Affective Subscale Research Articles

Measuring Pain in Systemic Sclerosis: Comparison of the Short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire Versus a Single-item Measure of Pain

Studies of pain in systemic sclerosis (SSc) have used a variety of measures, including single-item measures and the 15-item short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ-SF). The objective of our study was to compare the performance of the MPQ-SF to a single-item pain numerical rating scale (NRS) and determine whether the MPQ-SF effectively differentiates between sensory and affective components of pain in SSc. A cross-sectional, multicenter study of 1091 patients from the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group Registry who completed the MPQ-SF and pain NRS. Correlations of MPQ-SF total scores and pain NRS scores with relevant outcome measures (disability, quality of life, depressive symptoms) were compared. To assess whether the MPQ-SF differentiated between sensory and affective factors, confirmatory factor analysis modeling was used, and correlations of sensory and affective factor scores with other outcome measures were compared. MPQ-SF total score and the pain NRS correlated similarly with other outcome measures, as did the sensory and affective scores. MPQ-SF sensory and affective factors were highly correlated (0.92), and a single-factor model fit as well as a 2-factor (sensory and affective) model. The substantial overlap between sensory and affective subscales of the MPQ-SF and the similarity of the MPQ-SF and NRS pain measures compared to other patient-reported outcomes suggest that the 15-item MPQ-SF does not provide tangible advantages compared to the single-item pain NRS. These findings support recommendations to use a single-item NRS pain measure in SSc as it is less burdensome to patients than the MPQ-SF.

Somatic and affective anxiety symptoms and menopausal hot flashes

Menopausal hot flashes have been associated with increased scores on measures of anxiety. Anxiety measures are typically composed of items measuring somatic and affective symptoms. Because hot flash symptoms are similar to symptoms of somatic anxiety, we wanted to examine the differential contribution of somatic anxiety and affective anxiety to hot flash scores. A total of 80 psychologically well-functioning postmenopausal women aged 50 to 64 years were administered the Zung Anxiety Index (ZAI), from which total score, somatic anxiety subscale score, and affective anxiety subscale score were calculated. The outcome measure was a hot flash score that incorporated both frequency and severity based on a 7-day diary. A linear regression analysis examined the association between hot flashes and the two anxiety subscales controlling for age, education, and sleep quality. Higher score on somatic anxiety was significantly associated with higher hot flash score (P = 0.04), whereas the association with affective anxiety was not significant (P = 0.80). Higher total score on the ZAI was also significantly associated with higher hot flash score (P = 0.02). These results suggest that the positive association between higher ZAI scores and hot flashes in recently postmenopausal women may be due to the overlap between the somatic manifestation of hot flashes and anxiety symptoms rather than to an affective anxiety disturbance. These results have potential implications for the care and treatment of postmenopausal women, but replication is required in other samples including women at different transition stages of menopause and women with psychiatric comorbidities.

Impact of family functioning on quality of life in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures versus epilepsy

To evaluate different contributions of aspects of family functioning (FF) on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) versus epileptic seizures (ES). Forty-five participants with PNES and 32 with ES completed self-report measures of FF (Family Assessment Device; FAD), HRQOL (Quality of Life in Epilepsy-31), and depression (Beck Depression Inventory-II; BDI-II). The FAD is a self-report questionnaire that assesses FF along six dimensions and general functioning. Regression analyses were used to evaluate the contribution of FF to HRQOL above and beyond the effects of disease severity and depression. Mean Family General Functioning fell in the unhealthy range in participants with ES or PNES. On further analysis, male participants in each group endorsed unhealthy levels of FF compared to female participants. Patients with PNES reported poorer HRQOL and greater depressive symptoms compared to ES participants; there were no gender differences in HRQOL. Regression analyses indicated that the FAD Roles subscale predicted reduced HRQOL in patients with PNES after controlling for illness duration, seizure frequency, and depression. After controlling for the same factors, Communication and Affective Involvement subscales scores predicted HRQOL in ES participants. Family dysfunction was reported in both ES and PNES participants, but greater family dysfunction was experienced by male participants in both groups. Aspects of FF predicted HRQOL in patients with PNES and ES differentially. FF may be an important treatment target to enhance coping in these groups, although the treatments may need to target different aspects of FF in PNES versus ES.

