Odor awareness modulates the association between perceived stress and chemosensory anhedonia in women

Chronic stress alters reward sensitivity and contributes to anhedonia. Chemosensation is dominated by a hedonic dimension, but little is known about the association between chronic perceived stress and hedonic chemosensation in non-clinical populations. In the current study, 325 participants (201 females) completed a questionnaire-based survey measuring their chronic perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale; PSS), chemosensory pleasure (Chemosensory Pleasure Scale; CPS), and olfactory metacognitive abilities (odor awareness, affective impact of odor, importance of olfaction). For females, higher PSS scores significantly predicted lower CPS scores, which is mediated by the positive odor awareness. Moreover, negative odor awareness was identified as a moderator underlying the relationship between PSS and CPS scores in females  but not in males. For females, higher PSS predicted lower CPS for those with lower, but not for those with higher levels of negative odor awareness. These results show that the link between chronic perceived stress and chemosensory anhedonia is pronounced in females, with olfactory perception playing a key role. The current study provides insights into the understanding of stress-related anhedonia and into the development of effective treatments.

Gender-related stress factors and emotional perception in migraine: a structured online questionnaire in migraine patients and controls

BACKGROUND

While migraine is markedly prevalent in women, gender-related phenotype differences were rarely assessed. For this reason, we investigated, through a multicenter observational cross-sectional study, based on an online questionnaire, gender-related differences in stress factors, emotions, and pain perception in migraine patients and controls and their impact on migraine severity.

METHODS

The study was designed as an online questionnaire. The link was emailed to healthy subjects (C) and migraine patients (MIG) (age 18-75, education ≥ 13 years) recruited during the first visit in 8 Italian Headache Centers adhering to Italian Society for Headache Study (SISC). The questionnaire included personal/social/work information, the Perceived Stress Scale, the Romance Quality Scale, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, the Body Perception Questionnaire, the pain perception, and a self-assessment of migraine severity in the last 3 months.

RESULTS

202 MIG and 202 C completed the survey. Independently from gender, migraine was characterized by higher pain sensitivity and more severe partner relationships. The female gender, in MIG, exhibited higher anxiety scores, body awareness, and reduced emotional suppression. Body awareness and emotional suppression were discriminating factors between genders in control and migraine groups without relevant influence on disease features. Perceived perception of migraine severity was similar between genders.

CONCLUSION

Gender-related emotional and stress factors did not contribute to delineate a distinct phenotype in migraine men and women. The possible impact of emotional and stress factors characterizing genders could be considered for a single case-tailored therapeutic approach.

The effects of emotion-focused skills training on parental mental health, emotion regulation and self-efficacy: Mediating processes between parents and children

Objective: Emotion-Focused Skills Training (EFST) is a short-term parental intervention based on humanistic principles. While studies have demonstrated the efficacy of EFST in alleviating child mental health symptoms, the mechanisms by which this happens is less clear. The present study investigated whether program participation led to improvements in the parents' own mental health, emotion regulation, and self-efficacy, and compared two versions of EFST: one experiential involving evocative techniques, and one psychoeducational involving didactic teaching of skills. Further, this study investigated whether improvements in parent outcomes mediated the effects on children's mental health. All parents received 2-days group training and 6 h of individual supervision. Methods: 313 parents (Mage = 40.5, 75.1% mothers) of 236 children (ages 6-13, 60.6% boys) with mental health difficulties within the clinical range and their teachers (N = 113, 82% female) were included. Participants were assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and 4-, 8- and 12-months follow-up. Results: Multilevel analysis showed significant improvements over time on all parental outcomes with large effects (drange0.6-1.1, ps < .001), with fathers benefitting more in terms of emotion regulation and self-efficacy (ps < .05). Significant differences were found between conditions on parental mental health and self-efficacy (all p's > .05). Cross-lagged panel models showed indirect effects of child symptoms at post-intervention on all parental outcomes at 12-months follow-up (βrange0.30-0.59, ps < .05). Bidirectional associations were observed between children's mental health symptoms and parental self-efficacy (βrange0.13-0.30, ps < .05). Conclusion: This study provides support for the effect of EFST on parent outcomes and the reciprocal relationship between the mental health of children's and their parents.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03807336.

The link between daily affective complexity and anxiety is altered by oral contraceptive use

Affective complexity - the unique ways in which individuals' emotions covary and differentiate - is an important aspect of internalizing problems. For instance, daily affective complexity has been linked to anxiety increases in women and to decreases in men. The mechanisms underlying this gender difference have not been widely investigated, but a role for ovarian hormones is likely. Research on oral contraceptives (OCs) provides promising insights into such mechanisms, as OCs suppress endogenous ovarian hormone production and vary in exogenous hormone formulations. Thus, the goal of this study was to examine links between daily affective complexity and internalizing problems in OC users (n = 84), focusing on dimensionally-assessed anxiety, and to investigate whether the links varied by pill formulation. Affective complexity was operationalized as number of factors for each person, as estimated by p-technique (i.e., person-specific factor analysis) of 75-day intensive longitudinal data. There was not a relation between affective complexity and anxiety in OC users, and this did not depend on OC pill formulation (i.e., estrogenic, progestational, or androgenic activities). Thus, OC use may blunt the relation between affective complexity and anxiety, as OC users had a relation in between the established positive relation for naturally cycling women and the inverse for men (despite a similar range of factors). Findings are consistent with a growing literature showing that OC use modulates stress and anxiety-linked processes, and suggest that gendered mechanisms underlying the relation between affective complexity and anxiety may be suppressed along with ovarian hormones in OC users.

Parental positive affect and negative affect in same- and different-sex parent families: no associations with parental gender and caregiving role

Positive and negative parental affect influence developing parent-child attachment relationships, especially during infancy as well as children's social-emotional, academic, and behavioral functioning later in life. Increasingly, because both mothers and fathers can play central caregiving roles, the parenting qualities of both parents demand consideration. Therefore, this study investigated whether parental gender and caregiving role were associated with mothers' and fathers' positive affect and negative affect during interactions with their 4-month-old firstborn infant, while determining whether parenting stress, infant temperament, having a singleton/twin, and living in the Netherlands, France, or the United Kingdom were related to parental positive affect and negative affect. In all, 135 different-sex, same-sex male, and same-sex female couples (113 fathers and 157 mothers, comprising 147 primary, and 123 secondary caregivers) who conceived through artificial reproductive techniques were studied. The couples were videorecorded at home while in feeding, cleaning, and playing contexts to assess the levels of positive and negative parental affect. In addition, the couples completed questionnaires about their caregiving role, parenting stress, and the infants' temperament. Mixed linear models indicated that the levels of positive and negative parental affect toward the infant in all contexts were not related to parental gender, caregiving role, the interaction between parental gender and caregiving role, parenting stress, infant temperament, or singleton/twin status. However, the target parental behaviors were related to the country of origin, suggesting differences among Dutch, French, and British parents. Overall, we found no evidence that gender or caregiving roles were associated with the levels of positive and negative affect shown by the parents.

