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Animal Cognition Jun 2024Cognitive bias is defined as the influence of emotions on cognitive processes. The concept of the cognitive judgement bias has its origins in human psychology but has...
Cognitive bias is defined as the influence of emotions on cognitive processes. The concept of the cognitive judgement bias has its origins in human psychology but has been applied to animals over the past 2 decades. In this study we were interested in determining if laterality and personality traits, which are known to influence learning style, might also be correlated with a cognitive bias in the three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus). We used the judgement bias test with the go/no-go procedure where fish were first trained to discriminate between a black and white card and, after reaching a minimum learning criterion, tested their response to an ambiguous card (grey). Optimistic subjects were expected to have a high expectation of reward associated with an ambiguous stimulus, whereas pessimistic subjects a high expectation of non-reward. We used an emergence and a mirror test to quantify boldness and laterality, respectively. We hypothesised that male, bolder and more strongly lateralized fish would be more optimistic than female, shy and less strongly lateralised fish. We found that males and more strongly lateralized fish were more optimistic than females and less strongly lateralized fish. In addition, bold males were more optimistic than shy males as we predicted, but females showed the opposite pattern. Finally, fish trained on the black colour card learned the training task faster than those trained on a white card. Our results indicate that both laterality and personality traits are linked to animals' internal states (pessimistic or optimistic outlooks) which likely has broad implications for understanding animal behaviour particularly in a welfare context.
Topics: Animals; Male; Female; Functional Laterality; Smegmamorpha; Personality; Pessimism; Judgment; Optimism; Reward; Cognition
PubMed: 38833197
DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01876-4 -
Journal of Primary Care & Community... 2024This study aims to investigate the impact of gender and parental tasks on social participation, health-related quality of life (hrQoL), and mental health in persons with...
OBJECTIVES
This study aims to investigate the impact of gender and parental tasks on social participation, health-related quality of life (hrQoL), and mental health in persons with long COVID.
METHODS
A mixed-methods approach was followed including a cross-sectional web-based survey and semi-structured interviews. Multivariable linear regressions were used to quantify the effect of gender and parenting tasks on social participation, hrQoL, and mental health. Qualitative data from interviews with participants experiencing long COVID symptoms was analyzed using content analysis.
RESULTS
Data from 920 participants in the quantitative study and 25 participants in the qualitative study was analyzed. Parenting tasks were associated with increased impairments in family and domestic responsibilities in persons with long COVID compared to lower impairments in persons without long COVID ( = .02). The qualitative data indicate that coping with long COVID and pursuing parenting tasks limit participants' ability to perform leisure activities and attend social gatherings. In long COVID, men had higher anxiety symptoms than women, and in those without long COVID, the opposite was observed ( < .001). In the qualitative study, participants expressed feelings of dejection and pessimism about their future private, occupational, and health situations. No differences between the genders could be observed.
CONCLUSIONS
Long COVID is associated with impairments in family and domestic responsibilities in individuals who have parenting tasks. Among participants with long COVID, anxiety symptoms are higher in men than women.
Topics: Humans; Quality of Life; Male; Female; COVID-19; Middle Aged; Mental Health; Cross-Sectional Studies; Sex Factors; Adult; Parenting; Social Participation; Aged; SARS-CoV-2; Qualitative Research; Adaptation, Psychological; Anxiety; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 38805375
DOI: 10.1177/21501319241255592 -
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and... May 2024The COVID-19 pandemic impacted children, adolescents, and their families, with significant psychosocial consequences. The prevalence of anxiety, depression, and...
BACKGROUND
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted children, adolescents, and their families, with significant psychosocial consequences. The prevalence of anxiety, depression, and self-injurious behaviors increased in our youth, as well as the number of suicide attempts and hospitalizations related to suicidal ideation. Additionally, parents' mental health saw increasing rates of depression, irritability, and alcohol use combined with worsening family function, child-parent connectedness, positive family expressiveness, and increases in family conflict. In light of these statistics, we created CHATogether (Compassionate Home, Action Together), a pilot family-centered intervention using multi-faceted psychotherapeutic approaches to improve familial communication and relational health between adolescents and their parents. This paper discusses the implementation of the CHATogether intervention at the Adolescent Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), providing an example of the intervention through an in-depth pilot case, and evaluation of the program's acceptability and feasibility.
METHODS
This paper describes a case in detail and evaluation from a total of 30 families that completed CHATogether in the initial pilot. Each family had 4-6 one-hour CHATogether sessions during their 6-week treatment course at the IOP. Before and after CHATogether, adolescents and their parents separately completed a questionnaire designed to explore their perceived family conflicts. After completion of the program, participants completed a brief quality improvement survey to assess their overall experience with CHATogether. In the reported case, the family completed Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) depressive and anxiety symptoms scales, Conflict Behavior Questionnaires (CBQ), 9-item Concise Health Risk Tracking Self-Report (CHRT-SR9), and help-seeking attitude from adults during distress and suicide concerns.