Energy literacy of secondary students in New York State (USA): A measure of knowledge, affect, and behavior

Energy literacy, which encompasses broad content knowledge as well as affective and behavioral characteristics, will empower people to make appropriate energy-related choices and embrace changes in the way we harness and consume energy. Energy literacy was measured with a written questionnaire completed by 3708 secondary students in New York State, USA. Results indicate that students are concerned about energy problems (affective subscale mean 73% of the maximum attainable score), yet relatively low cognitive (42% correct) and behavioral (65% of the maximum) scores suggest that students may lack the knowledge and skills they need to effectively contribute toward solutions. High school (HS) students scored significantly better than middle school (MS) students on the cognitive subscale; gains were greatest on topics included in NY State educational standards, and less on topics related to “practical” energy knowledge such as ways to save energy. Despite knowledge gains, there was a significant drop in energy conservation behavior between the MS and HS students. Intercorrelations between groups of questions indicate energy-related behaviors are more strongly related to affect than to knowledge. These findings underscore the need for education that improves energy literacy by impacting student attitudes, values and behaviors, as well as broad content knowledge.

Examining the Contribution of Social Communication Abilities and Affective/Behavioral Functioning to Social Integration Outcomes for Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury

To evaluate the contribution of social communication abilities and affective/behavioral functioning to social integration outcomes for persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Prospective cohort study. A total of 184 adults with TBI (72.8% men) evaluated at least 6 months postdischarge from acute care or inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and after living at least 3 months in the community postdischarge (Mean = 7.84 months postinjury). La Trobe Communication Questionnaire (LCQ), Assessment of Interpersonal Problem-Solving Skills(AIPSS), Affective Behavioral subscale From the Problem Checklist of the Head Injury Family Interview (AB-HIFI), Craig Handicap Assessment and Reporting Technique-Short Form Social Integration subscale (CHART-SF-SI), Community Integration Questionnaire Social Integration subscale (CIQ-SI). Social communication measures (LCQ, AIPSS) and self-reported behavioral functioning (AB-HIFI) contributed significantly to concurrently measured social integration outcomes after controlling for demographic and injury-related variables. Separate hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that social communication and behavioral variables accounted for 11.3% of variance in CIQ-SI and 16.3% of variance in CHART-SF-SI. Social communication abilities and affective/behavioral functioning make a substantial contribution to social integration outcomes after TBI. The implications of such evidence for clinical assessment and intervention are discussed.

Abstract P1-13-01: Comparing the Effects of Denosumab and Zoledronic Acid on Pain Interference with Daily Functioning in a Randomized Phase 3 Trial of Patients with Breast Cancer and Bone Metastases

Abstract In a recently completed trial of breast cancer patients with bone metastases, denosumab, a fully human monoclonal anti-RANKL antibody, was superior to zoledronic acid (ZA) in delaying/preventing skeletal-related events. Between-treatment differences in patient-reported pain interference with daily functioning were assessed. Eligible breast cancer patients received monthly subcutaneous denosumab 120 mg or intravenous ZA 4 mg (double-bind, double-dummy design). Patients completed the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) to assess pain severity and interference with daily functioning (range 0 [does not interfere]-10 [interferes completely]) at baseline (BL), day 8, and before each monthly visit through end of study. The BPI interference scale generated a total interference score as well as an activity subscale (interference with walking, general activity, and work) and an affective subscale (interference with relations with others, enjoyment of life, and mood). Analyses were conducted on all randomized patients with ≥1 PRO assessment and were performed through week 73, when 30% of patients had dropped out due to death, disease progression, or consent withdrawal. Subgroups included patients with no/mild and moderate/severe worst pain at BL. Analyses included time to improvement (≥2-point decrease) or worsening (≥2-point increase) in pain interference, mean change from baseline, and proportion of patients with improving or worsening pain interference scores. Time to improvement in pain interference with activity (PIWA) tended to occur more quickly with denosumab compared with ZA (N=1124; median: 70 days denosumab v 86 days ZA; P=0.09), and time to worsening PIWA tended to be longer with denosumab compared with ZA (N=1676; median: 394 days denosumab v 310 days ZA; P=0.13). In patients with no/mild pain at BL, denosumab also demonstrated a trend for shorter time to improvement in PIWA (N=388; 93 days denosumab v 120 days ZA; P=0.06) and longer time to worsening PIWA (N=755; 369 days denosumab v 232 days ZA; P=0.12). Overall, a greater proportion of patients on denosumab had improvement in PIWA on study than ZA (Figure). Findings were similar with the total interference score and affective subscale. Figure Proportion of Patients With Improvement in Pain Interference With Activity (≥2-point decrease from BL)* Daily functioning (total interference and interference with activity and affect) tended to be less disrupted by pain in patients on denosumab compared with ZA. Decreased pain interference showed a trend to occur more quickly with denosumab. Overall, a greater proportion of denosumab patients reported decreased pain interference than ZA patients. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2010;70(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-13-01.

