Completed Measures Research Articles

The Classification and Stability of Psychotic-Like Experiences

Abstract: We examined psychotic-like experiences in adults. In Session 1, 404 participants completed domain measures of the Big Five and HEXACO. We identified 25 potential Psychoticism markers in Session 2, which was roughly 3 weeks later. Exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) of the Session 1 and Session 2 scales revealed six factors: the Big Five, plus Psychoticism. Eighteen scales marked the Psychoticism factor; in addition, five scales assessing negative symptoms of schizotypy defined low Extraversion. Finally, we identified a semioverlapping set of 22 potential Psychoticism markers in Session 3 ( N = 292), which was roughly 9.5 months after Session 2. EFAs of the Session 1 and Session 3 scales produced the same six factors. Sixteen scales defined Psychoticism; four scales assessing negative symptoms of schizotypy again formed a bipolar factor with Extraversion. Scores on the Psychoticism factors correlated .78 ( N = 287) across this 9.5-month interval, demonstrating a trait-like level of stability.

Ethnic-racial identity latent profiles protect against racial discrimination in Black American adults.

This study examined how ethnic-racial identity (ERI) profiles moderate the relationship between racial discrimination and mental health among Black American adults. Black American adults (n = 247) recruited from a community-based sample completed self-report measures of ERI, racial discrimination, depression, psychological distress, and emotional well-being. Latent profile analysis (LPA) identified four distinct ERI profiles, corresponding to the ERI status theorized in prior research-Diffusion, Moratorium, and Achievement-and a fourth profile, which corresponded to an ERI status for High Achievement. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that greater racial discrimination was significantly related to worse mental health for all outcomes and that having an ERI profile of High Achievement was significantly associated with lower depression. Moderation analysis indicated that the ERI profile for Achievement protected against depression and psychological distress in the context of high racial discrimination. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Fundamental representation of the amount of substance fraction of carbon dioxide in nitrogen according to the dynamic volumetric principle

Abstract The new Austrian primary standard for the amount of substance fraction of carbon dioxide in nitrogen is presented. The primary standard is working according to the dynamic volumetric principle and is a fundamental representation of the measurement quantity. The direct traceability to the basic SI units is thereby thermodynamically realized without an artefact. A complete measurement uncertainty budget is calculated and verified with a bilateral inter-laboratory comparison.

Evaluation of Immuno-Hematological Parameters of Severe and Mild COVID-19 Cases in Babylon Province, Iraq

The hematopoietic system plays a very important role in contracting the corona virus infection. Hematology indicators are among the factors related to the clinical results of patients with covid-19 due to their cost-effectiveness, availability, speed and convenience of testing. The aim of this study was comparing hematological parameters including the number of Red Blood Cells (RBC), hemoglobin, hematocrit, and platelet count among mild and severe COVID-19 patients. Methods: The study was conducted on 100 Iraqi patients COVID-19 patients. Subjects were classified into two groups with mild (n= 50) and severe (n=50) COVID-19 infection symptoms based on the clinical criteria. The hematological parameters measurement included Red Blood Cell (RBC) count, Hemoglobin (Hb) levels, White Blood Cell (WBC) count, Platelet count (PLT), Hematocrit (HCT) levels, Platelet Distribution Width (PDW), and Mean Platelet Volume (MPV). An independent sample T-test was used to compare the means of hematological parameters between two groups. Results: The RBC count was significantly lower in severe group compared to mild group (P ≤ 0.05). HCT levels were significantly reduced in the severe group compared to mild group (P ≤ 0.05). The severe patients had a significantly lower PLT than mild patients (P ≤ 0.05). No significant difference in Hb levels was observed between severe and mild patients. The severe patients had a significantly higher PDW than mild patients (P ≤ 0.05). Additionally, the severe patients had a significantly higher MPV than mild patients (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that complete blood count measurements can be used as useful biomarkers to assess the severity of Covid-19. Early identification of severe COVID-19 patients using these markers can help to better manage and accelerate the treatment process for COVID-19 patients.