RESULTS
The pilot case showed a trend of improvement in reported depressive and anxiety symptoms, child-parent conflicts, subfactors of suicide risk including pessimism, helplessness, and despair, help-seeking acceptability from parents for suicide concerns, and the establishment of individualized family relationship goals. Preliminary feedback from participating families demonstrated positive effects on intra-family communication and improvement in the overall family dynamic. Adolescents (n = 30/30) and their parents (n = 30/30) rated "strongly agree" or "agree" that their families had benefited from CHATogether and welcomed participation in future program development.
CONCLUSION
This study presents CHATogether as a novel family-centered intervention to address post-pandemic family mental health stress, especially when a family system was disrupted and negatively affected the mental health of children and adolescents. The intervention facilitated positive child-parent communication on a variety of topics, through tools such as emotional expression and help-seeking behavior. The reported pilot case and evaluation suggested CHATogether's acceptability and feasibility in a clinical context. We also provided quality improvement feedback to guide future studies in establishing the efficacy of CHATogether and other similar models of clinical family interventions.
PubMed: 38773657
DOI: 10.1186/s13034-024-00750-y -
Cardiovascular Digital Health Journal Apr 2024During the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine was advocated and rapidly scaled up worldwide. However, little is known about for whom this type of care is acceptable.
BACKGROUND
During the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine was advocated and rapidly scaled up worldwide. However, little is known about for whom this type of care is acceptable.
OBJECTIVE
To examine which patient characteristics (demographic, medical, psychosocial) are associated with telehealth care satisfaction, attitude toward telehealth, and preference regarding telehealth over time in a cardiac patient population.
METHODS
In total, 317 patients were recruited at the Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital in The Netherlands. All patients who had received telehealth care (telephone and video) in the previous 2 months were approached for participation. Baseline, 3-month, and 6-month questionnaires were administered online. A 3-step latent class analysis was conducted to identify trajectories of telehealth use over time and the possible association of the found trajectories with external variables.
RESULTS
Five trajectories (classes) were identified for satisfaction with telehealth and 4 for attitude toward telehealth. Patients with higher distress, lower physical and mental health, higher scores on pessimism, and negative affectivity were more likely to be less satisfied. Patients with no partner, more comorbidities, higher distress, lower physical and mental health, and higher scores on pessimism were more likely to hold a negative attitude toward telehealth. For the future application of telehealth, marital status, comorbidities, digital health literacy, and pessimism were significantly related.
CONCLUSION
Results show that patients' profiles should be considered when offering telehealth care and that the "one size fits all" approach does not apply. Results can inform clinical practice on how to better implement remote health care in the future while considering a personalized approach.
PubMed: 38765625
DOI: 10.1016/j.cvdhj.2023.11.022 -
Poultry Science Jul 2024Individual differences in free-range chicken systems are important factors influencing how birds use the range (or not), even if individuals are reared in the same...
Individual differences in free-range chicken systems are important factors influencing how birds use the range (or not), even if individuals are reared in the same environmental conditions. Here, we investigated how various aspects of the birds' behavioral and cognitive tendencies, including their optimism/pessimism, cognitive flexibility, sociability, and exploration levels, are associated with range use and how they may change over time (before and after range access). To achieve this, 100 White Leghorn laying hen chicks underwent three distinct behavioral/cognitive tests-the cognitive bias test, the detour test, and the multivariate test-prior to gaining access to the range, between 9 and 39 days of age. After range access was allowed (from day 71), birds' range use was evaluated over 7 nonconsecutive days (from 74-91 days of age). Subsequently, a subset of birds, classified as high rangers (n = 15) and low rangers (n = 15) based on their range use, underwent retesting on the same three previous tests between 94 and 108 days of age. Our results unveiled a negative correlation trend between birds' evaluation of the ambiguous cue and their subsequent range use (rho = -0.19, p = 0.07). Furthermore, low rangers were faster to learn the detour task (χ2 = 7.34, df = 1, p = 0.006), coupled with increased sociability during the multivariate test (rho = -0.23, p = 0.02), contrasting with their high-ranging counterparts, who displayed more exploratory behaviors (F[1,27] = 3.64, p = 0.06). These behavioral patterns fluctuated over time (before and after range access); however, conclusively attributing these changes to birds' aging and development or the access to the range remains challenging. Overall, our results corroborate that behavioral and cognitive individual differences may be linked to range use and offer novel perspectives on the early behavioral and cognitive traits that may be linked to range use. These findings may serve as a foundation for adapting environments to meet individual needs and improve animal welfare in the future.
