BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Childhood irritability and negative life events have been linked to internalizing symptoms; however, it remains unclear how these factors jointly shape symptom trajectories. DESIGN:We examined independent and interactive effects of irritability and negative life events on the development of depressive, anxiety, and somatic symptoms. METHODS:Participants included 9- to 10-year-old children (N = 11,868) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD Study®). Linear mixed-effects modeling was utilized to investigate the longitudinal trajectories of depressive, anxiety, and somatic symptoms across three annual follow-up assessments, with irritability, including both tonic and phasic irritability, negative life events, and their interaction included as predictors. RESULTS:Higher irritability and greater exposure to negative life events independently predicted changes in depressive, anxiety, and somatic symptom trajectories over time. Irritability and negative life events also interacted to predict depressive symptom trajectories, with greater negative life event exposure amplifying differences in depressive symptom trajectories across irritability levels. Similar patterns were observed for tonic and phasic irritability. No significant interactions were observed for anxiety or somatic symptom trajectories. CONCLUSIONS:Irritability and negative life events independently contribute to multiple domains of internalizing psychopathology, but their joint effects appear to be specific to depressive symptom development.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Following bereavement, a minority experiences severe, persistent, and disabling grief, termed prolonged grief disorder (PGD). Establishing individual differences in how grief develops over time can guide clinical decision-making, yet has only recently received empirical scrutiny. The present review synthesizes results from grief trajectory studies. DESIGN:Systematic review (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42024601883). METHOD:We included peer-reviewed, longitudinal, quantitative studies that identify grief trajectories in bereaved adults. Searches of Web of Science, PsycINFO, and PubMed (October 18, 2024) identified 272 potentially relevant papers. Thirteen articles, reporting on 12 studies and 14 trajectory analyses, were selected. RESULTS:Latent growth mixture modeling (and similar approaches) identified two to five trajectories. On average, chronic grief was identified in 10% of participants (in 13 analyses), recovery in 33% of participants (in 12 analyses), and resilience in 55% of participants (in 13 analyses). Most consistent correlates of more severe grief trajectories were younger age, lower education levels, and the death of a child/partner. CONCLUSIONS:Recovery appears more common and resilience less common after bereavement than after other stressful life-events. There is limited evidence for a delayed grief trajectory. Younger adults with lower education levels who lost a child/partner appear at risk for chronic grief.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:The COVID-19 pandemic was marked by global uncertainty, fluctuating safety measures, and major changes to daily living. For those high in intolerance of uncertainty (IU), depressive symptoms emerged or worsened. We examined whether perceived stress mediated the relationship between impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on symptoms of depression over time, and whether IU moderated these associations. METHODS:207 adults living in Quebec, Canada, completed an online questionnaire battery at three timepoints, each three months apart, between May 2020 and January 2021. RESULTS:Occupation-related impacts of the pandemic (e.g., changes in income, lay-offs) at time 1 positively predicted perceived stress at time 2, in turn positively predicting depressive symptoms at time 3. Surprisingly, the indirect effect was significant for individuals with low and medium IU, who were sensitive to the actual occupational impacts of the pandemic experienced, but not for those with high IU. Levels of perceived stress were highest overall among individuals with high IU and not significantly predicted by pandemic-related occupational impacts. CONCLUSIONS:Results highlight that there may be a higher susceptibility to perceived stress and depressive symptoms in persons with high intolerance of uncertainty, irrespective of the extent of actual occupational impacts endured during the pandemic.