Elevated Negative Affect Research Articles

Negative affect and smoking motives sequentially mediate the effect of panic attacks on tobacco-relevant processes

Introduction: Empirical work has documented a robust and consistent relation between panic attacks and smoking behavior. Theoretical models posit smokers with panic attacks may rely on smoking to help them manage chronically elevated negative affect due to uncomfortable bodily states, which may explain higher levels of nicotine dependence and quit problems. Methods: The current study examined the effects of panic attack history on nicotine dependence, perceived barriers for quitting, smoking inflexibility when emotionally distressed, and expired carbon monoxide among 461 treatment-seeking smokers. A multiple mediator path model was evaluated to examine the indirect effects of negative affect and negative affect reduction motives as mediators of the panic attack-smoking relations. Results: Panic attack history was indirectly related to greater levels of nicotine dependence (b = 0.039, CI95% = 0.008, 0.097), perceived barriers to smoking cessation (b = 0.195, CI95% = 0.043, 0.479), smoking inflexibility/avoidance when emotionally distressed (b = 0.188, CI95% = 0.041, 0.445), and higher levels of expired carbon monoxide (b = 0.071, CI95% = 0.010, 0.230) through the sequential effects of negative affect and negative affect smoking motives. Conclusions: The present results provide empirical support for the sequential mediating role of negative affect and smoking motives for negative affect reduction in the relation between panic attacks and a variety of smoking variables in treatment-seeking smokers. These mediating variables are likely important processes to address in smoking cessation treatment, especially in panic-vulnerable smokers.

Direct and indirect associations between social anxiety and nicotine dependence and cessation problems: multiple mediator analyses.

Little empirical work has evaluated why socially anxious smokers are especially vulnerable to more severe nicotine dependence and cessation failure. Presumably, these smokers rely on cigarettes to help them manage their chronically elevated negative affect elicited by a wide array of social contexts. The current study examined the direct and indirect effects of social anxiety cross-sectionally in regard to a range of smoking processes among 466 treatment-seeking smokers. Negative affect and negative affect reduction motives were examined as mediators of the relations of social anxiety with nicotine dependence and cessation problems. Social anxiety was directly and robustly associated with perceived barriers to smoking cessation and problems experienced during past quit attempts. Social anxiety was also associated with greater nicotine dependence and smoking inflexibility indirectly through negative affect and negative affect smoking motives. Negative affect and smoking to reduce negative affect mediated these relations. These findings document the important role of negative affect and negative affect reduction motives in the relationships of social anxiety with nicotine dependence and cessation problems.

The Impact of Media Frames and Treatment Responsibility within the Situational Crisis Communication Theory Framework

This experimental investigation examines the role and impact of media frames and enhanced treatment responsibility within the situational crisis communication theory framework. An experiment was conducted among 121 undergraduate students at a Midwestern university. The results indicated that enhanced treatment responsibility resulted in an elevated reputational threat to organizations. Furthermore, it was found that crisis reports that emphasized treatment responsibility resulted in elevated negative affect toward the organizations. Implications, discussion and future directions are provided.

The Impact of Adolescent Binge Drinking and Sustained Abstinence on Affective State

While it is clear that affect is negatively impacted by heavy drinking in adulthood and that it improves with abstinence, little is known about effects of heavy drinking on mood during adolescence. This study examined negative mood states among 2 groups of 16- to 18-year-old high school students; youth with a history of recent heavy episodic drinking (HED; n = 39) and comparison youth with limited lifetime drinking experience (CON; n = 26). Affect was assessed at 3 time points during a 4- to 6-week period of monitored abstinence using the Hamilton Rating Scales for Anxiety and Depression; self-reports were obtained with the state portion of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and experience sampling of current affect was assessed via daily text messages sent at randomly determined times in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Youth with a recent history of HED reported more negative affect compared with nondrinking youth during early stages of abstinence (days since last HED at assessment 1: M = 6.46; SD = 5.06); however, differences in affect were not observed after 4 to 6 weeks of abstinence. Sex differences were evident, with HED girls reporting greater depression and anxiety than HED male peers. Although not significant, response patterns indicated that boys may experience faster resolution of negative emotional states than girls with sustained abstinence. Findings suggest that high-dose drinking is associated with elevated negative affect for adolescents and that negative mood states may take longer to resolve for girls than for boys following heavy drinking episodes. Future research clarifying naturally occurring changes in affective response during early and sustained abstinence is necessary for improving programs designed to promote adolescent decision-making and to reduce risk for relapse.