Topics: Animals; Chickens; Female; Cognition; Behavior, Animal; Animal Husbandry
PubMed: 38759569
DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2024.103813 -
Integrative Cancer Therapies 2024Promoting well-being is a key goal of cancer care, and it needs to be assessed using appropriate instruments. Flourishing is considered part of psychological well-being...
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE
Promoting well-being is a key goal of cancer care, and it needs to be assessed using appropriate instruments. Flourishing is considered part of psychological well-being and it is commonly assessed with the Flourishing Scale (FS). To our knowledge, no studies have analyzed the psychometric properties of the FS in breast cancer patients. Our aim here was to provide validity evidence for use of the FS in this context.
METHOD
Participants were 217 Spanish women with breast cancer who completed the FS and other scales assessing positive psychology constructs (life satisfaction, positive affect, resilience, self-esteem, optimism) and indicators of psychological maladjustment (negative affect, depression, anxiety, and stress). The internal structure of the FS was analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). We calculated the average variance extracted (AVE) to evaluate convergent validity, and both McDonald's omega and Cronbach's alpha coefficients to estimate reliability. Item analysis was performed by computing corrected item-total correlations. Validity evidence based on relationships with other variables was obtained through Pearson correlation analysis, controlling for age and cancer stage.
RESULTS
The CFA supported a single-factor structure, with adequate goodness-of-fit indices (CFI = 0.997, NNFI = 0.996, RMSEA = 0.069, and SRMR = 0.047) and standardized factor loadings ranging from 0.70 to 0.87. The value of the AVE was 0.63, and the reliability coefficient obtained with both procedures was 0.91. Corrected item-total correlations ranged from .62 to .78. Correlation analysis showed direct and strong associations between the FS score and scores on positive psychology constructs (range from 0.43 to 0.74), the strongest correlations being with positive affect and life satisfaction. The FS score was inversely correlated with scores on depression, anxiety, stress, negative affect, and pessimism (range from -0.14 to -0.52), the strongest association being with stress.
DISCUSSION
The FS is a useful tool for exploring well-being in the breast cancer context, providing useful information for psychological assessment.
Topics: Humans; Female; Breast Neoplasms; Psychometrics; Middle Aged; Surveys and Questionnaires; Reproducibility of Results; Adult; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Aged; Anxiety; Depression; Quality of Life; Personal Satisfaction; Spain; Self Concept; Stress, Psychological
PubMed: 38755965
DOI: 10.1177/15347354241249935 -
Revista Latino-americana de Enfermagem 2024the aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between death distress, psychological adjustment, optimism, pessimism and perceived stress among nurses working...
OBJECTIVE
the aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between death distress, psychological adjustment, optimism, pessimism and perceived stress among nurses working during the COVID-19 pandemic.
METHOD
this study was designed as cross-sectional/cohort. The population of the study involved 408 nurses from Northern Cyprus, which are registered as full members of the Nurse Council. The sample comprised 214 nurses, who volunteered to participate in the study. The study data was collected using a web-based online survey (Demographic form, the Coronavirus Stress Measure, The Optimism and Pessimism Questionnaire, The Brief Adjustment Scale-6, The Death Distress Scale).
RESULTS
the results indicated that perceived stress significantly and negatively predicted optimism (β = -0.21, p < 0.001) and pessimism (β = 0.38, p < 0.001). Perceived stress had significant and positive predictive effects on psychological adjustment (β = 0.31, p < 0.001) and death distress (β = 0.17, p < 0.01). Further analysis results revealed that pessimism mediates the association of stress with psychological adjustment and death distress; however, optimism only mediates the effect of stress on psychological adjustment among nurses.
CONCLUSION
a low level of pessimism is effective in strengthening nurses' psychological adjustment skills againt perceived stress and death distress. Nurses should consider behavioral strategies to help reduce the level of pessimism during periods such as pandemics.
BACKGROUND
(1) High levels of perceived stress increased higher score of psychological adjustment. (2) Pessimism mediates the association of stress with adjustment and death distress. (3) Optimism only mediates the effect of stress on psychological adjustment among nurses.
Topics: Humans; COVID-19; Cross-Sectional Studies; Optimism; Female; Adult; Male; Pessimism; Middle Aged; Pandemics; Emotional Adjustment; Nurses; Cyprus; Attitude to Death; Adaptation, Psychological; Cohort Studies; Stress, Psychological; Psychological Distress; SARS-CoV-2; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult
PubMed: 38695430
DOI: 10.1590/1518-8345.7068.4173 -
BMJ Open Quality Apr 2024The failed or partial implementation of clinical practices negatively impacts patient safety and increases systemic inefficiencies. Implementation of sepsis screening... (Review)
Review
INTRODUCTION
The failed or partial implementation of clinical practices negatively impacts patient safety and increases systemic inefficiencies. Implementation of sepsis screening guidelines has been undertaken in many settings with mixed results. Without a theoretical understanding of what leads to successful implementation, improving implementation will continue to be ad hoc or intuitive. This study proposes a programme theory for how and why the successful implementation of sepsis screening guidelines can occur.
