An alternative model for quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis in general pedigrees

Linkage detection of a trait involves detecting regions of the genome that influence the trait. A wide variety of statistical models are currently employed for linkage analysis of quantitative traits. Many of these models are developed under some assumptions of the trait distributions. Violation of the assumptions about the trait generally affects the type I error and power for linkage detection. In this paper, we have proposed a trait-model-free approach for linkage analysis of a quantitative trait in general pedigrees. The conditional segregation of marker alleles given the trait is modeled using a latent-variable logistic model. A likelihood-ratio test is used to test for linkage under our model. The main applicability of this approach lies in the fact that it always provides correct type I error no matter what the trait distribution is and thus can be used for nonnormal traits or for selected samples. By means of simulation studies, we have compared the power of our proposed model with existing approaches for nonnormal traits. The performance of these methods was also studied on a real dataset. We have demonstrated the usefulness of our approach in terms of power and robustness for linkage detection of quantitative traits in general pedigrees.     

假想和真实情景下特质焦虑对未来事件情绪预测的影响

目的:考察假想和真实情境下高低特质焦虑个体对积极和消极事件的预测模式。方法:两个研究分别以205名和164名大学生为研究对象,均采用两因素实验设计,分别在实验室假想情景和真实事件(四六级考试)中,先填写状态-特质焦虑问卷(STAI)的特质焦虑分量表,然后对未来事件发生可能性、情绪强度进行预测和实际评估。结果:在假想情景中,高特质焦虑组预测积极事件发生可能性的评分低于低特质焦虑组[(1.8±1.2) vs.(3.1±0.9);P<0.01]。在真实情境下,低特质焦虑组实际未通过考试后的难过程度的评分高于预测评分[(6.2±2.2)vs.(4.4±2.1);P<0.01];高特质焦虑组实际通过考试后的开心程度的评分低于预测评分[(5.8±3.0)vs.(7.8±1.7);P<0.05]。结论:高低特质焦虑水平的个体对未来事件的情绪预测会受到事件本身情绪效价的影响,他们对情绪事件的预测模式存在差异。     

大学生童年期虐待与特质抑郁和正念的关系

目的:探讨大学生童年期虐待、特质抑郁和正念之间的关系。方法:选取大学生415名,采用童年期创伤问卷(CTQ)、状态-特质抑郁量表中特质抑郁分量表(T-DEP)和正念注意知觉量表(MAAS),分别测量大学生童年期虐待、特质抑郁和正念。结果:童年期虐待得分与特质抑郁得分呈正相关(r=0.4,P<0.01),与正念得分呈负相关(r=-0.37,P<0.01);正念在童年期虐待与特质抑郁得分关系中的调节作用有统计学意义(β_高=0.60、β_低=0.33,均P<0.001),与特质抑郁中快感缺失维度得分关系中的调节作用有统计学意义(β_高=0.75、β_低=0.31,均P<0.001)。结论:有童年期虐待经历的大学生表现出更高水平的特质抑郁,其特质抑郁受到正念的调节。     

The Impact of Personality Traits on Ratings of Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms

Objective

The goal of this study was to evaluate consistencies and discrepancies between clinician-administered and self-report versions of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) and to examine relationships between these scales and personality traits.

Methods

A total of 106 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) participated in this study. All participants were assessed with both clinician-administered and self-report versions of the Y-BOCS. The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Disorders Personality Questionnaire (SCID-II-PQ) was used to evaluate relationships between personality traits and scores on the Y-BOCS.

Results

Scores on the clinician-administered Y-BOCS and its obsession subscale were significantly higher than were those on the self-report version. However, we found no significant differences in compulsion subscale scores. We also found that the discrepancies in the scores on the two versions of the Y-BOCS and its compulsion subscale were significantly positively correlated with scores for narcissistic personality traits on the SCID-II-PQ. Additionally, narcissistic personality traits had a significant effect on the discrepancy in the scores on the two versions of the Y-BOCS and its compulsion subscale in the multiple linear regression analysis.

Conclusion

This is the first study to elucidate relationships between personality traits and discrepancies between scores on the two versions of the Y-BOCS. Although clinicians tend to rate obsessive symptoms as being more severe than do patients, clinicians may underestimate the degree to which individuals with narcissistic personality traits suffer more from subjective discomfort due to compulsive symptoms. Therefore, the effect of personality traits on symptom severity should be considered in the treatment of OCD.     

The Relative Salience of Daily and Enduring Influences on Off‐Job Reactions to Work Stress

Work stress is an important determinant of employee health and wellness. The occupational health community is recognizing that one contributor to these relationships may be the presence of negative off‐job reactivity to work, which we argue involves continued thoughts directed towards work (cognitive reactivity), continued negative mood stemming from work (affective reactivity), and the alteration of post‐work behaviours in response to work factors (behavioural reactivity). We explored the relative contributions of daily work stressors, affective traits, and subjective job stress perceptions to negative off‐job reactivity. These relationships were evaluated in a study of hospital nurses (n = 75), who completed trait measures and then provided self‐assessments of daily work stress and off‐job reactions for four work days. The results of several multilevel analyses indicated that a main‐effects model best described the data when predicting cognitive, affective, and behavioural reactivity from daily work stressors, affective traits, and subjective job stress perceptions. A series of multilevel dominance analyses revealed that subjective job stress perceptions dominated the prediction of behavioural reactivity, while trait negative affect dominated the prediction of affective reactivity. Theoretical implications and the relative salience of daily and enduring contributors to negative off‐job reactivity are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relationship of parental bonding styles with gray matter volume of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in young adults