Quarrelsome behavior in borderline personality disorder: Influence of behavioral and affective reactivity to perceptions of others.

We examined how the amplification of 3 within-person processes (behavioral reactivity to interpersonal perceptions, affect reactivity to interpersonal perceptions, and behavioral reactivity to a person's own affect) accounts for greater quarrelsome behavior among individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Using an event-contingent recording (ECR) methodology, individuals with BPD (N = 38) and community controls (N = 31) reported on their negative affect, quarrelsome behavior, and perceptions of the interaction partner's agreeable-quarrelsome behavior in interpersonal events during a 20-day period. Behavioral reactivity to negative affect was similar in both groups. However, behavioral reactivity and affect reactivity to interpersonal perceptions were elevated in individuals with BPD relative to community controls; specifically, individuals with BPD reported more quarrelsome behavior and more negative affect during interactions in which they perceived others as more cold-quarrelsome. Greater negative affect reactivity to perceptions of other's cold-quarrelsome behavior partly accounted for the increased quarrelsome behavior reported by individuals with BPD during these interactions. This pattern of results suggests a cycle in which the perception of cold-quarrelsome behavior in others triggers elevated negative affect and quarrelsome behavior in individuals with BPD, which subsequently led to more quarrelsome behavior from their interaction partners, which leads to perceptions of others as cold-quarrelsomeness, which begins the cycle anew.

Affect and craving: Positive and negative affect are differentially associated with approach and avoidance inclinations

BackgroundResearch on reactivity to alcohol and drug cues has either ignored affective state altogether or has focused rather narrowly on the role of negative affect in craving. Moreover, until recently, the relevant analyses of affect and craving have rarely addressed the ambivalence often associated with craving itself. The current study investigated how both negative and positive affect moderate approach and avoidance inclinations associated with cue-elicited craving in a clinical sample diagnosed with substance use disorders. MethodsOne hundred forty-four patients (age range of 18–65, mean 42.0; n=92 males) were recruited from an inpatient detoxification unit for substance abuse. Participants completed a baseline assessment of both positive and negative affect prior to completing a cue-reactivity paradigm for which they provided self-report ratings of inclinations to approach (use) and avoid (not use) alcohol, cigarettes, and non-psychoactive control substances (food and beverages). ResultsParticipants with elevated negative affect reported significantly higher approach ratings for cigarette and alcohol cues, whereas those high in positive affect showed significantly higher levels of avoidance inclinations for both alcohol and cigarette cues and also significantly lower approach ratings for alcohol cues, all relative to control cues. ConclusionsResults for negative affect are consistent with previous cue reactivity research, whereas results for positive affect are unique and call attention to its clinical potential for attenuating approach inclinations to substance use cues. Further, positive affect was related to both approach and avoidance inclinations, underscoring the utility of a multidimensional conceptualization of craving in the analysis.

The effect of academic exam stress on mucosal and cellular airway immune markers among healthy and allergic individuals

Research suggests that psychological stress can exacerbate allergies, but relatively little is known about the effect of stress on mucosal immune processes central to allergic pathophysiology. In this study, we quantified vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), interferon gamma (IFN-γ), and interleukin-4 concentrations in saliva (S) and exhaled breath condensate (EBC) during final exams and at midsemester among 23 healthy and 21 allergic rhinitis individuals. IFN-γs decreased during exams for both groups while VEGF(EBC) increased (and increases in VEGFs were a trend). Elevated negative affect ratings predicted higher VEGF(EBC) in allergic individuals. IFN-γ(EBC) increased in healthy individuals early during exams and then decreased, while allergic individuals showed a decrease in IFN-γ(EBC) throughout final exams. These findings suggest that psychological stress can suppress cellular immune function among allergic individuals while increasing VEGF.

