Event Centrality Research Articles

The Centrality of Events, Religion, Spirituality, and Subjective Well-Being in Latin American Jewish Immigrants in Israel.

This study aims to explore the impact of migration as a central event in personal identity, spirituality, and religiousness on subjective well-being (SWB). The sample was composed of 204 Latin American immigrants living in Israel, with ages ranging from 18 to 80 years (M = 48.76; SD = 15.36) across both sexes (Men = 34.8%; Women = 65.2%). The results show that, when analyzing the effects on SWB, Positive and Negative Affect, Centrality of Event, Religious Crisis, and Spiritual Transcendence present as the most relevant explanatory variables within the models. However, contrary to expectation, the present study identifies positive associations between the centrality of migration and SWB. Motivations for emigration should be explored in further studies as they could be mediating the relationship between centrality of events and SWB.

Highly emotional vicarious memories

ABSTRACT Vicarious memories are memories that people have in reference to events that they have not directly experienced, rather heard second-hand. Little research has investigated vicarious memory; when it has, it has predominantly focused on vicarious trauma. The purpose of this study was to compare vicarious memories with personal memories. University students (N = 142) completed an in-person interview in which they recalled four memories: a highly positive personal memory, a highly negative personal memory, a highly positive vicarious memory and a highly negative vicarious memory. Personal and vicarious memory reports were compared and contrasted in terms of memory qualities, memory functions and event centrality. The results indicate that vicarious and personal memory reports share many phenomenological and functional properties. Although to a lesser degree than personal memories, vicarious memories do influence decision-making and problem-solving. Current models of episodic memory only include events that individuals have directly experienced. The current study adds to a growing body of literature which suggests that current models of episodic memory are too restrictive and should expand to include vicarious memory reports.

Younger adults report more distress and less well‐being: A cross‐cultural study of event centrality, depression, post‐traumatic stress disorder and life satisfaction

SummaryThe extent to which highly emotional autobiographical memories become central to one's identity and life story influences mental health. Young adults report higher distress and lower well‐being, compared with middle‐aged and/or older adults; whether this replicates across cultures is still unclear. First, we provide a review of the literature that examines age‐differences in depression, post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and life satisfaction in adulthood across cultures. Second, we report findings from a cross‐cultural study that examined event centrality of highly positive and negative autobiographical memories along with symptoms of depression and PTSD, and levels of life satisfaction in approximately 1000 young and middle‐aged adults from Mexico, Greenland, China and Denmark. Both age groups provided higher centrality ratings to the positive life event; however, the relative difference between the ratings for the positive and negative event was smaller in the young adults. Young adults reported significantly more distress and less well‐being across cultures.

The Relationship between Memory Characteristics and Event Centrality on the Sewol Ferry Disaster

The Relationship between Memory Characteristics and Event Centrality on the Sewol Ferry Disaster

Literacy-related features in repetitions

Studies about peer talk have pointed to the centrality of argumentative events in peer interactions and their contribution to children’s discourse skills. In this study we focus on and examine repetitive instances in argumentative peer talk with the aim of showing different functions repetitions can fulfil. Since there is relatively little intercultural research in this field, we have conducted an intercultural comparison. For this purpose, we identified events of argumentative character in naturally occurring peer talk of German- and Hebrew-speaking children in Germany and Israel, at kindergarten and pre-school respectively, and conducted a qualitative analysis. The findings indicate that the repetitions in both databases have much in common, displaying similar literacy-related features. In this way, repetitions are an available resource which is significant in events of argumentative nature for language and peer socialization, beyond cultural differences.

Does event centrality mediate the effect of peritraumatic reactions on post-traumatic growth in survivors of a terrorist attack?

ABSTRACT Background While self-reported post-traumatic growth (PTG) has been documented after a wide variety of potentially traumatic experiences, we need more knowledge on the mechanisms behind PTG to gain a better understanding of this phenomenon. Objective We aimed to investigate the hypothesized mechanism of perceived event centrality as a mediator on the pathway between peritraumatic reactions and later PTG. Method In total, 204 survivors of the 2011 massacre on Utøya island, participated 4–5 months (T1), 14–15 months (T2), and 30–32 months (T3) post-terror. We applied counterfactually based causal mediation analysis to explore the potential mediating role of survivors’ perceived centrality (T2) in linking their peritraumatic reactions (T1) and self-reported PTG (T3). Results The vast majority of the survivors reported experiencing some positive changes post-terror, and we found a positive, significant association between survivor’s peritraumatic reactions, perceived event centrality and self-reported growth. However, we did not find that centrality significantly mediated the longitudinal association between peritraumatic reactions and later PTG. Conclusion Reports of PTG are common post-terror, and peritraumatic reactions and perceptions of centrality may help explain individual differences in trauma survivors’ level of PTG. Perceived event centrality about one year post-trauma does not appear to explain the relationship between initial reactions to trauma and subsequent PTG.