Trait emotional intelligence and resilience: gender differences among university students

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have reported strong correlations of emotional intelligence (EI) with mental health and wellbeing; it is also a powerful predictor of social functioning and personal adaption. Resilience is the ability to adapt to significant life stressors and is also crucial for maintaining and restoring physical and mental health. The aim of this study was to investigate EI and resilience in healthy university students, with a focus on gender differences in EI and resilience components.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 277 datasets collected via online questionnaire were analyzed. The questionnaire comprised the Self-Report Emotional Ability Scale (SEAS) developed by Freudenthaler and Neubauer for assessing trait EI facets and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC).

RESULTS

Regarding trait EI, females scored significantly higher in the total score for interpersonal emotional skills and in the subscale "Perception of the emotions of others" than males. Men showed significantly higher total scores in intrapersonal emotion-related abilities than women, and in the subscales "Regulation of one's own emotions" and "Control over the expression of one's own emotions." Concerning resilience, female students had significantly higher scores in the CD-RISC subscales "Personal competence and tenacity," "Control," and "Spiritual influence." The intrapersonal trait EI (SEAS) sum score showed a significant positive correlation with the total scores of the CD-RISC (rs = 0.445, p < 0.001). There were also positive correlations between the interpersonal trait EI sum score and the CD-RISC total score (rs = 0.438, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The results indicate gender differences in specific facets of trait EI and resilience, and an interaction between the two psychological constructs was demonstrated regardless of gender. For prevention of mental disorders and to foster wellbeing, it might be helpful to focus on improvement of self-perception in girls and women, and on supporting emotional awareness towards other people's emotions in boys and men. Further studies in the field should address other populations.

Emotion dysregulation and couple relationship satisfaction of clinical couples: An actor-partner interdependence model

Despite the pivotal role that emotion regulation is thought to occupy for individual and relational wellbeing, emotion regulation in couples has been surprisingly understudied. With a clinical sample consisting of 275 couples starting therapy from 2017 to 2022, this study sought to clarify the actor and partner effects of clinical couples' emotion dysregulation on relationship satisfaction. Our results showed that, for partners' emotion dysregulation dimensions, while impulse control difficulties, lack of emotional awareness, and limited emotion regulation strategies were negatively predictive of couple relationship satisfaction, nonacceptance of negative emotions had a positive association with relationship satisfaction. Further, compared with other dimensions of emotion dysregulation, female limited emotion regulation strategies were greater predictors of decreased female relationship satisfaction. We also found significant gender differences in partners' emotion dysregulation dimensions and relationship satisfaction. These results show the significance of addressing emotion dysregulation for both partners at intra- and inter-personal levels simultaneously in couple therapy. Notably, the 275 couples in our sample did not report a clinically distressed relationship, though they attended at least one couple therapy session. Clinical implications and directions for future study are discussed.

Children's interaction with a dog when having Animal Assisted Activity in paediatric hospital care

The aim of the study was to investigate the interaction process between child and dog and how it possibly affects children's wellbeing during Animal Assisted Activity. Children have reported negative feelings such as fear and anxiety when being cared for in hospital and various kinds of complementary treatment can alleviate this. Different complementary treatments, including interaction with a dog, can create positive emotions and the treatment has been reported to have both physiological and psychological beneficial effects. However, there is a lack of studies describing children's interaction with a dog. This is an observational study, analysed from field notes with qualitative content analysis using a deductive approach. Children (n = 49) aged 3-18 years of age at a paediatric hospital voluntarily participated in the study. The results are reported on a six-level scale that describes the child-dog interaction: 1. Passive interaction, 2. One-way non-spoken communication, 3. Facilitating the interaction, 4. Interaction by activity encouragement, 5. Interaction initiated by the child, and 6. Interaction through deepened interplay. All children attained level five. Eighty-nine per cent attained level six and these children interacted fully, having a two-way deepened interplay with the dog. Further, when the interaction proceeded to a deepened interplay this affected the children positively both physically and emotionally. Structured Animal Assisted Activity with a dog that includes an introduction, an active part and a relaxing part is a suitable model to offer children in paediatric hospital care since the children attained a child-initiated interaction or interaction through deepened interplay.

Gender-Based Differential Item Function for the Positive and Negative Semantic Dimensions of the Relationship Satisfaction Scale with Item Response Theory

Relationship satisfaction is at the core of a robust social life and is essential to mental health. The positive and negative semantic dimensions of the relationship satisfaction (PN-SMD) scale is considered in the field of relationship studies to be a reliable tool for assessing the quality of a person's interpersonal relationships. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the PN-SMD scale by conducting multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) and differential item functioning (DIF) analyses, both of which are emerging assessment methods that focus on individual items. We recruited 511 Chinese undergraduate students for this study. Construct validity, internal consistency, and concurrent validity were assessed, and MIRT and DIF analyses were conducted. Five of the 14 items were found to have gender-based DIF traits, affecting the scale's construct validity. A revised nine-item scale (DIF items excluded) had a significantly better model fit and demonstrated comparable concurrent validity to the original scale. The implications of our results and future research directions are discussed.

A qualitative investigation of the hearing and hearing-aid related emotional states experienced by adults with hearing loss

OBJECTIVE

Despite previous research into the psychosocial impact of hearing loss, little detail is known regarding the hearing and hearing-aid-related emotional states experienced by adults with hearing loss in everyday life, and how they occur.

DESIGN

Individual remote semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and qualitatively analysed with reflexive and inductive thematic analysis.

STUDY SAMPLE

Seventeen participants (9 female) with hearing loss (age range 44-74 years) participated. Ten used bilateral hearing aids, four unilateral and three used no hearing aids at the time of interviews.

RESULTS

The four main themes which emerged from the data were: identity and self-image, autonomy and control, personality and dominant emotional states and situational cost/benefit analysis with respect to use of hearing aids.

CONCLUSIONS

This study goes beyond previous literature by providing a more detailed insight into emotions related to hearing and hearing-aids in adults. Hearing loss causes a multitude of negative emotions, while hearing aids generally reduce negative emotions and allow for more positive emotions. However, factors such as lifestyle, personality, situational control, the relationship with those in conversation and the attribution of blame are key to individual emotional experience. Clinical implications include the important role of social relationships in assessment and counselling.

