Social and cognitive impairment in first-grade children with anxious and depressive symptoms

Examined the degree of social and cognitive impairment in an epidemiologically defined sample of first-grade children with anxious symptoms alone, depressive symptoms alone, and comorbid anxious and depressive symptoms. For boys, both anxious and depressive symptoms alone were associated with statistically significant impairment in multiple domains of social and cognitive functioning. In girls, little evidence of associated impairment was found for either anxious or depressive symptoms alone. For boys, depressive symptoms alone was associated marginally with impairment in a greater number of domains of adaptive functioning than anxious symptoms alone. No such differences were found for girls. Finally, there was limited evidence that comorbid anxious and depressive symptoms were associated with greater social and cognitive impairment.     

Coping self-talk and cognitive interference in anxious children.

The present study addressed the as-yet-unresolved issue of whether coping self-talk facilitates or interferes with effective task performance. Tests of the relationship between coping cognition and task performance are reported when potentially confounding relationships of negative cognition and task performance are controlled. The results indicate that coping self-talk of high-anxious children was positively correlated with negative thoughts but did not contribute significantly to performance. Implications for the functional value of coping self-talk are discussed.     

The socially anxious perspective in face-to-face interaction: an experimental comparison

We argue that social psychological and evolution theories can be combined to produce an adequate theory of social anxiety. From this combination we predict that the socially anxious utilize competitive schemata in social interaction whereas non-anxious people utilize cooperative schemata, with consequent differential effects on cognitions and emotions. These predictions were evaluated in an experiment in which two groups of students—12 high and 12 low scorers on the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale—engaged in a semi-naturalistic, mildly stressful interaction, after which they were asked to reconstruct their thoughts and feelings at points of ‘discomfort’ using video-aided recall. Anxious students evaluated themselves as subordinate, the confederate as dominant, thought he should take the lead, and blamed themselves for disruption in the conversation and experienced embarrassment. Non-anxious students in contrast evaluated themselves as more dominant than the confederate, thought the conversation should have been more reciprocal, and tended to blame the confederate for disruptions. The results were interpreted as providing qualified and preliminary support for the theory. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Social correlates of distress following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: Exploring the role of loneliness and cognitive processing

This study investigated whether loneliness and cognitive processing explain the influence of negative (social constraints) and positive (emotional support) relationship qualities on cancer survivors' distress. Participants were 195 cancer survivors who had undergone hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Path analysis supported the hypothesis that loneliness and cognitive processing would mediate the association between social constraints and distress. Only loneliness mediated the association between emotional support and distress - an indirect effect significant only when support came from family and friends rather than a partner. Findings suggest that addressing social constraints may enhance cancer survivors' adjustment.     

Relationship of pregnanediol level to cognitive behavior and mood

This work examines data secured from a larger study relating cognitive behavior and mood in women to variation in estrogen level. The larger study noted that performance tended to be better during the luteal phase. The present analysis looks at the relationship of urinary pregnanediol levels with mood and cognitive behaviors. Thirty women with non-oral contraceptive-controlled menstrual cycles were tested during the luteal phase on a battery of cognitive tests and a variation of the Clyde Mood Scale. The cognitive tests were selected based upon the automatization versus perceptual restructuring dimensions described by Broverman and colleagues. Pregnanediol levels were measured in 24-hour urine specimens collected on the same day. Results show a significant relationship of pregnanediol level with mental subtraction and with time estimation. Perceptual restructuring tasks in general (perceptual restructuring index) showed a significant positive relationship with pregnanediol levels. Mood, however, was not found to be related to pregnanediol levels.     

The cognitive content of thought-listed worry episodes in clinic-referred anxious and nonreferred children.