The ups and downs of cognitive bias: Dissociating the attentional characteristics of positive and negative affectivity

Despite considerable past interest in distinguishing the patterns of attentional bias that characterise vulnerability to anxiety and to depression, little research has yet sought to delineate the attentional correlates of two affective dimensions that differentially contribute to these alternative forms of emotional vulnerability—negative and positive affectivity. In the present study, we employ a novel variant of the attentional probe task to examine selective attentional engagement with, and disengagement from, negative words, in participants whose heightened emotional vulnerability reflects either elevated negative affectivity, or attenuated positive affectivity. Elevated negative affectivity was found to be associated with both increased attentional engagement with, and impaired attentional disengagement from, negative information, especially when this was anxiety relevant. In contrast, attenuated positive affectivity was associated with facilitated attentional disengagement from negative information, especially when this was depression relevant. We discuss how this new insight into the attentional characteristics of negative and positive affectivity may serve to illuminate the basis of previously observed discrepancies between the patterns of attentional selectivity observed in anxious and in depressed participants.

Sleep deprivation and stressors: Evidence for elevated negative affect in response to mild stressors when sleep deprived.

Stress often co-occurs with inadequate sleep duration, and both are believed to impact mood and emotion. It is not yet known whether inadequate sleep simply increases the intensity of subsequent stress responses or interacts with stressors in more complicated ways. To address this issue, we investigated the effects of one night of total sleep deprivation on subjective stress and mood in response to low-stress and high-stress cognitive testing conditions in healthy adult volunteers in two separate experiments (total N = 53). Sleep was manipulated in a controlled, laboratory setting and stressor intensity was manipulated by changing difficulty of cognitive tasks, time pressure, and feedback about performance. Sleep-deprived participants reported greater subjective stress, anxiety, and anger than rested controls following exposure to the low-stressor condition, but not in response to the high-stressor condition, which elevated negative mood and stress about equally for both sleep conditions. These results suggest that sleep deprivation lowers the psychological threshold for the perception of stress from cognitive demands but does not selectively increase the magnitude of negative affect in response to high-stress performance demands.

Neural responses to negative feedback are related to negative emotionality in healthy adults

Prior neuroimaging and electrophysiological evidence suggests that potentiated responses in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), particularly the rostral ACC, may contribute to abnormal responses to negative feedback in individuals with elevated negative affect and depressive symptoms. The feedback-related negativity (FRN) represents an electrophysiological index of ACC-related activation in response to performance feedback. The purpose of the present study was to examine the FRN and underlying ACC activation using low resolution electromagnetic tomography source estimation techniques in relation to negative emotionality (a composite index including negative affect and subclinical depressive symptoms). To this end, 29 healthy adults performed a monetary incentive delay task while 128-channel event-related potentials were recorded. We found that enhanced FRNs and increased rostral ACC activation in response to negative--but not positive--feedback was related to greater negative emotionality. These results indicate that individual differences in negative emotionality--a putative risk factor for emotional disorders--modulate ACC-related processes critically implicated in assessing the motivational impact and/or salience of environmental feedback.