Stress during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Emotional Eating Scale Adapted for Children and Adolescents (EES-C) Results in Girls: Polish Adolescents' COVID-19 Experience (PLACE-19) Study

Stress related to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic may have caused substantial changes in eating behaviors, and may have been associated with emotional eating, especially in female individuals. The aim of the present study was to analyze the association between stress perceived during the COVID-19 pandemic and emotional eating in girls, within the third phase of the Polish Adolescents' COVID-19 Experience (PLACE-19) Study. A nationwide sample of 818 Polish female adolescents, aged 15-20, was gathered. The adolescents were recruited to the study based on a random quota sampling procedure. Using a computer-assisted web interview (CAWI) survey, participants filled out the Emotional Eating Scale Adapted for Children and Adolescents (EES-C) to assess the urge to cope with negative emotions by eating, and the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire (ASQ) to assess perceived stress. Additionally, the data concerning body mass, height, as well as body mass change during the COVID-19 pandemic were verified. The groups most susceptible to emotional eating were excessive body mass female adolescents, those who gained weight during the COVID-19 pandemic and those experiencing high stress levels while facing negative emotions. In order to plan effective therapeutic interventions dealing with the issue of emotional eating, both psychological therapy and dietary strategy tailored to the individual should be considered for the indicated susceptible groups.

Emotional regulation strategies in daily life: the intensity of emotions and regulation choice

Objective

Emotion regulation is an adaptive ability affecting people's physical and mental health, quality of life and functioning. In the present study we focused on the influence of the intensity of experienced emotions on emotion regulation strategies (ERS) that are applied in everyday life.

Methods

For 7 days the participants kept an online diary where every day they described the situation which had aroused their strongest negative emotions. Next, they identified the emotions, their intensity and the type of applied strategies (acceptance vs. reappraisal vs. rumination vs. distraction vs. suppression). The study involved 88 people N = 88, which gives 538 observations.

Results

The obtained results indicate that the intensity of emotions affects the choice of regulation strategies. When the intensity increases, people are more likely to choose the rumination strategy and less likely to choose the reappraisal strategy. However, the expected relationship between the intensity and the number of regulation strategies was not confirmed. In turn, it was gender (male) that turned out to be associated with a greater number of strategies used.

Conclusion

The concern of this research was to look at making regulatory decisions in personally relevant and complex everyday situations. Although the emotions experienced in response to a difficult situation were varied, the intensity of the emotional experience was an important factor determining the choice of a regulation strategy. It indicates that this emotional dimension is a basic and determining aspect in people's regulatory capabilities. These results also indicate that perhaps men in a situation perceived as stressful and worthy of emotional involvement use more regulatory strategies than women. These findings may find an application in all kinds of psychological interventions (e.g., psychotherapy, anger management therapies).

Relationship between adult attachment and cognitive emotional regulation style in women and men

Cognitive emotion regulation (CER) strategies are useful in evaluating the risk of developing emotional disorders and that they may define subjects' styles. This study aims to explore the extent to which specific styles of CER strategies relate to the anxious and avoidant attachment dimensions in adults and whether such relationships operate similarly for women and men. Two hundred and fifteen adults (between 22 and 67 years old) completed the Spanish versions of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and the Experiences in Close Relationships instrument. Cluster analysis, ANOVA and Student's t-test were used. Our results show that women and men can be successfully classified into two CER clusters (Protective and Vulnerable), distinguished by the higher use in the protective cluster of the CER strategies considered most adaptive and complex (Acceptance, Positive Refocusing, Refocus on Planning, Positive Reappraisal, and Putting into Perspective). However, only in women were the anxious and avoidant attachment dimensions significantly associated with CER style. In conclusion, from a clinical and interpersonal perspective, it is interesting to be able to predict the belonging to a Protective or Vulnerable coping style by analysing the CER strategies and to know their relationship with the adult affective system.

When mothers are more negative while fathers are less positive: Offspring's temporary feelings of depression affect parental work engagement via the asymmetric effects of emotions transmission

There is a sharp rise in depressive moods from childhood to adolescence. Since moods can cross over from a child to a parent and spill over from family to work, offspring's temporary feelings of depression represent potential risks for parents' occupational health and well-being. In the current study, the authors investigate the impacts of offspring's temporary feelings of depression on mothers' work engagement via the transfer of negative moods, and on fathers' work engagement via the transfer of positive moods. Participants were 265 full-time employees and their adolescent offspring. The results confirmed our hypotheses. Offspring's temporary feelings of depression were associated with less maternal work engagement via increased maternal negative moods and endangered paternal work engagement via decreased paternal positive moods. The finding implies that negative emotions may be related to the occupational health of working mothers, while positive emotions may be related to the occupational health of working fathers.

Affective norms for emotional ambiguity in valence, origin, and activation spaces

We introduce the first tool to measure the emotional ambiguity on three bivariate spaces: valence (dimensions of positivity and negativity); origin (automaticity and reflectiveness); and activation (subjective significance and arousal). Our database consists of 2650 word stimuli, assessed by 1380 participants in total with the usage of Self-Assessment Manikin scales for each dimension. We show that the ambiguity of valence, origin, and activation may be successfully perceived and reported in a behavioral procedure. The study has allowed us to compute characteristics of each word for every emotional dimension, thus providing the category of intensity of ambiguity (low, moderate, or high). We also studied the curvilinear relationships between the dimensions. Possible usage, specifics, and limitations of our database are discussed.

Development and validation of a computer program for measuring emotional awareness in German-The geLEAS (German electronic Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale)

Introduction

Emotional awareness is the ability to identify, interpret, and verbalize the emotional responses of oneself and those of others. The Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS) is an objective performance inventory that accurately measures an individual's emotional awareness. LEAS assessments are typically scored manually and are therefore both time consuming and cognitively demanding. This study presents a German electronic scoring program for the LEAS (geLEAS), the first non-English computerized assessment approach of the LEAS.

Methods

Data were collected from a healthy German community sample (N = 208). We developed a modern software for computerizing LEAS scoring, an open-source text-based emotion assessment tool called VETA (Verbal Emotion in Text Assessment). We investigated if the software would arrive at similar results as hand scoring in German and if emotional awareness would show similar associations to sociodemographic information and psychometric test results as in previous studies.

Results

The most frequently used scoring method of the geLEAS shows excellent internal consistency (α = 0.94) and high correlations with hand scoring (r = 0.97, p < 0.001). Higher emotional awareness measured by the geLEAS is associated with female gender, older age, and higher academic achievement (all p < 0.001). Moreover, it is linked to the ability to identify emotions in facial expressions (p < 0.001) and more accurate theory of mind functioning (p < 0.001).

Discussion

An automated method for evaluating emotional awareness greatly expands the ability to study emotional awareness in clinical care and research. This study aims to advance the use of emotional awareness as a clinical and scientific parameter.

Psychopathic tendencies are selectively associated with reduced emotional awareness in the context of early adversity

It is unclear at present whether psychopathic tendencies are associated with lower or higher levels of emotional awareness (EA). Given that psychopathy includes a proficiency for manipulating others, one might expect an elevated ability to identify and use information about others' emotions. On the other hand, empathic deficits in psychopathy could arise from reduced emotional awareness. Further, heterogeneity in psychopathy may also play a role, wherein 'secondary' psychopathy is associated with early adversity and high negative affect, while 'primary' psychopathy is not. In this paper, we tested the relationship between EA and psychopathic tendencies in 177 undergraduate students (40 males) who completed the levels of emotional awareness scale (LEAS), the triarchic psychopathy measure (TPM), the affective (empathy-related) subscales of the interpersonal reactivity index (IRI), and two measures of early adversity: the childhood experiences of care and abuse questionnaire (CECA) and the childhood trauma questionnaire (CTQ). We found that lower LEAS scores were associated with higher TPM and lower IRI empathy scores, but these relationships were primarily present in those with early adversity and high negative affect. This suggests that lower EA may be selectively associated with higher levels of secondary psychopathy, while those with higher levels of primary psychopathy remain capable of higher EA.