Sleepless in the Pursuit of perfection: A longitudinal investigation of bidirectional relationships between insomnia and perfectionism in Adolescent males and females

Study objectivesPerfectionism is a possible risk factor for insomnia, yet longitudinal evidence of this relationship in adolescence is lacking. Cross-sectional evidence suggests the nature of the relationship may differ based on biological sex, and the form of perfectionism, since socially prescribed and self-oriented critical perfectionism are conceptualised as maladaptive for wellbeing, while self-oriented striving may be adaptive or neutral. This study aimed to investigate longitudinal bidirectional relationships between total perfectionism, and sub-forms of perfectionism (i.e., socially prescribed, self-oriented critical, self-oriented striving perfectionism), and symptoms of insomnia, over the course of mid-adolescence. Longitudinal models were examined for males and females separately. Methods434 adolescents (Mage = 14.25, SD = 0.56, range = 13–16, 52 % male) completed questionnaire measures of perfectionism (Child-Adolescent Perfectionism Scale) and insomnia (Insomnia Severity Index) on three annual occasions (at approximately 14, 15 & 16 years of age). Data were from the larger Risks to Adolescent Wellbeing (RAW) Project. ResultsBiological sex did not moderate the association between insomnia symptoms and any form of perfectionism. Cross-lagged panel models showed no longitudinal relationship between self-oriented striving, nor self-oriented critical perfectionism and insomnia symptoms for males or females. Higher total perfectionism predicted moderate increases in insomnia symptoms for males and females, but insomnia symptoms did not predict changes in total perfectionism. Socially prescribed perfectionism and insomnia symptoms predicted large and moderate increases in one another over time, respectively, forming a perpetuating cycle. ConclusionsResults suggest that perfectionism may be an important risk factor for insomnia symptoms in adolescents.

Impact of Adoption of European Kidney Consortium Equation (EKFC) on CKD Prevalence and CKD Staging in Older Irish Adults

Abstract Background The Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation tends to overestimate glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and has limitation in younger and older age groups, while the European Kidney Function Consortium (EKFC) full-age spectrum (FAS) correct for these problems and provide better performance in estimating GFR. We compared the 2017 EKFC- FAS(Scr-CysC) equation with 2012 CKD-EPI(Scr-CysC) for estimating CKD prevalence and staging in a national representative sample of older Irish adults. Methods We utilised data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (2009-2011), for participants aged 50 to 79 years with complete measurement of serum creatinine (Scr) and Cystatin-C (CysC). Using 2017 EKFC- FAS(Scr-CysC) and 2012 CKD-EPI(Scr-CysC), equations eGFR was calculated. CKD was defined as eGFR below 60 ml/min/1.73 m². Median eGFR, CKD prevalence, concordance correlation coefficient (CCC), and impact of EKFC equation on GFR category reclassification was examined. Results A total of 5,092 participants (53.3% women), median age 61 years were included. CKD prevalence varied significantly from 10.8% (9.9% – 11.8%) using 2021 CKD-EPI (Scr -CysC) to 16.7 % (15.5-17.9%) with the 2017 EKFC- FAS(Scr-CysC) equation. The corresponding numbers of CKD increased from 114,867 to 176,439 individuals respectively. The median eGFR for 2021 CKD-EPI (Scr -CysC) was 82.1 ml/min/1.73m2 and 2017 EKFC- FAS(Scr-CysC) was 74.5 ml/min/1.73m2, P<0.001). The net reclassification was 23.1 % based on 2017 EKFC- FAS (Scr-CysC) equation compared to CKD-EPI 2012 (Scr -CysC) and was towards more worsening CKD stage. The CCC between 2012 CKD-EPI(Scr-CysC) and 2017 EKFC- FAS(Scr-CysC) was 0.88 (95% CI, 0.88-0.89). Conclusion CKD prevalence varies according to eGFR equation with substantially higher numbers of CKD predicted by the European Kidney Function Consortium than CKD-EPI equations. This has direct implications on healthcare planning, resource allocation, and rates of referral to specialist nephrology services in Ireland.

