Bullying Among Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders: Prevalence and Perception

This study examined: (a) the prevalence of bullying and victimization among adolescents with ASD, (b) whether they correctly perceived bullying and victimization, and (c) whether Theory of Mind (ToM) and bullying involvement were related to this perception. Data were collected among 230 adolescents with ASD attending special education schools. We found prevalence rates of bullying and victimization between 6 and 46%, with teachers reporting significantly higher rates than peers. Furthermore, adolescents who scored high on teacher- and self-reported victimization were more likely to misinterpret non-bullying situations as bullying. The more often adolescents bullied, according to teachers and peers, and the less developed their ToM, the more they misinterpreted bullying situations as non-bullying. Implications for clinical practice are discussed

Personalized lifestyle advice alters affective reactivity to negative events in anhedonic young adults

BACKGROUND: Anhedonia is a common symptom of several disorders, but cost-effective treatments that focus on anhedonia specifically have been lacking. Therefore, personalized lifestyle advice has recently been investigated as a suitable means of enhancing pleasure and positive affect (PA) in young adults with anhedonia. This intervention provided individuals with a personalized lifestyle advice which was based on observed individual patterns of lifestyle behaviors and experienced pleasure in daily life. The present study extends this previous work by examining a potential mechanism of treatment success, affective reactivity. METHODS: We explored changes in affective reactivity to events in daily life from pre- to post-intervention in a subclinical sample of young adults with anhedonia (N = 69). Using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM), participants answered questions on their activities, their pleasure levels, PA and negative affect (NA) before and after the intervention. RESULTS: Multilevel analysis revealed that participants did not experience an altered affective reactivity to positive events after the intervention. The affective reactivity to negative events depended on the level of improvement in mean-PA after the lifestyle advice intervention. LIMITATIONS: The present study used a subclinical sample with the majority of participants being female which limited the generalizability of the findings. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that an altered affective reactivity to negative events is an underlying mechanism of the effectiveness of a personalized lifestyle advice

Alpha-amylase reactivity and recovery patterns in anhedonic young adults performing a tandem skydive

Background Anhedonia (loss of pleasure) is characterized by low responsiveness to rewards and, by virtue of being one of the two core symptoms of depression, by altered responses to stress. We investigated the effect of an acute stress experience (i.e., a tandem skydive) that was expected to elicit both intense fear and intense euphoria in a sample of anhedonic young adults. Objective (1) To examine individual differences in alpha-amylase reactivity to and recovery from a tandem skydive in anhedonic young adults; (2) to investigate whether trait depressive and anxiety problems, trait positive affect (PA), i.e., level of pleasure and reward responsiveness, and state anxiety, PA and self-esteem prior to the skydive were associated with alpha-amylase reactivity and recovery patterns; (3) to investigate whether alpha-amylase reactivity and recovery patterns were associated with pre-to post-jump changes in state anxiety, PA, and self-esteem. Method Participants were 61 individuals with persistent anhedonia (Mage = 21.38, 78.7% female), who filled out a baseline questionnaire at the start of the study, and momentary questionnaires (3 times per day) before and after the tandem skydive. Alpha-amylase was measured at four time points by means of salivettes (2 before and 2 after the skydive). Results Alpha-amylase reactivity and recovery patterns were highly similar across individuals, although mean levels varied greatly. No associations were found between any of the trait and state measures and reactivity and recovery. Only state self-esteem was affected by the reactivity and recovery patterns, in that individuals who showed high reactivity and low recovery experienced decreases in self-esteem after the skydive. Conclusions Alpha-amylase patterns following a tandem skydive in anhedonic individuals are highly similar to patterns previously found in healthy individuals. Although replication is warranted, our findings tentatively suggest that a strong stress response that cannot be downregulated well predicts a decrease in self-esteem

Parent–adolescent interaction quality and adolescent affect:An experience sampling study on effect heterogeneity