Exploring the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and hoarding behavior: A moderated multi-mediation model

Hoarding behavior may not only interfere with hoarders’ daily lives but may also endanger the community. However, few studies have investigated the role of personality characteristics in hoarding behavior. We hypothesized that dispositional mindfulness would be negatively associated with hoarding behavior, and tested mechanisms and gender differences in this association. An online survey was conducted in a sample of 533 Chinese adults (262 women, Mage = 26.82; SD = 6.30). Regression-based analyses showed that mindfulness was associated with less hoarding behavior through higher self-esteem and lower emotion dysregulation. Moreover, gender moderated the mediating effect of emotion dysregulation in the association between mindfulness and hoarding behavior. Specifically, the indirect association was only significant for women. These findings provide a deeper understanding of how, why, and for whom dispositional mindfulness is negatively associated with hoarding behavior, they provide support for self-completion theory and the cognitive-behavioral model of hoarding, and they have heuristic value for future research.

Gender differences in interoceptive accuracy and emotional ability: An explanation for incompatible findings

Most theories of emotion describe a crucial role for interoceptive accuracy, the perception of the body's internal physiological signals, in emotional experience. Despite support for interoceptive accuracy's role in emotion, findings of gender differences in emotional and interoceptive processing are incompatible with theory; women typically show poorer interoceptive accuracy, but women often outperform men on measures of emotional processing and recognition. This suggests a need to re-evaluate the relationship between interoceptive accuracy and emotion considering sex and gender. Here we extend Pennebaker and Roberts' (1992) theory of gender differences in the use of interoceptive signals for emotional experience, proposing that language socialisation may result in gender differences in the propensity to label internal state changes as physiological or emotional, respectively. Despite outstanding questions concerning the fractionation of interoceptive and emotional domains, this theory provides a plausible explanation for seemingly incompatible findings of gender differences in interoceptive and emotional abilities.

Higher emotional awareness is associated with greater domain-general reflective tendencies

The tendency to reflect on the emotions of self and others is a key aspect of emotional awareness (EA)—a trait widely recognized as relevant to mental health. However, the degree to which EA draws on general reflective cognition vs. specialized socio-emotional mechanisms remains unclear. Based on a synthesis of work in neuroscience and psychology, we recently proposed that EA is best understood as a learned application of domain-general cognitive processes to socio-emotional information. In this paper, we report a study in which we tested this hypothesis in 448 (125 male) individuals who completed measures of EA and both general reflective cognition and socio-emotional performance. As predicted, we observed a significant relationship between EA measures and both general reflectiveness and socio-emotional measures, with the strongest contribution from measures of the general tendency to engage in effortful, reflective cognition. This is consistent with the hypothesis that EA corresponds to the application of general reflective cognitive processes to socio-emotional signals.

Placebo nasal spray protects female participants from experimentally induced sadness and concomitant changes in autonomic arousal

BACKGROUND

To investigate the powerful placebo effects in antidepressant drug trials and their mechanisms, recent pioneering experimental studies showed that expectation manipulation combined with an active placebo attenuated induced sadness. In the present study, we aimed at extending these findings by assessing the psychophysiological response in addition to mere self-report.

METHODS

One hundred and thirteen healthy female students were randomly assigned to a drug expectation group (active placebo, positive treatment expectation), placebo expectation group (active placebo, no treatment expectation), or a no-treatment group (no placebo, no treatment expectation). After placebo intake, sadness was induced by self-deprecating statements using the Velten method combined with sad music, including a rumination phase. Sadness was measured using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule Expanded Form (PANAS-X). Heart rate and skin conductance were assessed continuously.

RESULTS

After mood induction and after rumination, self-reported sadness was significantly lower, and skin conductance level was significantly higher, in the drug expectation group than in the no-treatment group. The mood induction was further accompanied by a heart rate deceleration within all groups.

LIMITATIONS

Generalizability is limited by sample selectivity and focusing on sadness as a symptom of depression, exclusively.

CONCLUSION

Expectation-induced placebo effects significantly influenced sadness-correlated changes in autonomic arousal, and not only subjectively reported sadness, indicating that placebo effects in the context of affect are not merely due to subjective response bias. The systematic modification of treatment expectation could be utilized in clinical practice to optimize current therapeutic approaches to improve mood regulation.

Socio-political context as determinant of childhood maltreatment: a population-based study among women and men in East and West Germany

Aim

Being subjected to childhood maltreatment has devastating long-term adverse effects and is a major risk factor for mental health problems in adult life. There is empirical support that socio-political factors can be risk factors for childhood maltreatment. Here we examine whether socio-political context predicts self-rated childhood maltreatment in a sample of the German population.

Methods

Data were drawn from surveys of representative samples of the East and West German population, including participants born 1980 or earlier (5836 participants; 3146 women). Childhood maltreatment was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Screener, the German short screening version of the childhood trauma questionnaire. To examine whether socio-political context is a predictor of childhood maltreatment in women and men, we conducted logistic regression analyses.

Results

We found that in women, socio-political context (West Germany) significantly predicted childhood maltreatment (odds ratio [95% confidence interval] 1.7 [1.2–2.5], 1.6 [1.1–2.3], 2.5 [1.6–4.1] and 1.8 [1.3–2.5] for emotional neglect, and emotional, physical and sexual violence, respectively). In men, the socio-political context (West Germany) was a predictor of physical and sexual violence (odds ratio [95% confidence interval] 1.8 [1.2–2.7] and 2.5 [1.4–4.5]), respectively. Concerning emotional neglect and violence, socio-political context was not a significant predictor in men. The examination of differential item functioning revealed that our results could not be attributed to differential response behaviour between East and West Germans caused by item bias.

Conclusions

The results suggest that socio-political context is an important determinant to consider when examining childhood maltreatment. Future research should continue to focus on risk and protective factors at the societal level, such as legal frameworks addressing gender equality and child protection laws, to create further evidence for population-wide prevention strategies ensuring safe, nurturing and thriving environments for children and families.