Testicular self-examination: The role of anticipated relief and anticipated regret.

Anticipated regret has been implicated in health-related decision-making. Recent work on influenza vaccination has suggested that anticipated relief, too, may influence individuals' decisions to engage in positive health behaviours. To explore these affective components further and address the generality of possible mechanisms underlying these associations, we examined whether anticipated relief and anticipated regret independently predict testicular self-examination (TSE) intention and behaviour. Given claims about differences in their nature and function, we distinguished between counterfactual relief (relief that a worse outcome did not obtain) and temporal relief (relief that an unpleasant experience is over). Prospective correlational. At Time 1 (July 2022), 567 cis-gendered males were asked to complete measures of anticipated regret, anticipated counterfactual and temporal relief, measures of the Theory of Planned Behaviour and measures of anxiety and shame. One month later, the same participants were recontacted and asked about their engagement in TSE in the previous month. Anticipated counterfactual relief and anticipated regret are independent, positive, predictors of intention to engage in TSE and, indirectly, TSE behaviour itself. Interestingly, anticipated temporal relief was negatively associated with intention to engage in TSE and, indirectly, behaviour. Our results suggest that it may be the counterfactual nature of anticipated regret and anticipated relief that underlies their positive association with TSE and other health-promoting behaviours. Interventions designed to increase engagement in preventive health behaviours, such as TSE, may benefit from the consideration of both positively and negatively valenced counterfactual emotions.

Resistance is futile: Unveiling the self-presentational arsenal of the left-wing authoritarian

ABSTRACT Although right-wing authoritarianism is among the most well-studied constructs in the social sciences, left-wing authoritarianism (LWA) has only recently gathered attention. To expand on this burgeoning area, this study investigated LWA’s associations with an encompassing list of tactical self-presentation behaviors that are designed to gain power. A sample of US adults (N = 446; M age = 46.10; 51% female) completed self-report measures of LWA and their use of 12 self-presentation tactics. LWA was related to a protean overreliance on all self-presentation tactics except apologies, which could not be attributed to liberalism or demographics (e.g. age; sex; race) and were consistent across LWA’s facets. Our findings suggest the utility of conceptualizing LWA as based in strategic self-presentation behavior that can secure social power.

The relationship of childhood maltreatment, adult sexual victimization, depressed mood and symptoms of trauma with fear of childbirth

Background: Fear of childbirth (FoB) is experienced to some degree by most pregnant people and can be intense enough to merit treatment. Despite significant research on the topic of FoB, studies investigating various forms of maltreatment and mental health symptoms in relation to FoB are very limited. In particular, studies including multiple forms of maltreatment along with mental health symptoms as predictors of FoB are extremely limited. We sought to fill this gap and clarify the relative contributions of these variables to the prediction of FoB. Methods: This was a secondary analysis of data from pregnant people in Canada. Participants (N = 881) provided demographic and reproductive history information, completed self-report measures of FoB, childhood maltreatment (multiple forms), adult sexual victimization, depressed mood and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They were also administered a diagnostic interview to assess for specific phobia, FoB. Analyses included descriptive information, Wilcoxon rank sum tests, linear and logistic regression, and path analysis. Results: Most forms of maltreatment showed some association with increased FoB. However, when assessed together, only emotional maltreatment remained a significant predictor of FoB. Both depressed mood and symptoms of PTSD contributed more to FoB than maltreatment, and mediated the relationship of emotional maltreatment with FoB. The only direct effects of childhood emotional maltreatment on FoB were for fears of medical interventions and feelings of embarrassment during labour and delivery. Limitations: Study findings fill significant gaps in our understanding of the relationship between maltreatment, mental health symptoms and FoB. However, the study sample was limited to Canadian participants, most of whom were socio-economically advantaged, cis-gender women of European descent, thus limiting the generalizability of the findings. Further, as childhood maltreatment and sexual assault experiences in adulthood were reported retrospectively, study findings are also vulnerable to recall bias. Conclusions: Findings contribute to our understanding of the relationship between childhood maltreatment, adult sexual victimization, mental health and FoB. These findings can facilitate future research and improved care via a focus on depressed mood, symptoms of PTSD, emotional maltreatment and specific fears of medical interventions and social discomfort as significant contributors to one's experience of FoB.