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Teachers often experience work-related stress as anxiety. Future time perspective (FTP) may shape anticipatory appraisal and coping, yet daily ordering with stress in teachers remains unclear. DESIGN:15-workday diary study. METHODS:Secondary school teachers in the Netherlands (N = 151; 1,269 daily reports) completed end-of-day questionnaires on work-related stress (state anxiety indicators) and two work-domain FTP facets: future-oriented cognition and future-oriented affect. Bayesian Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling separated within-teacher fluctuations from between-teacher differences and estimated concurrent and next-workday associations. RESULTS:Within teachers, stress was higher on days with more future-oriented cognition and lower with more positive future-oriented affect. No next-workday cross-lagged effects emerged. Between teachers, higher average future-oriented cognition co-occurred with higher average stress, whereas more positive average future-oriented affect co-occurred with lower average stress. CONCLUSIONS:Future-oriented cognition is not uniformly protective and may reflect anticipatory worry when negatively toned, while positive future-oriented affect aligns with lower stress. Distinguishing cognitive from affective future orientation advances stress-and-coping research and suggests key processes may unfold within the workday.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:This study explored risk factors for sensitivity to the rise in global antisemitism (i.e., sensitivity to antisemitism) following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas War. It specifically examined Holocaust centrality and intrusive linkage among Holocaust descendants (second and third generations of Holocaust survivors). DESIGN:A random web-based national sample of 405 Jewish participants of European origin completed questionnaires across four waves. METHOD:In T1 (May-November 2022), they reported familial Holocaust background and Holocaust centrality; in T3 (December 2023), they reported the intrusive linkage between the Holocaust and the Israel-Hamas War; and in T4 (July 2024), they reported sensitivity to antisemitism. T2 was not included in the current study. RESULTS:Results showed that Holocaust descendants reported higher levels of Holocaust centrality, intrusive linkage, and sensitivity to antisemitism relative to comparisons. The serial mediation model showed that both Holocaust centrality and intrusive linkage mediated the effect of being a Holocaust descendant on sensitivity to antisemitism. CONCLUSION:Results underscore the factors behind the increased preoccupation with antisemitism in Holocaust families. Practitioners should engage in interventions addressing these aspects in descendants of ancestral trauma, particularly when faced with current threats.
BACKGROUND:Teachers' well-being is crucial for effective learning environments. This study examined the relation between stress and burnout facets (emotional exhaustion (EE) and personal accomplishment (PA)) among early childhood educators, exploring the moderating role of vagal flexibility (VF; i.e., an index of change in parasympathetic nervous system functioning across time). High VF is theorized to reflect heightened sensitivity to environmental conditions, amplifying contextual effects. We hypothesized that: (1) higher psychological stress will be related to higher EE and lower PA; (2) VF will be associated with burnout facets; and (3) VF will moderate the stress-burnout facets link, with the association being strongest among teachers with high VF. DESIGN AND METHODS:In this cross-sectional study, 117 early childhood educators completed questionnaires on psychological stress (DASS-21) and sense of professional burnout (MBI-ES). VF was assessed as nonlinear changes in respiratory sinus arrythmia (RSA) while participants viewed videos of children exhibiting distress. RESULTS:Higher psychological stress was related to greater EE, but not to PA. As hypothesized, VF moderated this relation: stress was positively associated with EE only among educators with high VF, but not among those with low VF. CONCLUSIONS:Findings highlight the role of dynamic physiological functioning in stress-burnout processes.
BACKGROUND:We applied the existential-social psychological perspective of anxiety buffer disruption theory to explain the emergence of psychopathological reactions - post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms, depression, anxiety, and substance and behavioral addictions - following exposure to combat-related threats. METHOD:Israeli reserve soldiers in the Swords of Iron war (N = 357) completed measures of exposure to combat-related threats during the war, attachment anxiety, political voting, mental health (PTS, anxiety, depression) and problematic substance use and behavioral addictions. RESULTS:In support of our hypotheses, exposure to combat-related threats was associated with increased severity of PTS symptoms, depression, and problematic alcohol consumption, especially among soldiers with high levels of attachment anxiety and those who voted for left/center-wing political opposition parties (for whom the war might be experienced as a threat to their political views). Among left/center-wing political opposition voters, there were also indirect effects of exposure to combat-related threats, attachment anxiety, and political voting on depression, anxiety, and substance and behavioral addictions via PTS severity. CONCLUSIONS:Findings highlight the transdiagnosis quality of anxiety buffer disruption theory, specifically of attachment anxiety and political-worldview threat, as predictors of both mental health problems and substance and behavioral addictions.