Assessing the acceptability, feasibility, and usefulness of a psychosocial screening tool to patients and clinicians in a clinical genetics service in Australia

Increasing demand for clinical genetic services may impact the resources and quality of genetic counseling, potentially impacting patient outcomes. Using a psychosocial screening tool may aid the provision of genetic counseling by reliably identifying patients' psychosocial needs. The Genetic Psychosocial Risk Instrument (GPRI) is a validated genetic-specific screening tool designed to identify psychological risk factors that predict distress in patients having genetic testing. This questionnaire-based study investigated the perceived acceptability, feasibility, and usefulness of the GPRI in patients and clinicians in routine clinical genetic practice. From December 2018 to January 2019, 154 patients attending an Australian clinical genetic service were invited to complete a paper-based survey that included the GPRI. The GPRI was scored and provided to the clinician for use in the appointment. In February 2019, clinicians completed an anonymous online survey regarding acceptability, feasibility, and usefulness of the GPRI. Descriptive statistics, chi-squared, t tests, and regression analyses were used to analyze the patient data, and descriptive statistics were employed for clinician surveys. A total of 145 patients participated (94% response rate). The average GPRI score was 46.3 (95% CI 43.6-49.0) with 41% of patients meeting the 50-point threshold indicating high risk for psychological distress. The GPRI was highly acceptable to patients, regardless of their level of psychosocial risk. Fourteen clinicians participated (54% response rate): 85% found the GPRI not too time consuming, and 86% believed it improved patient care by identifying patient needs. All were willing to use the GPRI routinely. The use of the GPRI is highly acceptable to patients and clinicians in this setting, assisting in identifying patients at risk for distress, prompting clinicians to address concerns, provide psychosocial support, and consider ongoing referral. As 41% of patients' scores indicated a high risk of distress, the GPRI is an important tool for potentially enhancing overall patient outcomes.

The Link between Attachment Style and Self-Reported Olfactory Ability: A Preliminary Investigation

Individuals in healthy romantic relationships gain significant benefits to their psychological wellbeing and physiological health. Notably, the majority of relationship research has focused on how adult attachment influences these relationship outcomes while the role of olfaction remains an emerging research focus. The aim of the current study was to bring together these seemingly unrelated factors–attachment and olfaction–in an online quasi-experimental design. The participants were 401 undergraduate students, predominantly females, ranging in age from 17 to 70 years. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires that evaluated their attachment tendencies, olfactory ability and experiences in romantic relationships. Results indicated that attachment insecurity, across both attachment anxiety and avoidance, was associated with decreased olfactory functioning for females. These findings provide preliminary evidence that olfaction is related to romantic relationship maintenance and suggests that body odors could be fundamental for evoking the attachment system. These findings also elicit enticing new avenues of research which can assist psychologists to provide targeted treatments to individuals with olfactory deficits and insecure attachment tendencies.

Levels of Emotional Awareness: Theory and Measurement of a Socio-Emotional Skill

Emotional awareness is the ability to conceptualize and describe one's own emotions and those of others. Over thirty years ago, a cognitive-developmental theory of emotional awareness patterned after Piaget's theory of cognitive development was created as well as a performance measure of this ability called the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS). Since then, a large number of studies have been completed in healthy volunteers and clinical populations including those with mental health or systemic medical disorders. Along the way, there have also been further refinements and adaptations of the LEAS such as the creation of a digital version in addition to further advances in the theory itself. This review aims to provide a comprehensive summary of the evolving theoretical background, measurement methods, and empirical findings with the LEAS. The LEAS is a reliable and valid measure of emotional awareness. Evidence suggests that emotional awareness facilitates better emotion self-regulation, better ability to navigate complex social situations and enjoy relationships, and better physical and mental health. This is a relatively new but promising area of research in the domain of socio-emotional skills. The paper concludes with some recommendations for future research.

Argentinean Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ)

The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) is a self-report measure designed to assess the two most widely studied strategies of Gross' model: cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. Even though there are two Spanish adaptations of the ERQ, region-specific linguistic factors and dialects must also be considered when adapting a test for another country in order to ensure equivalent evaluations across cultures. The present work developed an Argentinean adaptation of the ERQ. Additionally, the study evaluated its psychometric properties and associations with theoretically related constructs. Study 1 consist of the translation the ERQ into Argentinean Spanish and the analysis of its internal structure and reliability in a sample of 2957 participants. The results supported a two-factor structure with good data fit, adequate factor loadings, and good test-retest reliability and internal consistency. Expected age and gender differences in the use of reappraisal and suppression were also observed. Study 2 analyzed the external validity (concurrent and convergent) of the ERQ adaptation in a sample of 2160 participants. Theory-consistent associations were found with emotion regulation mechanisms, anxiety, depression, and personality traits. In summary, the findings support the validity of a new ERQ adaptation and its use in Argentina.

Testing the associations between dispositions toward ridicule and being laughed at and romantic jealousy in couples: An APIM analysis

OBJECTIVE

How people deal with ridicule and being laughed at plays a role in romantic life. We extend the research on the fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia), joy in being laughed at (gelotophilia), and joy in laughing at others (katagelasticism) by testing their associations with romantic jealousy and its consequences for relationship satisfaction (RS).

METHOD

Our study is based on Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) analyses of self and partner ratings of the laughter-related dispositions using data from 228 opposite-sex couples. APIM mediation analyses estimated indirect effects of jealousy on the associations between the dispositions and RS.

RESULTS

As expected, gelotophobia-related positively to jealousy in actors, whereas gelotophilia and katagelasticism showed differential relationships. The analysis of partner effects showed that the actual expressions in the dispositions are unrelated to jealousy but perceived expressions account robustly for experiences of jealousy beyond self-ratings. Finally, jealousy had indirect effects on the associations between the dispositions and RS.

CONCLUSION

These findings contribute to our understanding of the role of dealing with ridicule and laughter in romantic life. We embed the findings into the literature, discuss practical implications, and derive future directions to expand the knowledge on gelotophobia, gelotophilia, and katagelasticism in romantic life.

Are emotions better left unknown? Sex-specific effects of emotional awareness and daily hassles on internalizing symptoms among college students

Amid growing concern about internalizing disorders on college campuses, few researchers have examined the ways emotional awareness deficits may contribute to risk. We examined the effect of the interaction between daily hassles, emotional awareness, and sex on depression and anxiety symptoms. Participants: Data were collected from 196 college students (M_age = 19.6, SD_age = 2.26) at a large university in June 2016. Methods: Participants completed online surveys to assess daily hassles, emotional awareness, and internalizing symptoms. Results: Daily hassles were significantly associated with internalizing symptoms, p < .01. For women, daily hassles were significantly associated with internalizing symptoms at all levels of emotional awareness, ps < .05. For men, daily hassles were significantly associated with internalizing symptoms only at high levels of emotional awareness, ps < .05. Conclusion: Future researchers could examine the context in which emotional awareness may be most beneficial to college students.