We investigated the cognitive content of worry in 8- to 13-year-old clinic-referred anxious (n = 38) and nonreferred (n = 51) children. The children were interviewed individually. They thought-listed their latest worry episodes, rated the uncontrollability of the episodes, and reported on the strategies they used to terminate worry. Content analyses showed that children's worry episodes contained predominantly thoughts reflecting negative outcome anticipation, but other types of thought content also were present. These included problem-solving, ruminating, and self-blaming thoughts. Compared to clinic-referred children, nonreferred children reported more problem solving and less ruminating. In the nonreferred group, increasing age was associated with more problem solving and less ruminating. No such age-related associations were found in the clinic-referred group. The 2 groups did not differ in the types of worry-termination strategies they reported, but clinic-referred children were more likely to keep worrying until the perceived threat was removed. The results suggest that the problem-solving function of worry is still emerging during late childhood and that developmental delays in problem solving may be associated with excessive and uncontrollable worrying.     

Pleasant mood intensifies brain processing of cognitive control: ERP correlates

The present study investigated the impact of auditory-induced mood on brain processing of cognitive control using a Stroop color-word interference task. A total of 135 positive, negative, and neutral sounds (45 of each) were presented in separate blocks for a mood induction procedure, which was then followed by a Stroop color-word task in each trial. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded for color-word congruent, incongruent and neutral (color-word irrelevant) words and subjects named the printed colors of the words by pressing the appropriate key (irrespective of word meaning). Response latency was delayed during incongruent vs. neutral trials, and this cost did not interact significantly with mood states. ERP data showed prolonged peak latencies in the P200 component and more negative deflections in the Late Positive Component (LPC, 450-550 ms) during incongruent vs. neutral conditions, regardless of mood states. Moreover, the negative deflections (N450) in the 450-550 ms interval of the incongruent- neutral difference waves, which index cognitive control effect in brain potentials, was more pronounced in the pleasant, but not in the unpleasant, mood state when compared with the neutral mood state. These data suggest that, pleasant mood intensifies brain processing of cognitive control, in a situation requiring effective inhibition of task-irrelevant distracting information. In addition, N450 component serves as an affective marker, embodying not only cognitive control effect in the brain but also its interaction with mood states.     

Assessing cognitive mediation of relapse prevention in recurrent mood disorders

Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) reduces risk of relapse in mood disorders. Further improvements in preventative interventions will benefit from identification and assessment of the cognitive processes mediating relapse prevention. Possible mediating mechanisms are considered and their implications for assessment are discussed. It is recommended that assessment focus on the ‘cognitive sets’ (schematic mental models) and patterns of cognitive-affective processing that become activated in situations of potential relapse (dysphoric mood, loss-related events). Assessments should use contextually-situated ‘challenge’ paradigms (e.g. mood induction procedures) aimed at identifying, dynamically, potential to respond, rather than procedures aimed at assessing static, enduring, ‘cognitive structures’. Illustrative examples are provided. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Errorless learning and the cognitive rehabilitation of memory-impaired schizophrenic patients

BACKGROUND: In recent years, evidence has accumulated that a significant proportion of schizophrenic patients have severe memory impairment, which cannot be attributed to the effects of medication, chronicity or institutionalization. Our group has demonstrated that memory impairment is associated with poor psychosocial outcome and treatment resistance. Work on the classical amnesic syndrome has suggested that memory training is facilitated by adopting an 'errorless learning' approach, where subjects do not experience failure during learning. This is based on the theory that the preserved implicit memory of amnesic patients results in implicitly remembered incorrect responses interfering with target items, in the absence of a functioning explicit memory system to allow differentiation. METHOD: We compared three groups of subjects, memory-impaired schizophrenic patients, memory unimpaired schizophrenic patients and healthy controls. RESULTS: An errorless learning approach conferred a significant advantage on the memory-impaired schizophrenic group, bringing their performance up to the level of both control groups. In contrast, adopting a traditional trial and error, or errorful approach resulted in markedly impaired performance in the memory-impaired schizophrenic group only. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that errorless learning approaches may be worthy of further evaluation in the cognitive rehabilitation of memory-impaired schizophrenic patients.     

Relations between daily activities and adolescent mood: the role of autonomy.