This study examined the associations between combat exposure, sexist hostility, PTSD symptoms, and psychological strengths (hope, gratitude, and meaning-centered coping) with satisfaction with life (SWL) and flourishing among Israeli female combat and non-combat veterans. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 811 discharged Israeli female veterans (combat veterans: n = 453; non-combat veterans: n = 358), who completed self-report measures. Results show that combat veterans reported higher levels of combat exposure, sexist hostility, PTSD symptoms, and flourishing, but not SWL, compared to non-combat veterans. Across both groups, PTSD symptoms were negatively associated with SWL and flourishing, while hope, gratitude, and meaning-centered coping were positively associated with both outcomes. Findings suggest that while Israeli female combat veterans face elevated psychological risk, they may also experience greater flourishing. Psychological strengths such as hope, gratitude, and meaning-centered coping are robust predictors of well-being and may be important targets for intervention.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Determining the relations between risk factors of psychopathology in college students, such as avoidant coping and dependent stressors, could benefit well-being and educational outcomes. However, current research is limited in describing the bidirectional relations between these variables over time and within individuals. The current study aimed to longitudinally test the bidirectional relations between avoidant coping and dependent stressors in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS:Participants were from two university sites, with 299 participants from Site 1 and 154 from Site 2. Participants completed an online survey followed by biweekly online surveys during an eight-week period. Surveys contained questions measuring avoidant coping and number of dependent stressors experienced. Random intercept cross-lagged panel models were analyzed at both sites. RESULTS:At both sites, students with higher avoidant coping also reported more dependent stressors overall, but dependent stressors did not predict future avoidant coping. When an individual reported increased use of avoidant coping, they reported increases in the number of dependent stressors they experienced two weeks later, with partial replication across sites. CONCLUSION:Avoidant coping is associated with stressor generation across individuals and within individuals over time. Resources that help reduce avoidant coping may also reduce experiences of dependent stressors.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:In this preregistered pilot study, we conducted a just-in-time ecological momentary intervention to examine the real-life effects of two different one-minute breathing exercises on state anxiety and attention in acute threat situations among university students, with trait anxiety serving as a moderator. METHODS:During acute threat situations, 47 participants completed a short questionnaire assessing state anxiety. They were subsequently assigned to one of three conditions: box breathing, cyclic sighing or a passive control condition. Five minutes later, state anxiety and attention were measured. RESULTS:Compared with the control condition, both box breathing and cyclic sighing were associated with greater reductions in state anxiety. Interestingly, the students made fewer inhibition errors in the attention test after the box breathing condition. This effect was more pronounced for individuals with high levels of trait anxiety. Unexpectedly, box breathing and cyclic sighing were negatively related to attention efficiency: there were longer reaction times after the breathing exercises than after the control condition. CONCLUSIONS:This study suggests that box breathing and cyclic sighing may be effective methods for reducing anxiety in everyday life.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Coifman et al. (2021) found that major personal stressors exert stronger effects on psychological risk than work-related potentially traumatizing events in first responders. The current study sought to replicate and extend these findings by testing within-person effects of different stressor types on weekly sleep and risk behaviors, and by modeling how these micro-level processes shape long-term adjustment across the first year of college. DESIGN AND METHODS:First-year college students completed baseline questionnaires and a diagnostic interview, followed by 7 months of once-weekly experience sampling diaries assessing stress, affect, sleep, and behaviors. Follow-up questionnaires were administered at the end of the spring semester. RESULTS:At the within-person level, stressor types showed distinct effects: potentially traumatic events (PTEs) were associated with increases in maladaptive behaviors, whereas daily hassles predicted greater sleep disruption. At the macro level, longer average sleep duration predicted lower substance use and loneliness, while healthy behaviors and positive affect were protective against loneliness. PTEs uniquely predicted greater distress, substance use, and eating disorder symptoms. CONCLUSIONS:Findings partially replicated prior work. Targeting sleep and risk behaviors may improve adjustment to college.
OBJECTIVES:This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and mechanisms of a two-week Brief Mindfulness Meditation (BMM) intervention for stress and emotion dysregulation in young Chinese men. DESIGN AND METHOD:In a randomized controlled trial, with 85 male participants (aged 20-30) were assigned to either a two-week BMM intervention (15 min daily) or a control group with neutral audio interventions. Pre- and post-intervention assessments included physiological (HRV, cortisol), psychological (PSS, PANAS) and mindfulness-related outcomes (FFMQ). RESULTS:Compared with the control group, the BMM group showed significant reductions in perceived stress (-5.00, 95% CI [-9.50, -0.52]) and LF/HF ratio (-0.65, 95% CI [-1.16, -0.13]), as well as significant increases in positive affect (7.39, 95% CI [3.81, 10.97]) and Acting with Awareness. Mediation analyses further indicated that the effect on positive affect was fully mediated by a reduction in perceived stress, whereas the effect on negative affect was partially mediated by an enhancement in Acting with Awareness. CONCLUSIONS:BMM effectively reduces stress and promotes emotional well-being in young men through distinct mechanisms: it enhances positive affect by lowering perceived stress and mitigates negative affect by cultivating an awareness-based approach to acting.