Person–environment interactions might ultimately drive longer term development. This experience sampling study (Data collection: 2019/20 the Netherlands) assessed short‐term linkages between parent–adolescent interaction quality and affect during 2281 interactions of 124 adolescents (M (age) = 15.80, SD (age )= 1.69, 59% girls, 92% Dutch, Education: 25% low, 31% middle, 35% high, 9% other). Adolescents reported on parent–adolescent interaction quality (i.e., warmth and conflict) and momentary positive and negative affect five to six times a day, for 14 days. Preregistered dynamic structural equation models (DSEM) revealed within‐family associations between parent–adolescent interaction quality and adolescent affect (concurrently: r = −.22 to .39; lagged effects: ß = −.17 to .15). These effects varied significantly between families. These findings stress the need for more person‐specific research on parenting processes

Parenting adolescents in times of a pandemic:Changes in relationship quality, autonomy support, and parental control?

This Dutch multi-informant study examined effects of the first COVID-19 lockdown (LD; e.g., school closure and social restrictions) on parent-adolescent relationships. Four biweekly measurements before and 4 biweekly measurements during the LD were collected among adolescents (N = 179, Mage = 14.26 years, 69% girls) and their parents (N = 144, Mage = 47.01 years, 81% female). Parents' educational level was relatively diverse: 12% low (high school or lower), 33% medium (vocational training), and 55% high (college or university). Adolescents and parents reported on parental support, parent-adolescent conflict, autonomy support, psychological control, behavioral control, and time spent on various activities. Adolescents spent more time with their parents during LD (before M = 8.6 hr, during M = 12.7 hr), but less time with friends (before M = 8.1 hr, during M = 2.1 hr), and reported on average 13 COVID-19-related rules. Preregistered piecewise growth models confirmed that autonomy support decreased immediately during the LD, but no mean level changes were observed in the other relationship dimensions. During the first 2 months of the LD, parents reported gradual increases in autonomy support and decreases in behavioral control. Moreover, significant differences between families were found in sudden and more gradual relationship changes, which correlated strongly with pre-LD characteristics of the relationship, and in some models with adolescent oppositional defiance and legitimacy beliefs. In sum, findings suggest resilience in most families, but also heterogeneity: Some families were negatively affected, and others were positively affected. A tailored approach is therefore needed to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on family functioning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

Spread the Joy:How High and Low Bias for Happy Facial Emotions Translate into Different Daily Life Affect Dynamics

There is evidence that people commonly show a bias toward happy facial emotions during laboratory tasks, that is, they identify other people’s happy facial emotions faster than other people’s negative facial emotions. However, not everybody shows this bias. Individuals with a vulnerability for depression, for example, show a low happy bias compared to healthy controls. The main aim of this study was to acquire a better understanding of laboratory measures of happy bias by studying how these translate to people’s daily life. We investigated whether stable high and low happy bias during a laboratory task were associated with different daily life affect dynamics (i.e., effects from one time interval of 6 hours to the next). We compared the daily life affect dynamics of young adults (age 18–24) with a high bias toward happy facial emotions () to the affect dynamics of young adults with a low bias toward happy emotions (). Affect and related measures were assessed three times per day during 30 days. We used multilevel vector autoregressive (VAR) modelling to estimate lag 1 affect networks for the high and low happy bias groups and used permutation tests to compare the two groups. Compared to their peers with a low happy bias, individuals with a high happy bias more strongly sustained the effects of daily life reward experiences over time. Individuals with a high happy bias may use their reward experiences more optimally in daily life to build resources that promote well-being and mental health. Low reward responsiveness in daily life may be key to why individuals who show a low happy bias during laboratory tasks are vulnerable for depression. This study illustrates the potential benefits of a network approach for unraveling psychological mechanisms

