Prospective associations between loneliness and emotional intelligence

Loneliness has been linked cross-sectionally to emotional skill deficits (e.g., Zysberg, 2012), but missing from the literature is a longitudinal examination of these relationships. The present study fills that gap by examining the prospective relationships between loneliness and emotional functioning in young adolescents in England. One hundred and ninety-six adolescents aged 11-13 years (90 females) took part in the study and completed the youth version of the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT-YV) and the peer-related subscale of the Loneliness and Aloneness Scale for Children and Adolescents (LACA) at two time points, which were 10 months apart. Prospective associations were obtained for male and female adolescents separately using cross-lagged statistical techniques. Our results showed prospective links between understanding and managing emotions and loneliness for both females and males. Perceiving and using emotions were prospectively linked to loneliness in males only. Possible explanations and directions for future research are discussed

Habitual physical activity (HPA) as a factor in sustained executive function in Alzheimer-type dementia: a cohort study

Evidence from studies on healthy older adults and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) populations suggests that physical activity interventions have a positive effect on executive function. In this study, we consider whether HPA is positively associated with executive function in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Eighty-two participants with a diagnosis of mild to moderate AD completed six measures of executive function. Objective measures of physical status were taken. In addition, informants completed questionnaires on the participants’ HPA and other lifestyle factors. A composite measure of executive function was the primary outcome. A multistage multiple regression was used to determine how much variance HPA accounted for. The final model comprised disease severity, cognitive reserve, cognitive activities, neuropsychiatric status and HPA status. The final model accounted for a total of 57% of the variance of executive performance, of which HPA itself accounted for 8% of the variance. HPA status is associated executive performance in an AD population even after controlling for key covariates. The findings encourage clinicians to recommend HPA and its cognitive benefits to AD patients and their carers

Detecting Superior Face Recognition Skills in a Large Sample of Young British Adults

The Cambridge Face Memory Test Long Form (CFMT+) and Cambridge Face Perception Test (CFPT) are typically used to assess the face processing ability of individuals who believe they have superior face recognition skills. Previous large-scale studies have presented norms for the CFPT but not the CFMT+. However, previous research has also highlighted the necessity for establishing country-specific norms for these tests, indicating that norming data is required for both tests using young British adults. The current study addressed this issue in 254 British participants. In addition to providing the first norm for performance on the CFMT+ in any large sample, we also report the first UK specific cut-off for superior face recognition on the CFPT. Further analyses identified a small advantage for females on both tests, and only small associations between objective face recognition skills and self-report measures. A secondary aim of the study was to examine the relationship between trait or social anxiety and face processing ability, and no associations were noted. The implications of these findings for the classification of super-recognizers are discussed

Direct-to-consumer genetic testing for addiction susceptibility: a premature commercialisation of doubtful validity and value

Genetic research on addiction liability and pharmacogenetic research on treatments for addiction have identified some genetic variants associated with disease risk and treatment. Genetic testing for addiction liability and treatment response has not been used widely in clinical practice because most of the genes identified only modestly predict addiction risk or treatment response. However, many of these genetic tests have been commercialized prematurely and are available direct to the consumer (DTC). The easy availability of DTC tests for addiction liability and lack of regulation over their use raises a number of ethical concerns. Of paramount concern is the limited predictive power and clinical utility of these tests. Many DTC testing companies do not provide the consumer with the necessary genetic counselling to assist them in interpreting and acting on their test results. They may also engage in misleading marketing to entice consumers to purchase their products. Consumers' genetic information may be vulnerable to misuse by third parties, as there are limited standards to protect the privacy of the genetic information. Non-consensual testing and inappropriate testing of minors may also occur. The United States Food and Drug Administration plans to regulate DTC genetic tests. Based on the ethical concerns we discuss below, we believe there is a strong case for regulation of DTC genetic tests for addiction liability and treatment response. We argue that until this occurs, these tests have more potential to cause harm than to contribute to improved prevention and treatment of addiction

Self-Harm and Suicide Attempts among High-Risk, Urban Youth in the U.S.: Shared and Unique Risk and Protective Factors