Psychometric Assessment of Anxiety Measures in a Pilot Study of African American Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

African American patient populations are disproportionately diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) compared to non-Hispanic white adults. Research suggests a link between OSA and anxiety. However, OSA and anxiety symptoms may present differently across minority groups. Research examining the reliability and validity of measures used to assess anxiety symptom severity in African American patient populations living with OSA is needed. This pilot study evaluated the reliability and validity of the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Anxiety short form and the longer State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-State (STAI-S) in a sample of African American adults recently diagnosed with OSA. In this cross-sectional pilot study, 32 African American patients newly diagnosed with OSA were recruited from an academic sleep medicine clinic in the Southeastern United States to complete survey measures. Participants completed the 6-item PROMIS Anxiety short form and 20-item STAI-S. Cronbach's alphas assessed the internal reliability of measures, and concurrent validity between measures was assessed using correlation coefficients (rs). Both PROMIS Anxiety and STAI-S showed excellent internal consistency with Cronbach's α ≥.90. The PROMIS Anxiety T-scores and STAI-S scores were positively moderately correlated with each other (rs = .68; p < .0001), indicating concurrent validity. These results illustrate that both the PROMIS Anxiety and STAI-S scales have strong internal reliability in this sample of African American adults with co-occurring OSA and prediabetes. The brief PROMIS Anxiety short-form measure is validated to the longer STAI measure in this sample. An advantage of the PROMIS Anxiety scale is that it has a lower participant burden when completing questionnaires, contributing to a more refined approach to diagnosis and management when both OSA and anxiety coexist. These findings also underscore the importance of validating psychometric measures in marginalized populations, such as African Americans, who have historically been underrepresented in psychometric research.

Putting it into words: Emotion vocabulary, emotion differentiation, and depression among adolescents.

Emotion differentiation (ED; the ability to distinguish discrete internal emotion states) may reflect or benefit from knowledge of linguistic labels. The present study uses natural language processing to examine how emotion vocabulary (EV; diversity of unique emotion terms within active vocabulary) relates to ED and depression in an adolescent sample. We tested two competing preregistered (https://osf.io/4j75w/) models regarding the EV-ED link. In the lexical facilitation hypothesis, we posited that larger EV may inform ED, perhaps resulting in larger EVs being associated with greater ED. In the emotional concision hypothesis, we theorized that ED may reflect narrower emotional experiences that are more succinctly labelled, which could result in larger EV being associated with lower ED. A community sample of adolescents (N = 241, ages 14-17, predominantly White) completed interviews, self-report measures, and ecological momentary assessments as part of a larger study conducted between 2014 and 2016. EV was derived using speech samples from transcribed recordings of life stress interviews. In line with the emotion concision hypothesis, EV and ED were inversely related for negative emotions. Moreover, larger negative EV and lower negative ED were each uniquely associated with depression, casting further doubt on whether diverse negative EVs within spontaneous language are fundamentally adaptive for emotional functioning. Replication in more diverse samples is needed to extend generalizability. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Completing the Completeness Measure: the MIDS Specification