BACKGROUND:Research suggests that trauma characteristics influence posttraumatic outcomes. Dangerous life-threatening events are associated with fear and anxiety; moral transgressions with guilt, shame and anger; perpetrating moral transgressions with self-conscious moral emotions (e.g., guilt, shame); and witnessing transgressions with other-condemning moral emotions (e.g., contempt, disgust). However, research linking situational features to posttraumatic outcomes is limited. This study investigated the influence of trauma-related situational variables on cognitive-emotional appraisals of stressful events. METHOD:Undergraduate and Community participants imagined themselves as the protagonist in auditory vignettes depicting moral transgressions or life-threatening situations. They were randomly assigned to a self-condition (e.g., protagonist-enacted events; n = 114), or other-condition (e.g., protagonist-witnessed events; n = 131). After each vignette, participants provided ratings of self-conscious and other-condemning emotions and cognitions, and fear on a 7-point scale. RESULTS:Moral vignettes evoked stronger moral emotions and cognitions than life-threat vignettes, with Bayesian t-tests yielding extreme evidence for these differences (all BF10 > 100). Compared to the other-condition, moral vignettes in the self-condition evoked greater self-conscious emotions and cognitions (BF10 > 100), lower other-condemning emotions (BF10 > 100), and no difference in other-condemning cognitions (BF10 = .085). CONCLUSION:Findings strengthen the theoretical rationale for integrating situational factors into conceptualizations of posttraumatic outcomes.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Birth-related stressors and reward processing are associated with postpartum internalizing symptoms. We examined main effects and interactions of reward processing and birth-related stressors on postpartum internalizing symptoms. DESIGN:Cross-sectional. METHODS:Women (n = 95) completed the Birth Experience Interview and questionnaires at 8-weeks postpartum. In addition, while electroencephalogram (EEG) data were collected, participants completed a Social Incentive Delay task to measure neural responses to feedback indicating a correct response and receipt of a social reward (photo of own infant) vs. feedback indicating an incorrect response and neutral outcome. EEG analyses focused on reward positivity (RewP) to reward feedback, adjusting for responses to neutral feedback. Participants completed questionnaires on depressive, anxiety, and traumatic intrusion symptoms. RESULTS:Greater birth-related severity and violations of expectations during childbirth were associated with more traumatic intrusion symptoms, but not depressive or anxiety symptoms. Surprisingly, an enhanced social RewP was associated with greater depression and anxiety symptoms. Social RewP moderated associations between birth experiences and postpartum traumatic intrusions; greater violation of expectations was associated with greater traumatic intrusions for those with relatively larger social RewP. CONCLUSIONS:Results support the utility of using dimensions of birth-related stressors as well as ERPs for measuring individual differences in reward processing relevant to postpartum internalizing symptoms.
BACKGROUND:Emotion polyregulation is an essential aspect of responding to stressful events by employing multiple strategies to influence one's emotions. The patterns of emotion polyregulation that effectively mitigate negative affect remain largely unknown. OBJECTIVES:The aim of the current study is to examine the relationship between adaptive real-world usage of daily emotion polyregulation and daily negative affect, considering differences in emotional intensity and momentary synergistic strategy selection. METHODS:During March-June 2023, 106 university students completed a 7-day ecological momentary assessment procedure reporting on emotion polyregulation usage and negative affect between two in-person lab sessions, with supplementary measurement of heart rate variability (HRV) and cognitive control ability. RESULTS:Higher event intensity and lower emotion dysregulation predicted greater strategy use during an emotional event. Additionally, greater event intensity and emotion dysregulation predicted greater daily negative affect. Within instances of polyregulation, greater use of situation selection and reinterpretation predicted lower daily negative affect. CONCLUSIONS:These findings shed light on which individual differences and situational factors predict emotion polyregulation use. Practically, these findings can inform the development of targeted emotion polyregulation interventions that train individuals to deploy adaptive strategies (i.e., situation selection and reinterpretation) particularly in high-intensity contexts where regulation is most needed.