Patients With Type 2 Diabetes at Risk for Major Depressive Disorder Over Time

We wanted to identify risk factors associated with the development of major depressive disorder (MDD) among patients with type 2 diabetes over time. In a noninterventional study, 338 adult patients with type 2 diabetes and no MDD diagnosis at baseline were assessed 3 times during 18 months (9-month intervals) to ascertain predictors of MDD. We tested a model incorporating personal, behavioral, biologic, and psychosocial variables to identify predictors of MDD. Exploratory analyses tested whether current negative affect mediated the relationship between predictors and subsequent MDD. We also conducted a stratified analysis of moderate vs high negative affect to explore whether level of baseline negative affect mediated the relationship between specific predictors and MDD. Prior MDD and negative affect predicted future development of MDD. In subpopulations stratified by moderate negative affect, negative life events, an elevated body mass index (BMI), prior MDD, and poor control of glycated hemoglobin (hemoglobin A(1c)) each predicted MDD. In subpopulations stratified by elevated negative affect, negative life events and poor control of hemoglobin A(1c) predicted MDD. Current negative affect partially mediated the relationship between prior MDD and subsequent MDD, as well as the relationship between negative life events and subsequent MDD. Although negative affect at baseline was the primary predictor of subsequent MDD, when stratified by negative affect, negative life events, BMI, and poor control of hemoglobin A(1c) also predicted MDD. Thus, life stresses and patients' disease-related concerns are important when understanding what predicts subsequent MDD. Addressing depressive symptoms and broader life context issues expands the scope of a potential intervention to reduce the risk of developing MDD in persons with type 2 diabetes.

The effect of cortisol on emotional responses depends on order of cortisol and placebo administration in a within-subject design

Cortisol does not exhibit a straightforward relationship with mood states; administration of glucocorticoids to human subjects has produced mixed effects on mood and emotional processing. In this study, participants (N=46) received intravenous hydrocortisone (synthetic cortisol; 0.1mg/kg body weight) and placebo in randomized order over two sessions 48h apart. Following the infusion, participants rated neutral and unpleasant pictures. In Session 1, participants reported elevated negative affect (NA) following the picture-rating task, regardless of treatment. In Session 2, however, only participants who received cortisol (and thus who had received placebo in Session 1) reported elevated NA. Arousal ratings for unpleasant pictures followed a similar pattern. These findings suggest that the effects of cortisol on emotion vary based on situational factors, such as drug administration order or familiarity with the tasks and setting. Such factors can influence cortisol's effects on emotion in two ways: (A) cortisol may only potentiate NA and arousal ratings in the absence of other, overwhelming influences on affect, such as the novelty of the setting and tasks in Session 1; and (B) cortisol in Session 1 may facilitate learning processes (e.g., habituation to the stimuli and setting; extinction of aversive responses) such that emotional responses to the pictures are lessened in Session 2. This interpretation is compatible with a body of literature on the effects of glucocorticoids on learning and memory processes.

Let it be: Accepting negative emotional experiences predicts decreased negative affect and depressive symptoms

The present studies examined whether a tendency to accept negative emotional experiences buffers individuals from experiencing elevated negative affect during negative emotional situations (Study 1) and from developing depressive symptoms in the face of life stress (Study 2). Both studies examined female samples. This research expands on existing acceptance research in four ways. First, it examined whether acceptance has beneficial correlates when it matters most: in emotionally taxing (versus more neutral) contexts. Second, in Study 2 a prospective design was used in which acceptance was measured before stress was encountered and before outcomes were measured. Third, depressive symptoms (rather than general functioning or trauma symptoms) were examined as a particularly relevant outcome in the context of stress. Fourth, to enhance generalizability, a community sample (versus undergraduates or a purely clinical sample) was recruited. Results indicated that acceptance was correlated with decreased negative affect during a negative emotion induction but not an affectively neutral condition (Study 1). In Study 2, acceptance interacted with life stress such that acceptance predicted lower levels of depressive symptoms after higher, but not lower, life stress. These results suggest that accepting negative experiences may protect individuals from experiencing negative affect and from developing depressive symptoms.

Social interaction moderates the relationship between depressive mood and heart rate variability: Evidence from an ambulatory monitoring study.