The need to rapidly digitise millions of specimens in natural history collections has seen the development of a staged approach for data capture by institutions that have been carrying out mass digitisation projects. The cost and difficulty of transcribing labels associated with specimens has necessitated an approach that prioritises parts of the data based on research and curatorial requirements as well as ease of transcription and methodology available. This approach means that there is currently a wide variation in the completeness of data capture and imaging of specimens within and between collections. The Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) Minimum Information about a Digital Specimen (MIDS) specification has been designed to provide a framework for measuring and monitoring the completeness of the data transcribed from the specimen and the presence of an image or other media file. This framework enables a consistent and standardised approach to the calculation of the level of digitisation of specimens within a collection and, by extension/extrapolation, to the collection itself. Four levels of digitisation have been defined in the MIDS specification including a pre-digitisation level. These have been developed to correspond to practical requirements and existing large-scale digitisation programmes. MIDS level 0 (Bare): A bare or skeletal record making the association between an identifier of a physical specimen and its digital representation, allowing for unambiguous attachment of all other information. MIDS level 1 (Basic): A basic record of specimen information enabling basic discoverability as well as how the user is permitted to use the data. MIDS level 2 (Regular): A regular level of information including data that have been agreed over time as essential for most scientific purposes. MIDS level 3 (Extended): An extended level of information about a specimen including identifiers enabling connections to be made to other data present or known about the specimen. The scope of MIDS does not directly include the quality of data entered. Instead, MIDS can be seen as a tool to support the continuing improvement of data access and quality. It provides guidance for prioritising the data to be captured as well as recommendations for data standards and mapping structures. Here we present the progress in the development of the MIDS specification and its implementation. The MIDS elements for each of the four levels have now been defined and a draft version is available here. A machine-readable mapping to Darwin Core and ABCD has been compiled following the Simple Standard for Sharing Ontological Mappings (SSSOM). The differing data relevances and priorities for different disciplines have been recognised and the inclusion of required elements at each level is discipline specific (biology, palaeontology and geology). In addition, MIDS level scores have been increasingly implemented in existing specimen management systems, allowing an evaluation of the levels achieved in various contexts. There are two implementations of MIDS calculators that have been developed and are available to test. One, developed at the Meise Botanic Garden, uses a zipped Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) annotated archive (a commonly used GBIF download format based on Darwin Core Archive) and is available here. The other, developed at The Natural History Museum London, interacts directly with the GBIF API and is available here. We encourage users to try these and provide feedback to the TDWG MIDS Task Group.

Finite element analysis for the measurement error of electrostatic accelerometer due to the electrode misalignment

Abstract The electrostatic accelerometer is the key payload of many space missions, such as satellite gravity measurements, space gravitational experiments, with a typical precision requirement from nano-g to femto-g. The measurement error model analysis is an important issue for the electrostatic accelerometer with numerous error sources. The traditional method by theoretical analysis is complicated to evaluate the complete measurement error models quantitatively especially when the machining and assembly errors of the sensor head are considered. Limited by the earth gravity and seismic noise which is much higher than the intrinsic noise, the complete error model of electrostatic accelerometers can also hardly be tested on ground. In this paper, the method by using finite element analysis of the sensor head is studied. The simulation model for an electrostatic accelerometer sensor head is built, and the multi-conductor capacitance matrix data is simulated. The accuracy of the capacitance simulation is evaluated in three ways including the convergence check of the capacitance with the mesh size, the symmetry verification, and the sensitivity comparison with the theoretical model. Finally, the accelerometer measurement model is analyzed based on the simulation data, using the case of rotating installation misalignment of the upper electrode as an example. The measurement model and error items of one horizontal axis and one rotating axis are quantitatively evaluated. The method proposed in this paper provide a new effective approach to the measurement model analysis of the electrostatic accelerometers in complex working scenarios both in orbit and on ground, which could be helpful to enhance the performance and the efficiency of application.

Social Anxiety, Perceptions of Social Support, and Behavior in Anticipation of Online Peer Interaction

Abstract: Most Americans aged 18–49 use social media ( Atske, 2021 ). The social compensation ( McKenna &amp; Bargh, 2000 ) and social enhancement ( Kraut et al., 2002 ) hypotheses offer two frameworks for understanding online social behavior, yet the evidence for these hypotheses is mixed. Two factors that may be important to consider in the context of online social behavior are social anxiety symptoms ( Weidman et al., 2012 ) and perceived social support ( O’Day &amp; Heimberg, 2021 ). This study aimed to understand how online social behavior may be associated with social anxiety and perceived social support. Participants ( N = 303) completed self-report measures of social anxiety symptoms and perceived social support, as well as a task designed to simulate online social interactions. Participants who mentioned social activities in a mock social media profile had significantly lower social anxiety and significantly higher perceived social support than those who did not. There were no significant associations between social anxiety or perceived social support and the number of people with whom participants expressed interest in interacting. Participants with higher perceived social support indicated that they wanted to maximize their chances of interacting with another person. Overall, these findings provide some support for the social enhancement hypotheses. Further research is needed to disentangle how social anxiety and perceived social support may be relevant to online social behavior.