Avoidance of affect in the eating disorders

The Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS) (Corstorphine, Mountford, Tomlinson, Waller, & Meyer, 2007) measures the tendency to use cognitive and behavioural strategies to manage the experience of positive and negative affect. This paper aimed to explore the factor structure of the DTS, particularly in relation to avoidance of affect. Participants were 227 female university students (non-clinical sample) and 257 clients seeking treatment for an eating disorder (clinical sample). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test two previously proposed factor structures of the DTS in the non-clinical sample. Both of these models were found to be a poor fit to the data. Subsequently, nine items measuring avoidance of affect were analysed using exploratory factor analysis in the non-clinical sample. Three factors of avoidance of affect were identified (Behavioural Avoidance of Positive Affect, Behavioural Avoidance of Negative Affect, and Cognitive Avoidance of Affect). Confirmatory factor analysis supported this avoidance of affect model in the clinical sample. Significant correlations were observed between avoidance of affect subscales and eating psychopathology in both samples. Results suggest that the avoidance of positive emotion may be an important factor in eating disorders. It is recommended that future studies broaden their investigation of the role of emotion in eating disorders to include both negative and positive emotion.

Validacija kratke skale subjektivnog blagostanja

U ovom radu su predstavljeni rezultati istraživanja čiji je osnovni cilj bio provera konvergentne validnosti Kratke skale subjektivnog blagostanja. Rezultati su pokazali da je skala značajno povezana sa standardnim merama subjektivnog blagostanja (zadovoljstvom životom, pozitivnim afektom, negativnim afektom i subjektivnim osećanjem sreće) kao i teorijski i empirijski povezanim konstruktima: optimizmom, samopoštovanjem i osobinama ličnosti. Opravdanost razlikovanja kognitivne i afektivne subskale KSB, dokazuje to što je subskala Pozitivan afektivitet snažnije povezana sa konstruktima koji su dominantno afektivni (pozitivnim i negativnim afektom i osobinama ličnosti), dok subskala Pozitivan stav prema životu ima dosledno više korelacije sa kognitivnim konstruktima (optimizmom, samopoštovanjem i zadovoljstvom životom). U radu su diskutovane prednosti skale, sfere u kojima može biti korištena, kao i preporuke za naredna istraživanja.

Optimism and Well-Being in Older Adults: The Mediating Role of Social Support and Perceived Control

To investigate how psychosocial resources may improve well-being for older adults, this study explored the relationship among questionnaire measures of optimism, social support and perceptions of control in predicting subjective well-being (measured with the positive affect subscale of the Affect Balance Scale) (Bradburn, 1969) and psychological well-being (measured with the purpose in life scale of the Ryff Psychological Well-being scales) (Ryff, Lee, Essex, & Schmutte, 1994) among older adults. The potential mediating roles of perceived social support and perception of control were also explored. Participants were 225 adults aged from 65 to 94 years. Optimism was found to be a predictor of both subjective and psychological well-being, and perceived social support was found to mediate the relationship between optimism and subjective well-being, but not psychological well-being. In contrast, perception of control was found to mediate the relationship between optimism and psychological well-being, but not subjective wellbeing. Longitudinal research is needed to confirm these pathways.