Addictive internet behaviors: The role of trait emotional intelligence, self-esteem, age, and gender

Internet is essential part of everyday life and certainly facilitate it on several levels. It is a helpful information tool, and knowledge, but its unlimited range often is risky for users. The behaviors and outcomes of internet abuse have already been well-documented in the literature; less is known about the role of personal factors that reinforce internet addiction. Based on the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution model (I-PACE), the current study investigates the role of trait emotional intelligence and self-esteem, age, and gender in relation to addictive internet behaviors. We conducted an online investigation among respondents. The participants were Italian university students who voluntarily completed the Abuse Internet Addiction scale (UADI) and the Rosenberg Self-esteem scale. Path analysis results revealed that both trait emotional intelligence and self-esteem had a protective direct effect on addictive internet behaviors. Age negatively affects addictive internet behaviors; younger are more likely to develop addictive internet behaviors than older individuals. Finally, we did not find an effect of gender on addictive internet behaviors. Our results suggest the need to develop prevention plans for addictive internet behaviors and educational programs to increase emotional intelligence and self-esteem components to help younger to improve interpersonal and emotional management skills to better handle their internet use.

Development of a Novel Method of Emotion Differentiation That Uses Open-Ended Descriptions of Momentary Affective States

Emotion differentiation (ED) has been conceptualized as a trait that facilitates emotion regulation and increases well-being. Yet basic questions remain unanswered about how best to assess it and whether favorable outcomes can be observed only during times of stress. The goal of the present research was to develop a novel behavioral (specificity) index of ED. We conducted two daily diary studies (N = 111-190) in which we included different measures of ED, well-being, and emotion regulation. The different ED measures were largely unrelated to each other. In both studies, the specificity index of ED showed a positive association with daily well-being, but in Study 2, this association held only on days with a negative event. Results regarding ED and the use of emotion-regulation strategies were inconsistent across strategies and studies. Possible reasons for these mixed results (e.g., sample selection, context sensitivity of regulation strategies) are discussed.

Emotional intelligence and perceived stress among undergraduate students of arts and science colleges in Puducherry, India: A cross-sectional study

Background

The concept of emotional intelligence has gained great popularity in the last few decades. With significant rise in stress and other emotional disturbances among students, it becomes necessary to determine whether high emotional intelligence could help manage perceived stress better. This study aims to assess emotional intelligence and perceived stress among undergraduate students of Arts and Science colleges, to determine the association of emotional intelligence with perceived stress, academic performance, and selected socio-demographic factors.

Methods and Material

Using multistage sampling, 720 students aged 18 years and above were selected from four colleges in Puducherry. Emotional intelligence and perceived stress were assessed using standard self-administered questionnaires "The Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SEIT)" and "Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14)," respectively.

Results

The median (IQR) Emotional Intelligence score and Perceived Stress score were 127 (114-137) and 43 (39-47), respectively. The study was not able to establish a significant association between emotional intelligence and perceived stress. A weak significant correlation existed between emotional intelligence and academic performance. Multiple variable analysis revealed gender, year of study, volunteering with youth organizations, and mother's occupation to be significantly associated with emotional intelligence (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

Women, final year students and those who volunteered with youth organizations had higher emotional intelligence. Children of mothers who were employed in knowledge-intensive occupations were more emotionally intelligent. Academic performance had a weak positive significant correlation with emotional intelligence.

Can Emotional Awareness of Liars Influence Deception Detection Effectiveness?

Emotional awareness is defined as the ability to cognitively process emotional arousal and the expression thereof. When telling a lie, emotional awareness comes into play: the most important objective is to conceal one's true emotions and fabricate false ones; simultaneously, however, one must control for the affective state of those who are to believe the falsehood; via such efforts, one can assess the potential for success in the deceit. With this in mind, we hypothesized that emotional awareness may play a vital role in the process of creating a convincing lie. Study participants (Group A, N = 40) were asked to complete the Polish adaptation of the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS) and record videos consisting of plotting some truth or lie, which were then rated as true or false by 400 volunteers (Group B). Both samples (Group A and Group B) were recruited among students attending Polish universities. The results allowed us to confirm correlational relationships between emotional awareness (general, self-awareness, and awareness of others' emotions) and the effectiveness of the deception. We were also able to confirm previous studies' results about the truth bias in detecting lies and gender differences in emotional awareness.

Expectation-induced placebo effect on acute sadness in women with major depression: An experimental investigation

BACKGROUND

Meta-analyses demonstrate that placebo effects play an important role in antidepressant treatment. Expectations seem to constitute a highly relevant placebo mechanism in this context. This study investigated whether an expectation manipulation combined with the intake of an active placebo could reduce acute sadness in depressed participants following a sadness-inducing mood manipulation.

METHODS

Women who suffered from a major depressive episode (N = 94) were randomly allocated to the drug expectation group (expectation to receive a fast-operating antidepressant), the placebo expectation group (expectation to receive a placebo) or the no treatment group (no expectation, no placebo). The drug expectation and the placebo expectation group received a placebo. All participants watched a sadness-inducing film. Sadness was assessed at baseline, after randomization and after placebo intake and mood induction. Data were analyzed by a 3 × 3 analysis of variance.

RESULTS

There were significant between-group differences in sadness change from the baseline after mood induction. While sadness increased in the no treatment group, it did not change in the placebo expectation group. In the drug expectation group, sadness even decreased.

LIMITATIONS

Only a single medication intake was simulated. Effects on acute sadness do not allow inferences about depression symptoms.

CONCLUSION

This experimental study found a placebo effect on sadness in clinically depressed participants. The effects were even larger than expected. Future research must investigate placebo effects on depression symptoms as well as long-term placebo intake.

Alexithymia and the Evaluation of Emotionally Valenced Scenes

Alexithymia is a personality trait characterized by difficulties identifying and describing feelings (DIF and DDF) and an externally oriented thinking (EOT) style. The primary aim of the present study was to investigate links between alexithymia and the evaluation of emotional scenes. We also investigated whether viewers' evaluations of emotional scenes were better predicted by specific alexithymic traits or by individual differences in sensory processing sensitivity (SPS). Participants (N = 106) completed measures of alexithymia and SPS along with a task requiring speeded judgments of the pleasantness of 120 moderately arousing scenes. We did not replicate laterality effects previously described with the scene perception task. Compared to those with weak alexithymic traits, individuals with moderate-to-strong alexithymic traits were less likely to classify positively valenced scenes as pleasant and were less likely to classify scenes with (vs. without) implied motion (IM) in a way that was consistent with normative scene valence ratings. In addition, regression analyses confirmed that reporting strong EOT and a tendency to be easily overwhelmed by busy sensory environments negatively predicted classification accuracy for positive scenes, and that both DDF and EOT negatively predicted classification accuracy for scenes depicting IM. These findings highlight the importance of accounting for stimulus characteristics and individual differences in specific traits associated with alexithymia and SPS when investigating the processing of emotional stimuli. Learning more about the links between these individual difference variables may have significant clinical implications, given that alexithymia is an important, transdiagnostic risk factor for a wide range of psychopathologies.

Effectiveness of postpartum sexual health education programme structured according to Levine's conservation model: An interventional study

AIM

This study aimed to determine the effects of a postpartum sexual health education programme structured according to Levine's conservation model on postpartum women.

