Attentional control mediates the effect of social anxiety on positive affect

The goal of the present studies was to examine whether attentional control, a self-regulatory attentional mechanism, mediates the effect of social anxiety on positive affect. We tested this mediation in two studies using undergraduate students selected to represent a broad range of severity of social anxiety. Self-report assessments of social anxiety, attentional control, and positive affect were collected in a cross-sectional design (Study 1) and in a longitudinal design with three assessment points (Study 2). Results of both studies supported the hypothesized mediational model. Specifically, social anxiety was inversely related to attentional control, which itself positively predicted positive affect. This mediation remained significant even when statistically controlling for the effects of depression. Additionally, the hypothesized model provided superior model fit to theoretically-grounded equivalent models in both studies. Implications of these findings for understanding diminished positive affect in social anxiety are discussed.     

Relationship between maladaptive cognitions about sleep and recovery in patients with borderline personality disorder

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has been associated with maladaptive cognitive processes including dysfunctional attitudes and a negative attribution style. Comorbid insomnia affects the course of multiple psychiatric disorders, and has been associated with the absence of recovery from BPD. Because dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes are common among patients with insomnia, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between maladaptive sleep-related cognitions and recovery status (symptomatic remission plus good concurrent psychosocial functioning) in patients with BPD. Two hundred and twenty three BPD patients participating in the McLean Study of Adult Development (MSAD) were administered the Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep questionnaire (DBAS-16) as part of the 16-year follow-up wave. Maladaptive sleep cognitions were compared between recovered (n=105) and non-recovered (n=118) BPD participants, in analyses that adjusted for age, sex, depression, anxiety, and primary sleep disorders. Results demonstrated that non-recovered BPD patients had significantly more severe maladaptive sleep-related cognitions as measured by the overall DBAS-16 score. These results demonstrate an association between dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep and recovery status among BPD patients. Further research is warranted to evaluate treatments targeted towards maladaptive sleep-related cognitions, and their subsequent effects on the course of BPD.     

A bibliography of normative articles on cognition tests for older adults

A comprehensive reference to articles containing aging norms for a number of widely used cognitive tests is presented. The tabulated data includes the names of the tests, references, the age range and number of subjects involved in the geriatric samples, and the settings where the subjects lived. The paper concludes with some observations about the present state of the art.     

Ecstatic suicide

Abstract

Suicide is not an epiphenomenon of depression; it occurs in conditions other than major depressive episodes. Some anguished, excited patients in the grips of ecdysial or apotheotic fantasies attempt suicide when reality testing fails, feeling it a thrill. When malignant narcissism colors severe borderline personality disorder such suicides may occur. Three illustrative cases are presented here and are then placed in the perspective of mass suicides and the ecstatic experiences of third century Christian martyrs. Elated, grandiose suicide material is to be found in the lives and writings of Yukio Mishima and Sylvia Plath, and in some perverse sexual fantasies. Some persons kill themselves not feeling depressed in the melancholic sense; they are delighted. Their suicides are acts of omnipotent, death-defying magic. Correct suicide risk assessment must take elation of mood and grandiose beliefs about the nature of death into account, because certain individuals are convinced that suicide is passage to glory.     

Differential Roles of GABAA Receptor Subtypes in Benzodiazepine-Induced Enhancement of Brain-Stimulation Reward

Benzodiazepines such as diazepam are widely prescribed as anxiolytics and sleep aids. Continued use of benzodiazepines, however, can lead to addiction in vulnerable individuals. Here, we investigate the neural mechanisms of the behavioral effects of benzodiazepines using the intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) test, a procedure with which the reward-enhancing effects of these drugs can be measured. Benzodiazepines bind nonselectively to several different GABA_A receptor subtypes. To elucidate the α subunit(s) responsible for the reward-enhancing effects of benzodiazepines, we examined mice carrying a histidine-to-arginine point mutation in the α1, α2, or α3 subunit, which renders the targeted subunit nonresponsive to diazepam, other benzodiazepines and zolpidem. In wild-type and α1-point-mutated mice, diazepam caused a dose-dependent reduction in ICSS thresholds (reflecting a reward-enhancing effect) that is comparable to the reduction observed following cocaine administration. This effect was abolished in α2- and α3-point-mutant mice, suggesting that these subunits are necessary for the reward-enhancing action of diazepam. α2 Subunits appear to be particularly important, since diazepam increased ICSS thresholds (reflecting an aversive-like effect) in α2-point-mutant animals. Zolpidem, an α1-preferring benzodiazepine-site agonist, had no reward-enhancing effects in any genotype. Our findings implicate α2 and α3 subunit containing GABA_A receptors as key mediators of the reward-related effects of benzodiazepines. This finding has important implications for the development of new medications that retain the therapeutic effects of benzodiazepines but lack abuse liability.     

The Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test and Its Shortened Form: A Meta-Analytic Inquiry Into Score Reliability

Meta-analytic methods provide a framework around which an inquiry into MAST and SMAST score reliability was completed. Of the 470 measurement opportunities observed between 1971 and 2005, 62 (13.2%) were coupled with accurate reliability information. Weighted reliability estimates centered on. 80 suggesting that the MAST and SMAST generally produce scores of similar and adequate reliability for most research purposes. However, the variability of internal consistency estimates shows that at times these tools will not produce reliable scores, particularly among female and nonclinical respondents. Multiple regression equations provide practical guidelines to improve reliability estimates for the future use of these instruments.