This study examined the characteristics, developmental trajectories, and associated factors of adolescent anxiety and depression using a longitudinal design. A total of 736 high school students in Gansu Province, China, were followed across a two-month interval. Latent transition analysis (LTA) was used to identify changes in latent symptom profiles over time, and multinomial logistic regression analyses examined associations of internal (neuroticism) and external (negative life events) factors with subgroup membership and transitions.Three distinct latent classes were identified: a low-depression group, a low-symptom group, and a comorbid group. LTA quantified transition probabilities between these classes from Time 1 to Time 2. Overall, class membership showed high stability, although both symptom progression (e.g., transitions from the low-depression group to the low-symptom group) and symptom recovery (e.g., transitions from the comorbid group to lower-symptom groups) were observed.Further analyses indicated that neuroticism and negative life events correlated with baseline subgroup classification, with negative life events additionally related to transitions between groups. Gender had no significant effect on the occurrence and development of short-term anxiety and depression. These findings highlight the heterogeneity and dynamic nature of adolescent anxiety and depression and underscore the role of contextual stressors in short-term symptom development.
BACKGROUND:While psychological stress is increasing globally, the conditions under which stress facilitates or hinders prosocial behavior remain elusive. To resolve heterogeneous findings, it is essential to consider the modulatory effects of individuals' appraisals of stress as challenging versus threatening. Here, we tested the hypothesis that strengthening an individual's challenge appraisal under stress will enhance prosocial behavior. METHODS:121 individuals (62 women, 59 men) participated in the Trier Social Stress Test for Groups. Participants were instructed to either reappraise their upcoming arousal as adaptive (n = 61) or they performed a reading exercise without instructions on how to cope with the psychosocial stressor (n = 60). Participants then engaged in incentivised resource allocation games. The study's design and sample characteristics were preregistered as a clinical trial (DRKS00027518). RESULTS:We observed no general effect of arousal reappraisal on prosocial behavior. However, reappraising stress-related arousal as a functional resource did enhance prosocial behavior in individuals who had internalized the message and found this intervention to be effective. CONCLUSION:Our findings suggest that cognitive stress appraisals modulate behavioral stress effects, and appraisals can be leveraged to help improve stress-related response and outcomes.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES:Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is prevalent, yet poorly managed in multiple sclerosis(MS), and exercise training may be an effective treatment option. As an initial, foundational step in considering exercise training as a treatment, we examined the effects of an acute bout of moderate-intensity exercise on state anxiety and mood in people with MS prescreened for analogue GAD. DESIGN/METHODS:This study followed a randomized, counterbalanced crossover experimental design. We administered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory state subscale (STAI-Y1) and the Profile of Mood States (POMS) before, immediately after, and 20 min after 20-minutes of moderate-intensity treadmill walking exercise and seated quiet rest in people with MS and analogue GAD. The data were analyzed using a condition-by-time analysis of variance. RESULTS:There was a large, statistically significant condition-by-time interaction on STAI-Y1 scores (F(2,34) = 5.96, p = .006, η2 = .26). STAI-Y1 scores were reduced immediately after (d = 1.00) and 20 min after the exercise condition (d = .75) with no changes after seated rest. There were similar large improvements in overall POMS scores following exercise, but not seated rest. CONCLUSIONS:We provide novel evidence for the benefits of acute moderate-intensity walking exercise on state anxiety and mood among people with MS who have analogue GAD, and this exercise stimulus might be appropriate for the management of GAD in MS.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES:The Fear of Missing Out on rewarding experiences (FOMO) is linked with increased and problematic social media use. FOMO is also robustly correlated with negative affectivity constructs. However, research has not yet examined FOMO's relations with underlying dimensions of negative affectivity variables, to discover more specific aspects of negative affectivity with which FOMO may be most related. DESIGN/METHODS:We analyzed data from 461 American university students for a web survey conducted in 2024, administering self-report scales assessing FOMO, rumination, negative affect, and depression. RESULTS:Using confirmatory factor analyses, we discovered that FOMO was significantly more related to rumination's brooding factor than reflection factor. FOMO was equally related to underlying factors of negative affect and depression. CONCLUSIONS:These results help improve our understanding of the psychopathology of FOMO, elucidating its more granular relationship with the brooding type of rumination, and the mechanisms by which FOMO may related to depression and anxiety. Results are discussed in the context of FOMO's relationship with an increased social comparison orientation and social anxiety.