This study explored the combined influences of daily activities and autonomy in activity engagement on adolescent daily positive and negative moods. Ecological momentary assessments (EMA) were used to obtain information about 8th- and 10th-grade students' (N = 517) mood, activities, and situation throughout the day. Participants responded to random prompts on the EMA device and, when prompted, rated mood adjectives and reported on their current activity and perceived autonomy in activity engagement. Mixed-effects regression models examined changes in mood across specific activity categories. Positive mood significantly improved when engaging in numerous activities; negative mood improved during social activities as well as "party" and "hanging out" events but was fairly consistent across other activities. Stronger mood-activity relations were found after controlling for autonomy in activity engagement.     

Illness perceptions,mood and coping in predicting attendance at cardiac rehabilitation

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify psychological variables in poor/non‐attendance at cardiac rehabilitation (CR). We investigated whether attenders and poor/non‐attenders differed in relation to components of the self‐regulatory model and coping, and which of these variables were the best predictors of attendance behaviour. Design: A cross‐sectional, between groups design was employed. In contrast with two previous similar studies, participants completed self‐report measures shortly before the start date for the CR programme. Univariate and logistic regression analyses were conducted. Method: In all, 93 individuals who had been invited to attend CR completed the Illness Perceptions Questionnaire (IPQ), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (COPE). Subsequently, 32 participants failed to attend, or dropped out early from, the programme. Results: Attenders differed from poor/non‐attenders in that they perceived a greater number of symptoms and consequences of their illness, greater distress, less strong beliefs that their illness had been caused by a germ or virus, and used problem‐focused and emotion‐focused coping more frequently. The best predictors of poor/non‐attendance were lower perceptions of symptoms and controllability/curability of illness, and less frequent use of problem‐focused and more frequent use of maladaptive coping strategies. Conclusion: Attenders and poor/non‐attenders at CR were distinguished by illness representations, distress and usage of coping strategies. The variables found to be the best predictors of attendance could be used to screen those unlikely to attend and to develop interventions for enhancing attendance.     

Restructuring mood in cyclothymia using cognitive behavior therapy: an intensive time-sampling study

Hypotheses predicting how cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) would change the daily pattern of mood and sleep in a patient with cyclothymia were formulated based on circadian processes. Using a prospective single-case experimental design, the patient provided mood ratings every 4 hours and sleep reports daily for 49 weeks, including a 4-week baseline, a 20-session CBT intervention, and a follow-up period. Improvements in mood during and after therapy were accounted for by reduced daily mood variability and extended sleep. The patient's energy at different times of day was explained by adjusting the endogenous rhythm in a mathematical circadian model. Treatment of cyclothymia and related bipolar disorders may be enhanced by integrating understanding of circadian mood regulation into CBT treatment.     

Social and solitary drinking: Effects on consumption and mood in male social drinkers

Rates of alcohol consumption and mood development were studied in four male social drinkers serving as their own controls: (a) in a real life social drinking situation of the subject's choice, and (b) under artificial solitary drinking conditions. Almost twice as much alcohol was consumed during party drinking, while solitary drinking was experienced as aversive and failed to induce the euphoric effects reported at the party. Implications for tension reduction theory and adjunctive behaviour theory were discussed.     

Deciphering the role of ectosomes in cancer development and progression: focus on the proteome

Ectosomes are small heterogeneous membrane vesicles generated by budding from the plasma membrane in a variety of cell types and, more frequently, in tumor cells. They are shed into the extracellular space and are proposed as a novel form of intracellular communication in which information is transmitted from the originating cell to recipient cells without direct cell-to-cell contact. This review focuses on a single population of extracellular vesicles—ectosomes. We summarize recent studies of tumor-derived ectosomes which examine their biogenesis and protein cargo, and their influence on different aspects of cancer progression. We discuss possible clinical implications involving ectosomes as potential biomarkers, diagnostic tools and treatment targets in oncology. The unique composition of the molecules (cargo) that ectosomes carry, and their functional role, depends largely on the state of their originating cell. Through horizontal transfer of a variety of biologically active molecules (including proteins, lipids and nucleic acids) between donor and recipient cells, tumor-derived ectosomes may play functional roles in oncogenic transformation, tumor progression, invasion, metastasis, angiogenesis promotion, escape from immune surveillance, and drug resistance, thereby facilitating disease progression. The presence of tumor-derived ectosomes in body fluids such as the blood and urine of cancer patients makes them potentially useful prognostic and predictive biomarkers. Tumor-derived ectosomes also offer possible targets for multiple therapeutic strategies.     