METHODS
A rapid realist review was conducted to develop a focused programme theory for the implementation of sepsis screening guidelines. An independent two-reviewer approach was used to iteratively extract and synthesise context and mechanism data. Theoretical context-mechanism-outcome propositions were refined and validated by clinicians using a focus group and individual realist interviews. Implementation resources and clinical reasoning were differentiated in articulating mechanisms.
RESULTS
Eighteen articles were included in the rapid review. The theoretical domains framework was identified as the salient substantive theory informing the programme theory. The theory consisted of five main middle-range propositions. Three promoting mechanisms included positive belief about the benefits of the protocol, belief in the legitimacy of using the protocol and trust within the clinical team. Two inhibiting mechanisms included pessimism about the protocol being beneficial and pessimism about the team. Successful implementation was defined as achieving fidelity and sustained use of the intervention. Two intermediate outcomes, acceptability and feasibility of the intervention, and adoption, were necessary to achieve before successful implementation.
CONCLUSION
This rapid realist review synthesised key information from the literature and clinician feedback to develop a theory-based approach to clinical implementation of sepsis screening. The programme theory presents knowledge users with an outline of how and why clinical interventions lead to successful implementation and could be applied in other clinical areas to improve quality and safety.
Topics: Humans; Sepsis; Mass Screening
PubMed: 38684345
DOI: 10.1136/bmjoq-2023-002593 -
Behaviour Research and Therapy Jul 2024Prior research suggests that repetitive negative thinking (RNT) negatively impacts mental health by intensifying and prolonging emotional reactivity to stress. This... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
Prior research suggests that repetitive negative thinking (RNT) negatively impacts mental health by intensifying and prolonging emotional reactivity to stress. This study investigated whether an intervention designed to reduce RNT alters emotional reactivity. Young adults with high trait RNT (N = 79) were randomly allocated to an RNT-focused intervention (smartphone app-based, 10 days) or a waiting list before exposure to a standardized stressor. The pre-registered analysis did not reveal a significant condition * time interaction for negative affect. However, exploratory analyses showed that whilst initial increases in negative affect in response to the stressor did not differ between conditions, participants in the intervention condition reported less negative affect throughout the following recovery phase. Additionally, participants in the intervention condition appraised their ability to cope with the stressor as higher and reported less RNT in the recovery phase. In contrast, the intervention did not affect biological stress responses. The findings indicate that RNT-focused interventions might have positive effects on mental health by breaking the self-reinforcing cycle of RNT, negative affect and maladaptive appraisals in response to stress. However, as findings are partly based on exploratory analyses, further research is needed to confirm whether reduced subjective stress reactivity mediates the effects of RNT-focused interventions on psychopathological symptoms.
Topics: Humans; Male; Female; Stress, Psychological; Young Adult; Adult; Adaptation, Psychological; Adolescent; Mobile Applications; Pessimism; Rumination, Cognitive; Thinking
PubMed: 38678755
DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2024.104547 -
PLoS Computational Biology Apr 2024Reputations can foster cooperation by indirect reciprocity: if I am good to you then others will be good to me. But this mechanism for cooperation in one-shot...
Reputations can foster cooperation by indirect reciprocity: if I am good to you then others will be good to me. But this mechanism for cooperation in one-shot interactions only works when people agree on who is good and who is bad. Errors in actions or assessments can produce disagreements about reputations, which can unravel the positive feedback loop between social standing and pro-social behaviour. Cooperators can end up punished and defectors rewarded. Public reputation systems and empathy are two possible mechanisms to promote agreement about reputations. Here we suggest an alternative: Bayesian reasoning by observers. By taking into account the probabilities of errors in action and observation and their prior beliefs about the prevalence of good people in the population, observers can use Bayesian reasoning to determine whether or not someone is good. To study this scenario, we develop an evolutionary game theoretical model in which players use Bayesian reasoning to assess reputations, either publicly or privately. We explore this model analytically and numerically for five social norms (Scoring, Shunning, Simple Standing, Staying, and Stern Judging). We systematically compare results to the case when agents do not use reasoning in determining reputations. We find that Bayesian reasoning reduces cooperation relative to non-reasoning, except in the case of the Scoring norm. Under Scoring, Bayesian reasoning can promote coexistence of three strategic types. Additionally, we study the effects of optimistic or pessimistic biases in individual beliefs about the degree of cooperation in the population. We find that optimism generally undermines cooperation whereas pessimism can, in some cases, promote cooperation.
Topics: Bayes Theorem; Humans; Cooperative Behavior; Game Theory; Computational Biology; Bias
PubMed: 38662682
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011979