Affective and cognitive theory of mind in patients with parkinson’s disease

Theory of Mind (ToM), which is the ability to infer other people’s mental states such as beliefs or desires, is an important prerequisite for social interaction. Affective and cognitive subcomponents of ToM can be impaired selectively in neurological and psychiatric disorders. This study examines ToM in 21 Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients and 21 healthy control (HC) subjects, using the computerized “Yoni task” that assesses affective and cognitive ToM abilities and an extensive battery of neuropsychological tests. Furthermore, questionnaires to assess health-related quality of life and depressive symptoms were applied and correlations to ToM were investigated. Compared to the control subjects, PD patients scored lower on both the affective (PD: 76% versus HC: 89%; p = 0.006) and cognitive (PD: 80% versus HC: 92%; p = 0.002) ToM subscales but not on control items (PD: 90% versus HC: 95%; p = 0.077). The ToM abilities were not associated with other cognitive functions, depressive symptoms or clinical data. However, affective ToM was correlated with health-related quality of life ( p = 0.01). Parkinson patients are impaired in affective as well as cognitive ToM. These deficits are largely independent from other cognitive impairments, depressive symptoms and motor impairment. The relationship of affective ToM to the health-related quality of life of PD patients points to a clinical relevance of this issue and suggests that ToM dysfunctions must be regarded as an important non-motor feature of Parkinson’s disease.

Attentional Control Moderates Relations Between Negative Affect and Neural Correlates of Action Monitoring in Adolescence

This study examined the moderating role of attentional control on relations between negative affect and action monitoring event related potentials (ERPs) (error-related negativity (ERN) and N2) in a group of healthy adolescents (9 to 17 years old). These ERPs were recorded while participants completed a modified flanker task. Participants also completed the negative affect subscale of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children (PANAS–C) and the attentional control subscale of the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire–Revised (EATQ–R). Regression analyses revealed negative affect by attentional control interactions, suggesting that youth high in attentional control and high in negative affect show increased N2 amplitude and a trend toward increased ERN amplitude. These findings are discussed with regard to the interface of attention and emotion processes that are implicated in action monitoring and relevance to the study of self-regulation during adolescence.

Distinguishing affective and somatic dimensions of pain and depression: a confirmatory factor analytic study

In this study, we examined the overlap between pain and depression in a sample of 342 chronic pain patients treated at a specialty pain clinic. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the differentiation of pain and depression measured as latent factors derived from the subscales of the Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. The affective pain subscale did not load on latent depression and the somatic depression subscale loaded weakly on latent pain. Although pain and depression are linked, we found that affective pain is distinct from depression, and that somatic depression is distinct from pain. This finding justifies further examination of the casual relationship between pain and depression.

Racial differences in osteoarthritis pain and function: potential explanatory factors

This study examined factors underlying racial differences in pain and function among patients with hip and/or knee osteoarthritis (OA). Participants were n=491 African Americans and Caucasians enrolled in a clinical trial of telephone-based OA self-management. Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales-2 (AIMS2) pain and function subscales were obtained at baseline. Potential explanatory variables included arthritis self-efficacy, AIMS2 affect subscale, problem- and emotion-focused pain coping, demographic characteristics, body mass index, self-reported health, joint(s) with OA, symptom duration, pain medication use, current exercise, and AIMS2 pain subscale (in models of function). Variables associated with both race and pain or function, and which reduced the association of race with pain or function by >or=10%, were included in final multivariable models. In simple linear regression models, African Americans had worse scores than Caucasians on AIMS2 pain (B=0.65, P=0.001) and function (B=0.59, P<0.001) subscales. In multivariable models race was no longer associated with pain (B=0.03, P=0.874) or function (B=0.07, P=0.509), indicating these associations were accounted for by other covariates. Variables associated with worse AIMS2 pain and function were: worse AIMS2 affect scores, greater emotion-focused coping, lower arthritis self-efficacy, and fair or poor self-reported health. AIMS2 pain scores were also significantly associated with AIMS2 function. Factors explaining racial differences in pain and function were largely psychological, including arthritis self-efficacy, affect, and use of emotion-focused coping. Self-management and psychological interventions can influence these factors, and greater dissemination among African Americans may be a key step toward reducing racial disparities in pain and function.