There is considerable evidence that depressive mood is related to lower parasympathetic control of the heart, thus increasing cardiovascular risk. However, little is known about social factors (e.g., social affiliation) that might moderate this relationship. The authors examined whether cardiac autonomic control in healthy individuals with depressive symptoms could be altered by social interaction. Therefore, the authors conducted a 22-hr ambulatory monitoring study with a sample of 63 adults. Depression was assessed by questionnaire. Heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), physical activity, and negative affect were recorded throughout one day via portable monitoring devices. Multilevel analyses revealed that depression was related to elevated negative affect and higher heart rate throughout the day. Moreover, there was a tendency toward lower HRV in individuals with higher depression scores. This association, however, was moderated by social context. When depressive participants were alone they evidenced lower HRV and higher negative affect, but not when they were engaged in social interactions with a partner, family members, or friends. These findings suggest that the relation between depression and cardiac autonomic control could be altered by social interaction, thus possibly buffering adverse health effects.

The consequences of effortful emotion regulation when processing distressing material: A comparison of suppression and acceptance

The present study investigated the consequences of different forms of emotion regulation. Eighty nine healthy participants viewed a distressing video of the aftermath of road traffic accidents under either suppression (of both felt and expressed affect), acceptance, or no-regulation control instructions and the immediate and longer-term consequences on emotion, mood, and memory were examined. Suppression (relative to control) led to reduced subjective experience of fear when viewing the video, but did not alter electrodermal (EDA) or heart rate (HR) response. Subsequently, suppression led to a less marked subjective emotional reaction to positive but not negative emotional images, reduced free recall memory of the video, and a greater likelihood of experiencing zero intrusions of the video's content. Acceptance (relative to control) had no impact when viewing the video, was associated with a less marked increase in EDA activity in the 5 min period immediately after viewing the video, a more marked HR deceleration and EDA response to both positive and negative images, and elevated negative affect at one week follow-up. These findings suggest, contrary to the current clinical zeitgeist, that emotion suppression can successfully lead to an ongoing down-regulation of emotion and memory, whereas acceptance may elevate subsequent emotionality.

Social isolation in prairie voles induces behaviors relevant to negative affect: toward the development of a rodent model focused on co-occurring depression and anxiety

Recent evidence suggests substantial overlap between mood and anxiety disorders, both in clinical presentation and associated features. A theoretical framework to account for this overlap focuses on negative affectivity, defined as the disposition to experience negative emotional states, including fear, sadness, and guilt. This model has been successful in explaining the co-occurrence of depressive and anxiety disorders in humans. As a next step, development of an animal model focused on both depression- and anxiety-relevant behaviors may advance understanding of depression-anxiety symptom overlap, relations of these disorders with associated medical conditions and responses to treatment. This study was designed to investigate inducible and quantifiable depression- and anxiety-like behaviors in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). Adult, female prairie voles were exposed to 4 weeks of social pairing (control) or isolation, an established stressor for socially monogamous mammals (including humans). Operational measures of depression (sucrose intake and behaviors in the forced swim test), anxiety (behaviors in the elevated plus maze), and aggression (responses to an unrelated prairie vole pup) were investigated. Social isolation induced a progressive decline in sucrose intake and increased immobility time during the forced swim test. Social isolation also decreased the amount of time spent in the open arms of the elevated plus maze, and increased pup-directed attack behavior. The current findings suggest that isolation induces behaviors reflecting elevated negative affect. These results may provide a foundation for creating a rodent model to examine the mechanisms underlying comorbid mood and anxiety disorders.

Social anxiety symptoms uniquely predict fear responding to 35% CO 2 challenge

The vast majority of biological challenge studies have focused on panic disorder though there is a small literature suggesting that patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD) show comparable responding. The SAD literature is potentially confounded, however, by the fact that many patients with SAD experience panic attacks. These patients also show elevated negative affect and anxiety sensitivity, factors that are also associated with increased fear responding to challenge. By controlling for these factors, the present report was able to evaluate whether social anxiety symptoms were uniquely associated with fearful responding to a 35% CO 2 challenge. A large nonclinical sample of young adults ( N = 120) screened for a history of panic attacks completed a 35% CO 2 challenge. Those high (versus low) in social anxiety showed approximately 2.5 times greater risk for experiencing substantial increases in anxiety in response to the challenge. This significant association was maintained after controlling for anxiety sensitivity and general negative affect. These data provide novel evidence suggesting that social anxiety symptoms are uniquely associated with anxious responding to 35% CO 2 challenge and this sensitivity appears to precede the development of panic attacks.