Previous epidemiologic studies using the parental bonding instrument (PBI), a self-report scale to rate attitudes of parents during the first 16 years, have suggested that a lower parental care score or higher parental overprotection score could lead to an increased risk of several psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia and mood disorder. However, neuroimaging studies of an association between PBI scores and brain developmental abnormalities are still limited. In this region-of-interest analysis study using a cross-sectional design, we examined 50 normal young adults, in terms of relationships of parental bonding styles during the first 16 years measured by PBI with regional gray matter (GM) volume in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Our study showed that paternal care score positively correlated with the GM volume in the left DLPFC, and paternal and maternal overprotection score negatively correlated with the GM volume in the left DLPFC. In conclusion, our results suggest that in normal young adults, lower paternal care and higher parental overprotection scores correlated with the GM volume reduction in the DLPFC     

The interrelationship between pregnancy-specific anxiety and general anxiety across pregnancy: a longitudinal study

Abstract

Background: High levels of prenatal maternal anxiety – either pregnancy-specific anxiety or general anxiety – may have detrimental effects on both the mother and her child. It is currently unknown how these two different expressions of anxiety influence each other over time during pregnancy.

Aims: This study aimed to describe the relationship between state, trait and pregnancy-specific anxiety levels across pregnancy.

Methods: Longitudinal data from three data-waves of a large-scaled sample of nulliparous normal risk pregnant women were used to display associations over time by means of autoregressive and cross-lagged panel models.

Results: Cross-lagged, cross-time pathways from pregnancy-specific anxiety to state as well as trait anxiety were positively significant, while vice versa the most consistent links were found from trait anxiety to pregnancy-specific anxiety.

Conclusions: We conclude that pregnancy-specific anxiety and general anxiety appear to influence each other over time, resulting in heightened anxiety for some soon-to-be mothers.     

Assessing the utility of yearly pre-season laboratory screening for athletes on a major professional sports team

Objectives

Professional athletes undergo annual pre-season laboratory screening, although clinical evidence supporting the practice is limited and no uniform set of guidelines on pre-season laboratory screening exists. The aim of this study was to assess the clinical value of annual pre-season laboratory screening tests for a major professional sports team over multiple years.

军队科研院所研究生人格特征与心理健康状况调查研究

目的 研究军队科研院所研究生的人格特征与心理健康状况,分析两者之间的相关关系.方法 针对210名军队科研院所研究生,采用卡特尔16种人格因素问卷(16PF)、抑郁自评量表(SDS)、大学生人格问卷(UPI)进行测量.结果 被试群体的心理卫生问题、抑郁问题检出率分别为0.95％和9.05％;被试群体在4种人格维度:稳定性(C,P＜0.001)、兴奋性(F,P＜0.001)、敢为性(H,P＜0.001)和幻想性(M,P＜0.05或P＜0.01)的平均分数高于全国常模水平,而在6种人格维度:怀疑性(L,P ＜0.001)、忧虑性(O,P＜0.001)、实验性(Q1,P＜0.001)、独立性(Q2,P＜0.001)、自律性(Q3,P＜0.001)和紧张性(Q4,P＜0.001)的平均分数低于全国常模水平.此外,男性被试群体在聪慧性(B,P ＜0.001)人格维度和女性被试群体在乐群性(A,P＜0.05)人格维度上的平均分数显著高于全国常模水平,而女性被试群体在2种人格维度:有恒性(G,P ＜0.001)和敏感性(I,P＜0.05)上的平均分数显著低于全国常模水平;被试群体在8种人格维度:C(-)、H(-)、L(+)、O(+)、Q4(+)、适应与焦虑(x1,+)、心理健康(Y1,-)、专业成就(Y2,-)上的分数与心理健康水平(SDS、UPI的得分)存在着中等程度以上(r＞0.4或r＜-0.4)的相关关系.结论 与国内同类群体相比,军队科研院所研究生的心理健康状况较好;在人格特征方面,军队科研院所研究生在“C”、“F”、“H”、“M”等人格维度上的得分显著高于全国常模水平,而在“L”、“O”、“Q1”、“Q2”、“Q3”、“Q4”等人格维度上的得分显著低于全国常模水平.男性研究生在“G”、“I”、“L”等3项基本人格维度的得分显著高于女性研究生;而女性研究生在基本人格维度世故性(N)、Q3和次级人格维度“感情用事与安详机警(X3)”的得分显著高于男性研究生,且与全国女性成年人的常模相比较,女性研究生的显著人格特征是心理兴奋性“F”要明显高于平均人群,说明与全国女性的平均水平相比,军队科研院所的女性研究生突出表现为活力水平较高,而人格特征对于心理健康状态具有重要的影响作用.     

Age-related differences in spontaneous trait judgments from facial appearance

We tested whether there are age-related declines in detecting cues to trustworthiness, a skill that has been demonstrated to be rapid and automatic in younger adults. Young (M_age = 21.2 years) and older (M_age = 70.15 years) adults made criminal appearance judgments to unfamiliar faces, which were presented at a duration of 100, 500 or 1,000 ms. Participants’ response times and judgment confidence were recorded. Older were poorer than young adults at judging trustworthiness at 100 ms, and were slower overall in making their judgments. Further, the cues (i.e. perceptions of anger, trustworthiness and happiness) underlying criminality judgments were the same across age groups. Judgment confidence increased with increasing exposure duration for both age groups, while older adults were less confident in their judgments overall than their young counterparts. The implications are discussed.