METHODS

The interventional study was completed with 67 postpartum women. The intervention group was given the postpartum sexual health education programme structured according to Levine's conservation model. The control group received routine discharge training. The data were collected using a personal information form, The Index of Female Sexual Function, Arizona Sexual Experience Scale and Golombok-Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction.

RESULTS

It has been determined that the decrease in sexual arousal and desire is the first among postpartum sexual problems experienced by women. This study demonstrated that sexual function, sexual satisfaction and sexual response were higher in nonbreastfeeding women, women who had sexual intercourse one to three times a week and women who could talk to health care professionals on sexual matters. After the programme, the intervention group had more adequate sexual function, and they developed a strong, easy and satisfactory sexual response than the control group (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

This programme was effective in increasing the sexual functions and satisfaction of the postpartum women. Models provide guidance to nurses for provision of care in a systematic manner.

Emotional Face Processing among Treatment-Seeking Individuals with Alcohol Use Disorders: Investigating Sex Differences and Relationships with Interpersonal Functioning

BACKGROUND

Individuals in treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD) display deficits across a broad range of cognitive processes. Disruptions in affective processing are understudied, but may be particularly important for interpersonal functioning and post-treatment adaptation. In particular, the role of sex in AUD-associated emotion processing deficits remains largely unaddressed and was a focus of the current investigation.

METHODS

Fifty-six treatment seekers with AUD and 54 healthy community controls (N = 110) were administered an emotional face discrimination task. Non-affective tasks included a sex-discrimination task and two brief measures of executive functioning. Two measures of interpersonal function were included.

RESULTS

Emotion processing deficits were evident among women with AUD relative to other groups. This sex-contingent relationship was not observed in measures of executive function, sex-discrimination or interpersonal problems, although individuals with AUD performed more poorly on these measures.

CONCLUSIONS

Results were consistent with extant literatures examining cognitive, affective and interpersonal functioning among individuals with AUD, and provided novel evidence of vulnerability to alcohol-associated deficits in emotion processing among women. While similar sex-contingent effects were not apparent among other measures, results support modest interrelationships, specifically including the import of emotion processing to interpersonal functioning in AUD. These data offer guidance for further systematic investigation and highlight important considerations for future relapse-prevention and recovery-facilitation efforts.

Genetic Influences on Social Relationships: Sex Differences in the Mediating Role of Personality and Social Cognition

Objectives

In humans (and primates more generally), evolutionary fitness arises by two separate routes: conventional reproduction build around dyadic relationships and, reflecting the processes of group augmentation selection, how well individuals are embedded in their community. These processes are facilitated by a suite of genetically inherited neuroendocrines and neurotransmitters. It is not, however, known whether these effects are directly due to genetic factors or are mediated by aspects of personality, or whether there are sex differences in the way this is organised.

Methods

We examine whether dispositional factors related to the processing of social information, such as personality (Big 5 and Impulsivity), attachment style (Anxious and Avoidant dimensions) and sociocognitive capacity (emotion recognition) mediate associations between variation in receptor genes for oxytocin, vasopressin, beta-endorphin, dopamine, serotonin, testosterone and two core social relationship indices (the Sociosexual Orientation Index [SOI] and Support Network size).

Results

In men, variation in dopamine genes indirectly influences SOI through its effect on Impulsivity. In contrast, in women, variation in endorphin and vasopressin genes independently affect Openness to Experience, which mediates indirect effects of these genes on SOI. Moreover, endorphin gene variation also impacts on Network Size in women (but not men), via Extraversion.

Conclusions

These findings reveal that dispositional aspects of personality mediate some genetic effects on behaviour, thereby extending our understanding of how genetic and dispositional variation interact to determine individual differences in human sexual and social cognition and behaviour. The differences between the sexes seem to reflect differences in the two sexes’ social strategies.

Higher Emotional Awareness Is Associated With Reduced Pain in Irritable Bowel Syndrome Patients: Preliminary Results

OBJECTIVE

Recent evidence indicates that interventions designed to improve emotional awareness reduce pain in irritable bowel syndrome. This preliminary study sought to determine whether trait emotional awareness is associated with typical pain in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

METHODS

Healthy volunteers (n = 66) and irritable bowel syndrome patients (n = 50) were asked to self-report their typical levels of pain intensity and complete both the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale and the Somatization Scale of the Brief Symptom Inventory.

RESULTS

Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale scores in irritable bowel syndrome patients did not differ from scores in healthy participants; however, higher Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale scores in irritable bowel syndrome patients predicted lower levels of typical pain intensity (r(45) = -.36, p = .01, 95% CI [-.59, -.08]) and lower levels of somatization (r(45)= -.31, p = .03, 95% CI [-.55, -.02]).

CONCLUSIONS

This inverse relationship between emotional awareness and both pain and somatization symptoms is consistent with evidence that irritable bowel syndrome patients experience reduced pain from therapies designed to improve emotional awareness. The Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale could potentially be used to identify patients who could benefit from such therapy and could potentially be a moderator of response to efficacious psychological therapies.

Emotional Awareness Predicts Specific Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Outcomes for Anxious Youth

The current study examined emotional awareness as a predictor of differential outcomes for youth treated for an anxiety disorder. 37 youth ages 7-15 received either individual cognitive-behavioral therapy or family cognitive-behavioral therapy to treat generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, and/or social phobia. Diagnoses were determined by independent evaluators, following semi-structured interviews (ADIS-IV-C/P) with youth and their parents. Self-report questionnaires, including the multidimensional anxiety scale for children and the emotion expressivity scale for children, were completed at pre- and posttreatment. Youth with higher levels of pretreatment emotional awareness had better treatment outcomes than youth with lower levels of emotional awareness, with specific regard to improved ability to cope with worry. Findings suggest that higher levels of emotional awareness facilitate better specific outcomes for anxious youth. Findings highlight the importance of understanding the emotions associated with worry during the treatment process.

Selbstregulation im Bewerbungsprozess

Zusammenfassung. Der Affekt (AV) von Bewerberinnen und Bewerbern ( N = 173) und seine Änderungen im Bewerbungsprozess wurde basierend auf der Selbstregulations-Theorie untersucht. Der Affekt wurde erstmals explizit und implizit unmittelbar vor und nach typischen Aufgaben (Stellenauswahl, Interview) in einem realitätsnah simulierten, mehrwöchigen Bewerbungsprozess erfasst. Die Auswertung erfolgte mittels 2-faktoriellem between-within-subjects-Design mit den Faktoren (UV ) Handlungskontrolle und Bewerbungsprozess. Separate Analysen zeigen signifikante Haupteffekte ( p < .001) von Bewerbungsprozess und Handlungskontrolle auf den positiven und negativen expliziten und den negativen impliziten Affekt. Handlungsorientierte Bewerberinnen und Bewerber berichten mehr positiven Affekt (explizit) und weniger negativen Affekt (explizit, implizit) als lageorientierte Bewerberinnen und Bewerber. Die Korrelation impliziten und expliziten negativen Affekts vor und nach dem Interview ähnelt der unter neutralen Bedingungen. Die Befunde sprechen für vorteilhafte Selbstdarstellung, jedoch nicht für eine Verstellung der Bewerberinnen und Bewerber. Handlungskontrolle beeinflusst den impliziten und expliziten Affekt der Bewerbenden und so ihre affektive Selbstpräsentation.

To know or not to know? Mentalization as protection from somatic complaints

Somatization processes are usually associated with a lack of insight or with emotional unawareness, especially in adolescents where the ability for self-reflection is beginning to mature. However, the extent to which different levels of insight explain variations in somatization remains understudied. This study aimed to evaluate whether high-level emotional awareness (comprehension) but not low-level awareness (only attention) is needed to psychologically cope with suffering, thus leading to lower somatization. Specific predictions were: 1) High attention along with High comprehension will be associated with significantly lower frequency of somatic complaints than other combinations (Low attention and Low comprehension, or High attention but Low comprehension); 2) In absence of comprehension, no attention will be more optimal than attention only, because only-attention might work as an amplificatory of suffering without the possibility of processing it. Self-reports of meta-cognitive processes, somatization, and control variables were obtained from 264 adolescents from a non-clinical population (54.5% female; aged 12-18, M = 14.7, SD = 1.7). In line with expectations, results revealed significant differences in the effects of insight positions on somatization: Attention+Comprehension (M = 4.9, SE = 0.9) < Nothing (M = 7.1, SE = 0.3) < Only attention (M = 8.9, SE = 0.7). Compared to Nothing, Attention+comprehension was associated with significantly reduced somatic complaints (B = -2.2, p = 0.03, 95% CI -4,1 to 0.2). However, Only attention was associated with increased somatic complaints compared to the other two conditions (B = 1.8, p = 0.03, 95% CI 0.2 to 3.4; B = 4, CI 95% 1.6-6.3, p = 0.001, respectively). This highlights the role of higher-order awareness (i.e., comprehension or clarity) in the processing of suffering and stresses its value in the adaptive coping of emotional distress.

Emotional Intelligence and the Practice of Organized Physical-Sport Activity in Children

Aim: Taking into account Bar-On’s postulations about social-emotional intelligence, the aim of the current work is to find out the differences in the five dimensions of this intelligence between children that practice organized sport and those children that do not practice it at the elementary school level. Method: A randomly selected sample of 940 children from elementary schools, ranging in age from 6 to 12 years old, attending different schools from the Autonomous Community of Extremadura (Spain), was used. Results: The results showed that children who practiced organized sport had better abilities at the intrapersonal and interpersonal level, better adaptability and mood states, and greater emotional intelligence than those who did not. The findings regarding gender and age indicated greater values in girls of emotional intelligence, highlighting the interpersonal dimension, as well as mood state scores, whereas younger children showed greater intrapersonal intelligence and less stress management. Moreover, children who practiced for three or more hours per day had a greater ability to cope with stress than those children who practiced for fewer hours a day. Conclusions: To conclude, it is important to promote federative sport practice in elementary education in order to ensure that children learn to better regulate and manage their emotions.

The Mobile Emotional Intelligence Test (MEIT): An Ability Test to Assess Emotional Intelligence at Work

The present study analyzes the Mobile Emotional Intelligence Test (MEIT), a new ability-test to assess emotional intelligence (EI) in a digital way. Taking into account the importance of emotional competencies in the study of employees’ wellbeing and performance, the instrument tested is based on the most supported ability model (Four-branch Mayer and Salovey Model), and it evaluates emotional capacity through nine different emotional tasks. A total of 1549 participants (841 women and 708 men) with an average age of 27.77 (SD = 8.75) fulfilled the MEIT, consisting of 42 items. The score on the test is based on expert judgments: professional psychologists and emotional intelligence specialists. In addition to the MEIT test, a series of questionnaires was used to assess relevant constructs which research has shown to be related to EI (general intelligence, personality traits, and life satisfaction); besides, another measure of emotional intelligence trait (TMMS-24) was included. The results showed that the MEIT is a reliable and valid test that is useful for both scientific research and individual assessment. Statistical analysis provides evidence of the reliability and validity of the three-factor structure of the questionnaire. Moreover, internal consistency measures were high. In line with previous studies, MEIT maintains the expected relationships with the rest of the constructs studied. Finally, the limitations of the present study and the need for future research on emotional intelligence assessment are discussed.

Higher levels of trait emotional awareness are associated with more efficient global information integration throughout the brain: a graph-theoretic analysis of resting state functional connectivity

Previous studies have suggested that trait differences in emotional awareness (tEA) are clinically relevant, and associated with differences in neural structure/function. While multiple leading theories suggest that conscious awareness requires widespread information integration across the brain, no study has yet tested the hypothesis that higher tEA corresponds to more efficient brain-wide information exchange. Twenty-six healthy volunteers (13 females) underwent a resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan, and completed the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS; a measure of tEA) and the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI-II; a measure of general intelligence quotient [IQ]). Using a whole-brain (functionally defined) region of interest (ROI) atlas, we computed several graph theory metrics to assess the efficiency of brain-wide information exchange. After statistically controlling for differences in age, gender and IQ, we first observed a significant relationship between higher LEAS scores and greater average degree (i.e. overall whole-brain network density). When controlling for average degree, we found that higher LEAS scores were also associated with shorter average path lengths across the collective network of all included ROIs. These results jointly suggest that individuals with higher tEA display more efficient global information exchange throughout the brain. This is consistent with the idea that conscious awareness requires global accessibility of represented information.

Childhood maltreatment and perceived stress in young adults: The role of emotion regulation strategies, self-efficacy, and resilience

Childhood maltreatment has many deleterious outcomes; however, trait resilience as well as emotion regulation strategies, including suppression and reappraisal, may mediate between childhood maltreatment and later perceived stress. For this study, 267 college students (183 females and 84 males; M age = 19.77, SD = 2.29) completed self-report measures of parental psychological and physical maltreatment, parental emotion neglect, habitual use of suppression and reappraisal strategies, emotion regulation self-efficacy, trait resilience, and recent perceived stress. Analyses were conducted to investigate gender-specific associations. In females, both suppression and reappraisal mediated the relationship between maternal/paternal emotional neglect and perceived stress, and suppression also mediated the relationship between maternal psychological maltreatment and perceived stress. Trait resilience mediated the relationships of all three types of maternal maltreatment, paternal psychological maltreatment, and paternal emotional neglect with perceived stress in females. There were no significant mediation effects in males. Thus, interventions aiming at reducing perceived stress associated with maternal or paternal emotional neglect or maternal psychological maltreatment in women may benefit from targeting both suppression and reappraisal. Such interventions may also be enhanced by efforts to strengthen trait resilience.