The role of dopaminergic mechanisms of the brain in various models of anxious states

In tests of “illuminated area” and the “threatening situation” avoidance by rats, apomorphine and phenamine, administered intraperitoneally, attenuate the state of alarm. A similar effect is observed when sulpiride, a selective blocker of D₂-receptors of dopamine, and of picrotoxin, a GABA antagonist, are administered. Sulpiride effectively counteracts the anxiolytic effects of all of the dopaminomimetics investigated and of picrotoxin. Haloperidol, a nonselective blocker of the D₁-and D₂-receptors of dopamine removes the anxiolytic effect of apomorphine, phenamine, and picrotoxin. The microinjection into the ventral region of the midbrain tegmentum of dopamine, or of sulpiride into the nucleus accumbens of the septum, attenuates the state of alarm formed by aversive influences of various biological modalities. By contrast, sulpiride, introduced locally into the tegmentum, or chemical stimulation of the nucleus accumbens of the septum by dopamine, intensifies the state of alarm in the “illuminated area” avoidance test. The participation of dopaminergic mechanisms of the mesolimbic system of the brain in anxiety of various aversive causations is discussed. Translated from Fiziologicheskii Zhurnal imeni. I. M. Sechenova, Vol. 78, No. 12, pp. 70–76, December, 1992.     

Hippocampal and cortical atrophy in amyloid-negative mild cognitive impairments: comparison with amyloid-positive mild cognitive impairment

Although patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) are at higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD), their pathologies could be heterogeneous. We aimed to evaluate structural changes in amyloid-negative and amyloid-positive aMCI patients. Forty-eight aMCI patients who underwent Pittsburgh compound B (PiB) positron emission tomography were recruited. They were classified as PiB (−) aMCI (N = 16) and PiB (+) (N = 32). Hippocampal shape and regional cortical thickness were compared with 41 subjects with normal cognition (NC). Relative to NC, PiB(−) aMCI exhibited hippocampal deformity in the right cornu ammonis 1, whereas PiB(+) aMCI exhibited hippocampal deformity in bilateral subiculum and cornu ammonis 1 subregions. Relative to NC, PiB(−) aMCI showed cortical thinning in the left medial prefrontal and right anterior temporal regions, whereas PiB(+) aMCI exhibited cortical thinning in bilateral medial temporal regions, temporoparietal junctions and precuneus, and prefrontal cortices. Our findings suggest that structural changes in PiB(−) aMCI might be due to several possible pathologic changes, whereas structural changes in PiB(+) aMCI reflect AD-like structural changes.     

Contrasting patterns of brain activity in anxious apprehension and anxious arousal.

Evidence suggests that a distinction between anxious apprehension (worry) and anxious arousal (somatic anxiety) might account for some discrepancies in the literature examining brain activity in anxiety. In the current study, we compared the regional brain activity of groups of anxious apprehension and anxious arousal participants, selected on the basis of self-report measures previously shown to be psychometrically distinct from each other and from a specific measure of depression. Patterns of hemispheric asymmetry in electroencephalogram alpha distinguished the two types of anxiety, with the anxious arousal group showing more right than left activity. No significant asymmetry was found for the anxious apprehension group. The results provide further support for contrasting patterns of brain activity in distinct types of anxiety. Research is needed to specify further the topography and functional significance of this distinction.     

Depressive mood states and their cognitive and personality correlates in college students: They improve over time

About 30% of 171 college student respondents reported at least mild dysphoria. Depressed mood states were associated with dysfunctional attitudes and self-esteem problems, but not with gender or self-reported problem-solving ability. Findings about sex role orientation were mixed. The freshmen reported the highest levels of dysphoria, problem-solving difficulties, and dysfunctional attitudes, but there appeared to be consistent, gradual improvements, such that by the senior year students reported significantly less dysphoria. However, a 2-month follow-up found no significant changes in these areas, which suggests that the observed improvements may occur more gradually or may be an artifact of selective attrition from college. Implications of the results and directions for future research were discussed.