Cross-sectional screening for inflammation in tinnitus with near-normal hearing

Tinnitus is the perception of sound without an external stimulus. Recently, inflammation has been implicated in the pathophysiology of tinnitus. In tinnitus animal models, cytokine levels are increased throughout the whole auditory pathway, and microglia and astrocytes are activated. However, only a few human studies on inflammation in tinnitus were conducted, which generally did not account for confounders such as hearing loss, anxiety and depression. The current study therefore aimed to evaluate the association between inflammation and tinnitus specifically in participants with (near-)normal hearing and without signs of anxiety or depression.In this cross-sectional study, fifty tinnitus participants and fifty healthy controls completed a tinnitus questionnaire and underwent audiometric testing. Complete blood count measures were determined in blood plasma, as well as cytokine concentrations by using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique.Platelet count and cytokine concentrations of IL-10 and IFN-γ were lower in participants with tinnitus compared to controls, and male sex, lower MCV, lower platelet count, and lower IL-10 and IFN-γ concentrations were significant predictors of tinnitus presence.The current study shows that inflammatory parameters are altered in tinnitus patients after exclusion of important confounders such as hearing loss, anxiety, depression, and inflammatory diseases.

Self-testing of semisymmetric informationally complete measurements in a qubit prepare-and-measure scenario

Self-testing of semisymmetric informationally complete measurements in a qubit prepare-and-measure scenario

Exploring Academic Identity, Degree Commitment, and Life Purpose in First-Time Full-Time College Students: A Six-Year Degree Attainment Study (2017–2023)

This study examined the role of academic identity, degree commitment, and sense of purpose, self-reported at the start of university, in students’ progress toward obtaining a degree over 6 years. First-time, full-time freshman students ( N = 421, response rate of 21.1%) at a public university in the southwestern United States, designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution and an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution, completed self-reported measures in Fall 2017. Their degree attainment, retention, and grade point average (GPA) were tracked until Spring 2023. Findings showed that academic identity significantly predicted 4-year degree attainment and cumulative GPA in the first 3 years. Degree commitment significantly predicted degree attainment within 4 and 5 years, retention into the third through sixth years, and cumulative GPA in the first 3 years. Altruistic purpose significantly predicted second-year retention and cumulative GPA at the end of the first year. These findings highlight the need for programs that support college student retention and success by strengthening their academic identity, degree commitment, and sense of purpose, especially altruistic purpose.

Drinker’s own drinking, experience of alcohol-related harms, and concern for drinking predict drinker’s attitudes towards non-drinkers

Objective While the stigma experienced by non-drinkers is well-documented, little is known about the factors that influence it. This study aims to test a sequential mediation model in which the amount of alcohol consumed by a drinker, predicts their experienced alcohol-related harm, which in turn predicts the concern they have for drinking and their negative attitudes towards non-drinkers. Methods A sample of 787 Australian drinkers (Mage = 38.4 years, SD = 11.4) completed online measures of alcohol consumption, alcohol-related harms, concern for drinking and the Cheers Attitudes towards Non-drinker Scale (CANS): a scale that measures the negative attitudes toward non-drinkers via three threats non-drinkers are perceived to pose to drinkers (Threat to Fun, Connection, and Self). Results The model was shown to be a good fit and demonstrated a sequential mediation with significant indirect effects from alcohol consumption via experienced alcohol-related harms and concern, to each CANS subscale: Threat to Self (β = 0.402, p < 0.001), Fun (β = 0.096, p = 0.006) and Connection (β = 0.165, p < 0.001). Conclusion The findings suggest that the stigma directed at non-drinkers may be enacted as a defence against an unwanted self-reflection from a drinker’s concern for their own drinking.