Trajectories of Adjustment in Mothers of Children with Newly Diagnosed Cancer: A Natural History Investigation

The objectives of this study were (a) to assess negative affectivity and posttraumatic symptomatology in mothers following the diagnosis of cancer in their children; (b) to examine sociodemographic and psychosocial variables associated with change in distress over time; and (c) to identify distinct subgroups of mothers whose patterns and trajectories of adjustment can be distinguished according to available predictor data. Two hundred and twelve mothers at seven sites were assessed just following their child's diagnosis, and again 3 months and 6 months later. Primary outcomes included measures of mood disturbance, depressive symptoms, and symptoms of posttraumatic stress. Overall, mothers demonstrated a pattern of mildly elevated negative affectivity and posttraumatic symptomatology initially, with steady improvements evident at 3- and 6-month follow-up. Distinct adjustment trajectories were evident within the sample as a whole, indicating subgroups of mothers with high-declining, moderate-stable, and low-stable distress levels. These findings highlight considerable resilience among mothers facing the stress of childhood cancer. Intervention efforts aimed at reducing maternal distress might best be targeted towards the subgroup of mothers who may be predicted to exhibit the highest level of distress.

Coping is not an ‘either’ ‘or’: the interaction of coping strategies in regulating affect, arousal and performance

AbstractThe purpose of the present studies was to (a) examine the association between coping, affect, and stress during demanding, stressful tasks, and (b) examine the presence of a synergy between coping strategies towards regulating stress, affect and performance. In Study 1 participants were 53 first year undergraduate students at a state university. Student's coping strategies were assessed prior to a job interview. Results indicated that emotion‐focused coping was associated with significantly elevated negative affect compared to problem‐focused coping. Inclusion of an interaction term reflecting different levels of the two coping strategies showed enhanced adaptation compared to the use of either problem‐focused or emotion‐focused coping strategies. Study 2 aimed at replicating the findings of Study 1, and extend them with assessment of behavioral and physiological indices of stress. Participants were 48 undergraduate students and their coping, affect, and behavioral and physiological stress were assessed prior to an in‐class presentation. Results indicated that neither problem nor emotion‐focused coping were associated with stress levels. However, the interaction of problem‐focused and emotion‐focused strategies was associated with significantly lessened stress. It is concluded that the presence of more than one coping strategy at a given time may be more adaptive compared to the adoption of one type of strategy. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Adolescent Axis I and Personality Disorders Predict Quality of Life During Young Adulthood

Purpose To investigate and compare the prospective association of adolescent Axis I mental disorder and personality disorder (PD) with young adult quality of life (QOL) in the general population. Methods Seven hundred fifty mothers and youths participating in a prospective longitudinal community-based study were interviewed. Mental disorders were measured at a mean age 16 years. QOL as the outcome indicators were assessed at a mean age 22. Results Adolescent Axis I disorder predicted elevated negative affect and higher levels of stress some 6 years later. Adolescent PD predicted elevated negative affect and higher levels of stress, and also problems in social support and relationships, and poorer residential, mobility, and financial and health resources in adulthood. Youths with both Axis I disorder and one or more PDs had the worst outcomes with regard to health problems, stressful occupational or educational settings, and resources, net of the effects of adolescent health problems. Nevertheless, some aspects of adult QOL were not significantly related to adolescent disorder, including a positive perspective on the future, own morale in a chosen occupation or educational setting, or the amount of autonomy experienced in that setting. Conclusions Among adolescents in the community, PDs during adolescence may have a more adverse impact on young adult QOL than do Axis I disorders. A combination of Axis I and PD may represent a particular risk for new physical health problems and resource inadequacy, including poor access to health care.