Clinical assessment of affective instability: Comparing EMA indices, questionnaire reports, and retrospective recall.

Traditional self-report measures of psychopathology may be influenced by a variety of recall biases. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) reduces these biases by assessing individuals' experiences as they occur in their natural environments. This study examines the discrepancy between trait questionnaire, retrospective report, and EMA measures of affective instability in psychiatric outpatients either with a borderline personality diagnosis (n = 58) or with a current episode of major depressive disorder or dysthymia (n = 42). The authors examined the agreement of 3 trait measures of affective instability-the Affective Instability subscale of the Personality Assessment Inventory-Borderline Features scale (L. C. Morey, 1991), the Affect Intensity Measure (R. J. Larsen, E. Diener, & R. Emmons, 1986), and the Affect Lability Scales (P. D. Harvey, B. R. Greenberg, & M. R. Serper, 1989)-and 1 retrospective mood recall task with EMA indices of mood and mood instability. Results indicate only modest to moderate agreement between momentary and questionnaire assessments of trait affective instability; agreement between recalled mood changes and EMA indices was poor. Implications for clinical research and practice and possible applications of EMA methodology are discussed.

Relations among Need for Power, Affect and Attitudes toward Animal Cruelty

ABSTRACTPrevious research has investigated the relationship between empathy with humans and attitudes toward animals. Developing a better understanding of this relationship, as well as other related variables, may assist in the prevention of antisocial behavior. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the relationship between sensitivity toward the mistreatment of animals, negative affect, and need for power. Participants were 198 Introductory Psychology students, 98 (49.5%) women and 100 (50.5%) men. They completed three questionnaires: the Need for Power (nPower) subscale of the Index of Personal Reactions (IPR); the Positive and Negative Affect Schedules—Expanded form (PANAS-X); and the Cruelty subscale of the Attitudes Toward the Treatment of Animals Scale (ATTAS). Results indicated that, among men, individual differences in the affect subscales of Sadness, Hostility, Fear, and Fatigue, in addition to nPower, were significantly correlated with cruelty attitudes. Linear regression showed that both Hostility and nPower emerged as significant predictors of cruelty attitudes. Further analyses revealed a significant Hostility × nPower interaction, with Hostility related to animal cruelty only among men with low nPower scores. Among women, only the affect subscale of Serenity was correlated with animal cruelty. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Cynical hostility and stimulated Th1 and Th2 cytokine production

Hostility has been associated with heightened proinflammatory activity. However, it is not known whether greater hostility contributes to greater inflammation by promoting higher Th1 activity, lower Th2 activity, or both. The present study examines the relation of hostility to mitogen-stimulated Th1 and Th2 cytokine production in vitro. Participants were 193 healthy men and women (mean age 37.3; 44% non-white). Hostility was assessed with a 20-item version of the Cook–Medley Hostility Scale (CMHS). PHA-stimulated interleukin (IL)-2, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and interferon (IFN)-γ were used to measure Th1 activity; PHA-stimulated IL-4, IL-5, and IL-10 were used to measure Th2 activity. Greater hostility was related to greater production of two of the three Th1 cytokines, TNF-α and IFN-γ. Hostility was not associated with any measure of Th2 cytokine production. Associations with Th1 cytokines were independent of age, sex, race, socioeconomic status, body mass index, depressive symptoms, and health-related behaviors, and were consistent across men and women. Associations were not explained by social network characteristics, social support, or personality traits closely associated with social behavior. Exploratory analyses substituting the CMHS cognitive, affective, and behavioral subscales for total hostility revealed that associations between hostility and Th1 cytokine production were primarily driven by the cognitive component of hostility (i.e., cynicism). Results suggest that a unique dimension of hostility, particularly the cynicism subcomponent, that is unrelated to social factors, may influence inflammation by promoting greater Th1 cytokine production. This effect on stimulated cytokine activity may have implications for a role of hostility in exacerbating immune-related disease.

Turkish University Students’ Perceptions of the World Wide Web as a Learning Tool: An Investigation Based on Gender, Socio-Economic Background, and Web Experience

The main purpose of the study is to investigate Turkish undergraduate students’ perceptions of the Web as a learning tool and to analyze whether their perceptions differ significantly based on gender, socio-economic background, and Web experience. Data obtained from 722 undergraduate students (331 males and 391 females) were used in the analyses. The findings indicated significant differences based on gender, socio-economic background, and Web experience. The students from higher socio-economic backgrounds indicated significantly higher attitude scores on the self-efficacy subscale of the Web attitude scale. Similarly, the male students indicated significantly higher scores on the self-efficacy subscale than the females. Also, the students with higher Web experience in terms of usage frequency indicated higher scores on all subscales (i.e., self-efficacy, affective, usefulness, Web-based learning). Moreover, the two-way ANOVA results indicated that the student’s PC ownership has significant main effects on their Web attitudes and on the usefulness, self-efficacy, and affective subscales.

Frameworks of Caring and Helping in Adolescence: Are Empathy, Religiosity, and Spirituality Related Constructs?

Caring and helping are suggested as mechanisms that link empathy to religiosity and spirituality. To test this assertion, 428 adolescents completed self-report measures of religious attendance, importance of spiritual or religious beliefs, care, volunteerism, and affective and cognitive subscales of empathy. Sex differences also were examined. Importance of beliefs was associated with empathic concern and perspective-taking forms of empathy. Unexpectedly, religious attendance was not related to either subscale of empathy. Through a series of regressions, care was shown to mediate the relations between importance of beliefs and empathic concern and perspective taking, and volunteerism mediated the relation between importance of beliefs and perspective taking. Care, especially, should continue to be examined for its bridging function between empathy and religiosity and spirituality. Gender role and biological sex distinctions should also be examined in future studies.

A correlation study of emotion recognition, alexithymia and flat affect in schizophrenic patients

ObjectiveTo analyze the correlation between the facial emotion deficits and alexithymia or flat affect in patients with schizophrenia. MethodsEighty-two schizophrenic patients and eighty-eight healthy subjects were tested with the Chinese Facial Emotion Test (CFET)and Toronto Alexithymia Scale(TAS-26),and rated on the flatten affective subscale of the SANS. ResultsFor patients with schizophrenia, the total correct score and scores of recognition for each of six basic emotions were significantly less(P<0.01), and the scores of factor I, II, or IV on TAS-26 were significantly more (P<0.01)than that of controls. There was a significantly negative correlation between scores of CFET and the scores of factor I, II, or IV on TAS-26, in which 27 of 35(71.4%) correlation coefficients reach statistic significance. and also a significantly negative correlation between some scores of CFET and flatten affective subscale of the SANS, in which 9 of 49 (18.4%) correlation coefficients reach statistic significance. There was no significant correlation between scores of TAS-26 and subscales of symptom, apart from subscale of eye attach. ConclusionThe impairment of facial emotion recognition as well as alexithymia indicated a special trait in schizophrenics. both of two symptoms may be involved in a common neural substrates, while the dissociation between alexithymia and flatten affection may suggested a different pathological emotion processing. Key words: Emotion recognition; Alexithymia; Flat affect; Schizophrenia

Psychopathic Traits and Suicidal Ideation in High-School Students

The aim of the study was to evaluate the contribution of psychopathic traits in the prediction of suicidal ideation among non-clinical non-forensic adolescents. A sample of 312 high-school students completed questionnaires assessing suicidal ideation, depressive symptoms, borderline personality traits, and cannabis use and the Youth Psychopathic traits Inventory (YPI, Andershed, Kerr, Stattin et al., 2002), which consists of three dimensions, the Interpersonal subscale (grandiosity, manipulation), the Affective subscale (callousness, unemotionality), and the Behavioral subscale (impulsiveness, irresponsibility). A multiple regression analysis showed that the affective component of psychopathic traits was an independent predictor of suicidal ideation. Our results suggest that clinicians should not assume that the presence of psychopathic traits in adolescent is a protection against suicidal ideation.