Depressive symptoms, cognitive functions and daily activities: An extended network analysis in monozygotic and dizygotic twins

BackgroundThe network theory posits that depression emerges as the result of individual symptoms triggering each other. Risk factors for depression can impact these between-symptoms interactions through extended networks. The study aimed to model the extended network of depressive symptoms and known depression risk factors – objective cognitive function, intellectual, physical, and social daily activities, and then, compare the observed networks between monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) co-twins. MethodsTwin pairs, 722 MZ and 2200 DZ, aged 40–79, were selected from the Dansh Twin Registry for having complete measures of depressive symptoms (e.g., sadness), cognitive functions (e.g., verbal memory), physical (e.g., brisk walk), intellectual (e.g., reading newspapers) and social activities (e.g., phone calls). Gaussian graphical models were used to estimate and compare the networks first between co-twins and then, between MZ to DZ twin pairs separately. ResultsSpecific intellectual, physical and social activities were central in the extended networks of depressive symptoms and, with the exception of processing speed, more central than cognition. The extended networks' structure was more homogeneous between MZ co-twins relative to DZ co-twins. Cognitive nodes were more central in MZ than DZ co-twins. LimitationsCross-sectional design, participants were middle-aged or older, mostly affective (non-somatic) depressive symptoms. ConclusionsIn depression networks, core connecting elements were intellectual, physical and social activities. The interaction between cognition and daily activities seems critical for triggering depressive symptoms. Thus, clinical interventions aimed at preventing depression and associated cognitive deficits should focus on maintenance and/or engagement in stimulating daily activities.

Immunological correlates of suicidality among adolescents with internalizing symptoms

BackgroundSuicide is a leading cause of death in adolescents and young adults globally. Well-established risk factors for suicide are depression and past suicide attempts. People experiencing suicidality may represent a distinct neurobiological group of people with depression. Because converging evidence has implicated inflammation in depression, we sought to investigate relationships between suicidality and immune markers in youth experiencing diverse mood and anxiety symptoms. We hypothesized that adolescents with suicidality would exhibit a unique immune signature. MethodsAdolescents underwent semi-structured interviews and completed self-reported measures to assess psychopathology, including suicidality (suicidal ideation, plans, or attempts). Fasting blood samples were collected, cultured with and without lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to stimulate an inflammatory response, and analyzed for 41 immune analytes. To assess how immune function related to suicidality categorically and dimensionally, we conducted group comparisons and correlations while controlling for multiple comparisons using false discovery rate (FDR). To further uncover subtle immune-suicidality relationships, we employed a data-driven approach using factor analysis to extract major immune factors, each of which was subsequently correlated with suicidality measures. ResultsAmong 126 participants, 29 were healthy controls and 97 participants had internalizing symptoms; within the clinical group, 57 experienced suicidality. Three immune analytes differed between healthy controls, suicidal, and non-suicidal adolescents with internalizing symptoms in the LPS condition: Flt-3L (pFDR = 0.0246), GM-CSF (pFDR = 0.0246), and IFN-γ (pFDR = 0.0246). These analytes were negatively correlated with the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSSI): Flt-3L (ρ = −0.19, p = 0.04); GM-CSF (ρ = −0.26, p = 0.004); IFN-γ (ρ =−0.33, p = 0.0003). GM-CSF also negatively correlated with number of suicide attempts (ρ = −0.39, p = 0.003). Factor analysis reduced 41 analytes to several common immune factors across experimental conditions, with Flt-3L, GM-CSF, and IFN-γ all loading heavily onto immune factors that were hypoactive in suicidality. Through this data-driven approach, we detected further associations between suicidality and immune factors across all conditions. ConclusionsPeripheral immune function may be distinctly altered in adolescent suicidality. Future work should examine immune-suicidality relationships longitudinally.