here, we investigated how modulations in responsibility for other’s harm affects electrophysiological correlates of performance-monitoring, viz. the error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe). Healthy participants (N = 27) performed a novel social performance-monitoring paradigm in two responsibility contexts. Mistakes made in the harmful context resulted in a negative consequence for a co-actor, i.e., hearing a loud aversive sound, while errors in the non-harmful context were followed by a soft non-aversive sound. Although participants themselves did not receive auditory feedback in either context, they did experience harmful mistakes as more distressing and reported higher effort to perform well in the harmful context. ERN amplitudes were enhanced for harmful compared to non-harmful mistakes. Pe amplitudes were unaffected. The present study shows that performing in a potentially harmful social context amplifies early automatic performance-monitoring processes and increases the impact of the resulting harmful mistakes. These outcomes not only further our theoretical knowledge of social performance monitoring, but also demonstrate a novel and useful paradigm to investigate aberrant responsibility attitudes in various clinical populations.Stress and Psychopatholog

De financiering van de Nederlandse landbouw

De volgende hoofdstukken: De plaats van de landbouw in de Nederlandse economie; De kapitaalmarkt en de landbouw; De vermogenspositie van de landbouw; De ontwikkeling van de financiering van de landbouw (exclusief tuinbouw); De invloed van de overheid op de kredietverlening in de landbouw; De organisatie van het landbouwkrediet; De verstrekking van financieringen door Rabobanke

The Prosocial Cyberball Game: Compensating for social exclusion and its associations with empathic concern and bullying in adolescents

In this study we examined prosocial compensating behavior towards socially excluded ingroup and outgroup members by using a ‘Prosocial Cyberball Game’ in 9–17 year old Dutch adolescents (N = 133). Results showed that adolescents compensated for the social exclusion of an unknown peer in a virtual ball tossing game, by tossing the ball more often to that player in compensation conditions compared to the fair play condition. The proportion of tosses towards the excluded player did not significantly differ as a function of the group status of that player. Although compensating behavior towards ingroup versus outgroup members did not differ, the underlying motivation for this behavior may vary. More empathic concern was associated with more prosocial tosses towards an ingroup member, while more self-reported bullying behavior was associated with less compensating behavior in the outgroup condition. These findings may have practical implications for programs intending to change bystander behavior in bullying situations

【13】Tabellen

Pathways through Adolescenc

Evaluation of the long-term efficacy and safety of an imidacloprid 10%/flumethrin 4.5% polymer matrix collar (Seresto®) in dogs and cats naturally infested with fleas and/or ticks in multicentre clinical field studies in Europe

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The objective of these two GCP multicentre European clinical field studies was to evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety of a new imidacloprid/flumethrin collar (Seresto^®, Bayer AnimalHealth, Investigational Veterinary Product(IVP)) in dogs and cats naturally infested with fleas and/or ticks in comparison to a dimpylat collar ("Ungezieferband fuer Hunde/fuer Katzen", Beaphar, Control Product (CP)).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>232 (IVP) and 81 (CP) cats and 271(IVP) and 129 (CP) dogs were treated with either product according to label claims and formed the safety population. Flea and tick counts were conducted in monthly intervals for up to 8 months in the efficacy subpopulation consisting of 118 (IVP) + 47 (CP) cats and 197 (IVP) + 94 (CP) dogs. Efficacy was calculated as reduction of infestation rate within the same treatment group and statistically compared between the two treatment groups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Preventive efficacy against fleas in cats/dogs varied in the IVP group between 97.4%/94.1% and 100%/100% (overall mean: 98.3%/96.7%) throughout the 8 month period and in the CP group between 57.1%/28.2% and 96.1%/67.8% (overall mean: 79.3%/57.9%). Preventive efficacy against ticks in cats/dogs varied in the IVP group between 94.0%/91.2% and 100%/100% (overall mean: 98.4%/94.7%) throughout the 8 month period and in the CP group between 90.7%/79.9% and 100%/88.0% (overall mean: 96.9%/85.6%). The IVP group was statistically non-inferior to the CP group, and on various assessment days, statistical superiority was proven for flea and tick count reduction in dogs and cats. Both treatments proved to be safe in dogs and cats with mainly minor local observations at the application site. There was moreover, no incidence of any mechanical problem with the collar in dogs and cats during the entire study period.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The imidacloprid/flumethrin collar proved to reduce tick counts by at least 90% and flea counts by at least 95% for a period of at least 7-8 months in cats and dogs under field conditions. Therefore, it can be used as sustainable long-term preventative, covering the whole flea and tick season.</p