The extent to which self-harm and suicidal behavior overlap in community samples of vulnerable youth is not well known. Secondary analyses were conducted of the “linkages study” (N = 4,131), a cross-sectional survey of students enrolled in grades 7, 9, 11/12 in a high-risk community in the U.S. in 2004. Analyses were conducted to determine the risk and protective factors (i.e., academic grades, binge drinking, illicit drug use, weapon carrying, child maltreatment, social support, depression, impulsivity, self-efficacy, parental support, and parental monitoring) associated with both self-harm and suicide attempt. Findings show that 7.5% of participants reported both self-harm and suicide attempt, 2.2% of participants reported suicide attempt only, and 12.4% of participants reported self-harm only. Shared risk factors for co-occurring self-harm and suicide attempt include depression, binge drinking, weapon carrying, child maltreatment, and impulsivity. There were also important differences by sex, grade level, and race/ethnicity that should be considered for future research. The findings show that there is significant overlap in the modifiable risk factors associated with self-harm and suicide attempt that can be targeted for future research and prevention strategies

Mediating Analysis Approaches: Trends and Implications for Advanced Applications in HRD Research

The Problem In HRD research, while mediation research is receiving more attention, less is known about to what extent it has been used and what methodological approaches have been adopted by HRD researchers. Also, several critical methodological issues such as the common method variance (CMV) are often indicated by researchers who utilize mediational analysis in their studies. These issues have been known to hinder sound theory-building efforts among HRD researchers.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Implicit Essentialism: Genetic Concepts Are Implicitly Associated with Fate Concepts

Genetic essentialism is the tendency for people to think in more essentialist ways upon encountering genetic concepts. The current studies assessed whether genetic essentialist biases would also be evident at the automatic level. In two studies, using different versions of the Implicit Association Test [1], we found that participants were faster to categorize when genes and fate were linked, compared to when these two concepts were kept separate and opposing. In addition to the wealth of past findings of genetic essentialism with explicit and deliberative measures, these biases appear to be also evident with implicit measure

Narrative Skills Predict Peer Adjustment across Elementary School Years

The importance of peer adjustment in middle childhood coincides with developing social cognitive and discursive skills that include the ability to make personal narrative accounts. Authoring personal stories promotes attention to the sequence of events, the causal connections between events, the moral significance of what has happened, and the motives that drive human action: these skills may be critical for the establishment and maintenance of satisfying peer relationships during elementary school. The present study extended previous research by considering whether narrative skills in written stories about peer interactions predicted peer adjustment. As part of an ongoing longitudinal study, 92 children wrote narratives about peer experiences and completed surveys on measures of peer adjustment for two school years. Cross-lagged panel models indicated that chronological and thematic coherence and reports of moral concerns in narratives in the first year of the study contributed to lower peer disliking in the subsequent academic year. Reports of motives in Year 1 narratives contributed to lower levels of loneliness and peer victimization in Year 2. Writing personal narratives that are coherent and attentive to moral concerns and motives may be especially beneficial for children who have difficulty connecting with peers. We discuss implications for classroom practices

SNP based heritability estimates of common and specific variance in self and informant reported neuroticism scales

Objective. Our study aims to estimate the proportion of the phenotypic variance of Neuroticism and its facet scales that can be attributed to common SNPs in two adult populations from Estonia (EGCUT; N = 3,292) and the Netherlands (Lifelines; N = 13,383). Method. Genomic-Relatedness-Matrix Restricted Maximum Likelihood (GREML) using Genome-wide Complex Trait Analysis (GCTA) software was employed. To build upon previous research, we used self- and informant-reports of the 30-facet NEO personality inventories and analyzed both the usual sum scores and the residual facet scores of Neuroticism. Results. In the EGCUT cohort, the proportion of phenotypic variance explained by the additive effects of common genetic variants in self- and informant-reported Neuroticism domain scores was 15.2% (p = .070, SE = .11) and 6.2% (p = .293, SE = .12), respectively. The SNP-based heritability estimates at the level of Neuroticism facet scales differed greatly across cohorts and modes of measurement but were generally higher (a) for self- than for informant-reports, and (b) for sum than for residual scores. Conclusions. Our findings indicate that a large proportion of the heritability of Neuroticism is not captured by additive genetic effects of common SNPs with some evidence for gene-environment interaction across cohorts. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved