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Frontiers in Psychology 2023The cognitive distortion scale (CDS) is a self-rated measure to assess the degree of cognitive distortion which is 10 thinking errors commonly seen in depression....
The cognitive distortion scale (CDS) is a self-rated measure to assess the degree of cognitive distortion which is 10 thinking errors commonly seen in depression. However, there is no scale to measure 10 types cognitive distortions specific to depression in Japan. Therefore, this study translated the CDS into Japanese (CDS-J), and examined its factor structure, validity, and reliability in a Japanese population. A total of 237 healthy individuals and 39 individuals with depression participated in this study. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated the appropriateness of the CDS-J's 10-factor structure. Regarding convergent validity, CDS-J was significantly correlated with dysfunctional attitudes, negative automatic thoughts, and depression. Regarding discriminant validity, the CDS-J showed no significant correlation with positive automatic thoughts. The total CDS-J scores of the healthy participants and of those with major depression were compared. The results showed significant differences between groups. Finally, the CDS-J was found to have a high test-retest reliability. Therefore, the CDS-J is a valid and reliable tool for assessing cognitive distortions in Japan.
PubMed: 38933743
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1261166 -
Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences 2024TBI incidence and distribution are largely overrepresented in low- to middle-income countries (LMICs), such as South Africa (SA), with substantial associated human and...
INTRODUCTION
TBI incidence and distribution are largely overrepresented in low- to middle-income countries (LMICs), such as South Africa (SA), with substantial associated human and financial costs. However, access to rehabilitation for the public is severely limited and not standard practice in SA. Given this background, studies demonstrating the successful implementation of neuropsychological rehabilitation in a LMIC setting are important. Published studies of this nature are generally lacking in this context. Further, there is a need to evaluate interventions that can be implemented at a low cost. To this end, we report on a neuropsychological rehabilitation program for an individual with severe TBI in a LMIC context, aimed at improving his capacity for activities of daily living.
METHOD
A 33-year-old, South African male who sustained a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) partook in a neuropsychological intervention aimed at remediating functional deficits and enhancing independent functioning. The intervention utilised principles of Goal Management Training and external memory aids, with reliance on procedural memory and errorless learning, to target the participant's impairments in executive functioning and memory through the use of assistive technology-namely smart device applications.
RESULTS
Data collected pre- and post-intervention on formal neuropsychological measures demonstrated no significant change in cognition. However, observational data and qualitative feedback from the participant's family indicated notable improvement in performance on everyday tasks with reduced number of errors and reduced need for external prompting whilst completing intervention tasks across sessions.
DISCUSSION
In the context of severe TBI, neuropsychological rehabilitation can facilitate gains in independent functioning. This study provides support for the value of neurorehabilitation especially for interventions that can be rolled out at low cost and should serve as impetus for further such research in South Africa, where neuropsychological rehabilitation infrastructure and services are lacking.
PubMed: 38933658
DOI: 10.3389/fresc.2024.1393302 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2024
PubMed: 38933594
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1355065 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2024The present study describes the construction and preliminary validation of a new parental mentalizing scale, PMQ. Based on theory, we hypothesized that one higher-order...
The present study describes the construction and preliminary validation of a new parental mentalizing scale, PMQ. Based on theory, we hypothesized that one higher-order parental mentalizing factor would comprise four dimensions of parental mentalizing: (1) Parental self-mentalizing (SELF), (2) Parental child-mentalizing (CHILD), (3) Effort (E), and (4) Curiosity (C). After modifying the content of one factor (Effort > Lack of Effort, LE), four-factor structure with one higher-order factor was confirmed in data collected from parents of children aged two to 6 years through social media and email lists (N = 321, 10% male). All factors loaded significantly on the higher-order factor, with acceptable internal consistencies. Next, PMQ factors were compared with the factors of a previously validated questionnaire, parental reflective functioning questionnaire (PRFQ). The PMQ and PRFQ factors were consistently and significantly correlated, indicating the validity of the PMQ as a measure of parental mentalization ability. The continuation of PMQ validation is discussed.
PubMed: 38933592
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1250092 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2024Attachment relationships are widely recognized as influential in increasing prosocial tendencies, with existing literature indicating that human attachment can increase...
Attachment relationships are widely recognized as influential in increasing prosocial tendencies, with existing literature indicating that human attachment can increase empathetic processes, thereby potentially facilitating prosocial behavior. Given that pets frequently fulfill the criteria for attachment figures, this study investigates whether the observed associations among human attachment, empathy, and prosocial attitudes extend to human-animal interactions (HAI). This study examines the relationship between pet attachment, animal empathy, and prosocial attitudes toward humans. The study hypothesizes that animal empathy mediates the association between pet attachment and prosocial attitudes. A cross-sectional survey was administered to 343 Filipino participants, predominantly consisting of single female young adults with college education backgrounds. Participants completed a battery of assessments including the Contemporary Companion Animal Bonding Scale (CCABS), the Animal Empathy Scale (AES), and the Prosocialness Scale for Adults (PSA). Aligned with our hypothesis, our study reveals that animal empathy plays a significant mediating role in the relationship between pet attachment and attitudes toward humans. We found that stronger pet attachment correlates positively with heightened animal empathy, subsequently leading to elevated levels of prosocial attitudes. Our findings prompt discussions on implications for understanding human-animal relationships and suggest avenues for future research exploration.
PubMed: 38933589
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1391606 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2024This study examined whether visuospatial perspective uses the character perspective during narrative comprehension.
INTRODUCTION
This study examined whether visuospatial perspective uses the character perspective during narrative comprehension.
METHOD
Participants read narrative stimuli depicting the spatial positional relationships between characters and objects and judged whether the objects were on the left or right from the character's perspective. We manipulated whether the spatial positional relationships between characters depicted in the narrative stimuli resulted in a visuospatial perspective. We hypothesized that the high-load perspective-taking condition would indicate longer reaction times compared to the low-load perspective-taking condition, as shifting perspectives between characters in the high-load condition require more time for visuospatial perspective-taking.
RESULTS
As predicted, the reaction time was longer for high-load perspective-taking than for low-load perspective-taking.
DISCUSSION
During narrative comprehension, the reaction time for visuospatial perspective-taking must move virtually within the representation from the main character's perspective to that of another character. Visuospatial perspective-taking is involved in narrative comprehension.
PubMed: 38933587
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1379472 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2024Interoceptive awareness (IA) is crucial to understanding mental health. The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) scale, available in... (Review)
Review
Interoceptive awareness (IA) is crucial to understanding mental health. The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) scale, available in approximately 30 languages, has gained global recognition for its research applicability. This review highlights the critical importance of integrating IA evaluation in clinical settings, advocating for the MAIA scale's potential as a screening tool. Through an examination of academic databases, including Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, and J-STOR, our analysis spans seven mental health domains: eating disorders (ED), depression, stress, anxiety, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), chronic pain, and suicide ideation (SI). Thirty-eight studies showed links between several dimensions of IA with different disorders. That is, ED was related to Body Trust and Self-Regulation; anxiety to Body Listening, Emotional Awareness, and Self-Regulation; depression to Noticing and Emotional Awareness; ASD to Trusting, Emotional Awareness, and Noticing; chronic pain to Not-Worrying and Self-Regulation; and SI with Trusting. These insights hold profound implications for both clinical practice and mental health research. Integrating IA assessments into standard clinical protocols has the potential to improve our understanding of pathology, enrich patient care, and enhance therapeutic strategies.
PubMed: 38933585
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1244701 -
The indirect impact of the technostress subfactors on the satisfaction and desire to work from home.Frontiers in Psychology 2024Organizational digitalization is a phenomenon that is becoming more widespread and holistic; that is responsible for more employees being affected by digital work and...
INTRODUCTION
Organizational digitalization is a phenomenon that is becoming more widespread and holistic; that is responsible for more employees being affected by digital work and working from home. While introducing remote work offers numerous economic benefits for organizations, this transition must be aligned with employees' needs rather than in an authoritarian manner. Our research aimed to investigate how sub-factors of technostress, directly and indirectly, influence the satisfaction and desire to work from home.
METHODS
We conducted a cross-sectional survey with a sample of 361 office workers with at least two years of experience who have spent some time working from home. We checked our hypotheses with a path model.
RESULTS
Our research found that techno-insecurity and techno-complexity have a minimal direct influence on the desire to work from home. However, the desire to work from home significantly decreases through various mediation pathways via the status sub-factor (which can be seen as one of the latent benefits of remote work) and through satisfaction with working from home. Our model explains 33.7% of the variance in the desire to work from home.
DISCUSSION
This suggests that leaders have a task of great significance: to decrease the technostress employees are exposed to and to draw the attention of researchers to the fact that technostress has more complex indirect effects than previously assumed.
PubMed: 38933584
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1417916 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2024This study aimed to perform a cross-cultural adaptation of the cat-owner/dog-owner relationship scales. The method involved several stages: conceptual, item, semantic,...
INTRODUCTION
This study aimed to perform a cross-cultural adaptation of the cat-owner/dog-owner relationship scales. The method involved several stages: conceptual, item, semantic, operational, measurement, and functional equivalence. Procedures included translation, synthesis of translations, back-translation, consensus on the English versions, external evaluation by the original authors, expert committee evaluation, and pre-tests.
METHODS
The study surveyed 234 pet owners across Brazil using a 20-item questionnaire. Data analysis utilized confirmatory factor analysis, covariance-based modeling, and multigroup analysis.
RESULTS
The study confirmed the content and construct validity of the model, demonstrating good convergent validity. Hypotheses testing revealed significant inverse relationships between Perceived Cost and Perceived Emotional Closeness, and between Perceived Cost and Pet-Owner Interactions. A positive correlation was found between Perceived Emotional Closeness and Pet-Owner Interactions, with Perceived Emotional Closeness also mediating the relationship between Perceived Cost and Pet-Owner Interactions. No significant differences were found across different pet owner groups, indicating the scale's invariance and reliability across various demographics.
DISCUSSION
The study significantly expands understanding of the complex dynamics in pet-owner relationships and emphasizes the interplay between emotional and practical factors. It offers valuable insights for future research and practices in animal and human welfare.
PubMed: 38933583
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1412451 -
Frontiers in Psychology 2024Anxiety is one of the most prevalent mental health conditions worldwide, and psychotherapeutic techniques can be employed to help manage and mitigate symptoms. While the...
INTRODUCTION
Anxiety is one of the most prevalent mental health conditions worldwide, and psychotherapeutic techniques can be employed to help manage and mitigate symptoms. While the available therapies are numerous, key strategies often involve cognitive and/or embodiment techniques. Within body-centered methods, breathing-oriented approaches are particularly prevalent, using either attention towards or active control of breathing. As the perception of body states (i.e., interoception) is thought to be an integral component of emotion generation, these embodiment and breathing techniques may be key in addressing the miscommunication between the brain and body that is thought to exist with anxiety. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the effects of acute administration of psychological interventions for state anxiety.
RESULTS
This systematic review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA statement and registered prospectively in PROSPERO. A literature search for randomized controlled trials was conducted in PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus. We considered interventions that focused on cognitive, embodiment or breathing strategies, or a combination of these techniques. Twelve studies met our inclusion criteria, and study characteristics, quality and effect sizes were assessed. A single cognitive study was found to produce a moderate reduction in state anxiety, while moderate to large effects were found across studies assessing embodiment practices. In contrast, studies which utilized breathing-based interventions alone produced inconsistent results, with both attention towards and active control of breathing producing large to no effects depending on the technique employed. Finally, consistent moderate effects were found with combination techniques that involved passive attention (e.g., towards cognitions, body and/or breathing), with active combination techniques producing inconsistent results.
DISCUSSION
While study numbers are limited regarding brief interventions, cognitive and embodiment techniques are consistently helpful for reducing state anxiety, while breathing-based exercises need to consider the specific technique employed, and how successful this may be for each individual. Furthermore, combined practices such as mindfulness can also be successful, although care must be taken when introducing an active change to one or more elements.
PROSPERO SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION NUMBER
CRD42024507585 Available from: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42024507585.
PubMed: 38933581
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1412928