Clínica e cirurgia de espécies pecuárias

O presente relatório, inerente ao estágio curricular do Mestrado Integrado em Medicina Veterinária da Universidade de Évora, tem como objetivo descrever as atividades observadas e realizadas na área da clínica e cirurgia de espécies pecuárias. Na primeira parte é feita uma descrição do local de estágio, uma caraterização das explorações acompanhadas e a distribuição casuística das atividades desenvolvidas. A segunda parte deste relatório consiste numa revisão bibliográfica sobre o tema, aborto infecioso em pequenos ruminantes e ainda no desenvolvimento de dois casos clínicos. O aborto em pequenos ruminantes causa significativas perdas reprodutivas de elevada importância económica. O aborto pode ter etiologia infeciosa ou não infeciosa e ocorrer de forma isolada ou em surto. Quando ocorre em forma de surto pode tomar proporções graves e a intervenção correta do médico veterinário, no diagnóstico, tratamento e controlo é fundamental; Abstract: Medical and Surgical Pathology of livestock species This report, associated to an internship of a masters degree in Veterinary Medicin in the University of Évora, has as its main purpose to describe the observed and realized activities in the area of clinic and surgery in livestock species. The first part of this report is based on a description of the internship site, on a characterization of the livestock farms studied in this report and the casuistry distribution of the developed activities. The second part of this report consists in a brief literature review about infectious abortions in small ruminants and also in the development of clinic cases. Abortions in small ruminants can cause significant reproductive losses which result in important economic losses. Abortions can be caused by infectious or non-infectious etiology and these can occur in an isolated event or in an outbreak. When these happen in an outbreak, they can take dangerous proportions and a correct intervention of the veterinary, during the diagnose, treatment and control is very important

Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial to explore the effects of personalized lifestyle advices and tandem skydives on pleasure in anhedonic young adults

Background:  Anhedonia is generally defined as the inability to feel pleasure in response to experiences that are usually enjoyable. Anhedonia is one of the two core symptoms of depression and is a major public health concern. Anhedonia has proven particularly difficult to counteract and predicts poor treatment response generally. It has often been hypothesized that anhedonia can be deterred by a healthy lifestyle. However, it is quite unlikely that a one-size-fits-all approach will be effective for everyone. In this study the effects of personalized lifestyle advice based on observed individual patterns of lifestyle behaviors and experienced pleasure will be examined. Further, we will explore whether a tandem skydive following the personalized lifestyle advice positively influences anhedonic young adults' abilities to carry out the recommended lifestyle changes, and whether this ultimately improves their self-reported pleasure. Methods:  Our study design is an exploratory intervention study, preceded by a cross-sectional survey as a screening instrument. For the survey, 2000 young adults (18-24 years old) will be selected from the general population. Based on survey outcomes, 72 individuals (36 males and 36 females) with persistent anhedonia (i.e., more than two months) and 60 individuals (30 males and 30 females) without anhedonia (non-anhedonic control group) will be selected for the intervention study. The non-anhedonic control group will fill out momentary assessments of pleasure and lifestyle behaviors three times a day, for one month. The anhedonic individuals will fill out momentary assessments for three consecutive months. After the first month, the anhedonic individuals will be randomly assigned to (1) no intervention, (2) lifestyle advice only, (3) lifestyle advice plus tandem skydive. The personalized lifestyle advice is based on patterns observed in the first month. Discussion:  The present study is the first to examine the effects of a personalized lifestyle advice and tandem skydive on pleasure in anhedonic young adults. Results of the present study may improve treatment for anhedonia, if the interventions are found to be effective

Beyond main effects? Affect level as a moderator in the relation between affect dynamics and depressive symptoms

The current study examined the role of mean levels of affect in the relation between affect dynamics and depressive symptoms. We analyzed data from seven studies that measured affect in daily life in adolescents and young adults (N = 1,448, age range = 11.7-29.9 years, 64.8% females). We tested main and interaction effects of affect dynamics (variability and inertia) and affect level on depressive symptoms, separately for positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA). For PA, we found mostly main, but no interaction effects. Depressive symptoms were associated with more PA variability and less PA inertia, indicating that depressive symptoms in young people may be characterized by more variable and less lingering PA, independent of PA mean levels. For NA, we found a significant moderation effect between NA variability and NA levels for depressive symptoms at baseline. For individuals with low NA levels, high NA variability was associated with more depressive symptoms. In contrast, for individuals with high NA levels, high NA variability was associated with fewer depressive symptoms. These results suggest that the relative adaptiveness of NA variability depends on overall NA levels and underscores the need for a more nuanced understanding of affect variability in depression