Mediating Effect of Decentering between Centrality of Event and Meaning Reconstruction on Relational Loss Experience

Mediating Effect of Decentering between Centrality of Event and Meaning Reconstruction on Relational Loss Experience

Negative centralisation of HIV/AIDS trauma and health-related quality of life: do post-traumatic stress symptoms explain the link?

Over-integration of HIV-related trauma into the client’s memory in a negative emotional valence could be a serious health debilitating process which may result in negative post-traumatic health outcomes, affecting health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of people living with HIV (PLWH). We hypothesized that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are the mediating link between negative event centrality (NEC) and HRQoL among PLWH. Nine hundred and sixty-nine PLWH in Nigeria completed measures of NEC, PTSD symptoms and HRQoL. Model 4 of Hayes’ regression-based PROCESS macro version 3.0 for SPSS was employed to investigate relationships between variables of interest. NEC was positively associated with all domains of HRQoL. PLWH who had high negatively centralized identity on HIV also had high scores on PTSD symptoms. PTSD symptoms were also positively associated with all domains of HRQoL. PTSD symptoms also mediated the relationship between NEC and all domains of HRQoL. Assessing and treating PTSD symptoms among PLWH by clinicians could be helpful in enhancing HRQoL.

Exploring the potential moderating role of self-compassion on the relationships between event centrality and post-assault psychological outcomes.

The present study examined whether post-assault internal processes (i.e., present control, event centrality, and compassionate and uncompassionate self-responding) were associated with distress and resilience among women who have experienced adult sexual assault. The authors also tested whether compassionate and uncompassionate self-responses would moderate the relationships between event centrality and outcomes. A convenience sample of women who had experienced sexual assault during adulthood (N = 253) completed an anonymous online survey. Regression analyses showed that lower present control, higher event centrality, and higher uncompassionate responses to the self were associated with posttraumatic stress disorder. Additionally, higher present control and higher compassionate responses to the self were associated with resilience. Moderation analyses were not significant. Endorsing greater levels of uncompassionate responses was associated with greater distress while engaging in greater compassionate responses was associated with greater resilience, even when accounting for levels of present control and event centrality.

Change in Event Centrality and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms During Intensive Treatment.

Event centrality, defined as the extent to which a traumatic event becomes a core component of a person's identity (Berntsen & Rubin, 2006), is both a correlate and predictor of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, over and above event severity. These findings suggest that decreasing the perceived centrality of a traumatic event to one's identity might result in decreases in PTSD symptom severity. To date, few studies have examined how centrality is affected by PTSD treatment. The present study tested the hypotheses that change in centrality would be associated with both change in PTSD symptom severity and discharge PTSD symptom severity in an exposure-based PTSD partial hospitalization program (N = 132; 86.0% White; 85.2% female; M age = 36 years). At discharge (i.e., after approximately 6 weeks of treatment), both PTSD symptoms and centrality had significantly decreased, ds = .70 and .98, respectively, with large effect sizes. Decreases in Centrality of Events Scale (CES) scores at posttreatment, baseline CES scores, and baseline PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) scores were associated with change (i.e., decrease) in PCL-5 scores, p < .001, as well as with posttreatment PCL-5 scores, p < .001. Decreases in CES scores over time, baseline CES scores, and baseline PCL-5 scores explained 31% of the variance in PCL-5 change and 34% of the variance in posttreatment PCL-5 scores. The results indicate the potential importance of decreasing the centrality of a traumatic event in PTSD treatment and recovery.

From trauma to growth: The roles of event centrality, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and deliberate rumination.

From trauma to growth: The roles of event centrality, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and deliberate rumination.

Dependence of Temperatures and Kinetic Freeze-Out Volume on Centrality in Au-Au and Pb-Pb Collisions at High Energy

Centrality-dependent double-differential transverse momentum spectra of negatively charged particles (π−, K−, and p¯) at the mid(pseudo)rapidity interval in nuclear collisions are analyzed by the standard distribution in terms of multicomponent. The experimental data measured in gold-gold (Au-Au) collisions by the PHENIX Collaboration at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and in lead-lead (Pb-Pb) collisions by the ALICE Collaboration at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are studied. The effective temperature, initial temperature, kinetic freeze-out temperature, transverse flow velocity, and kinetic freeze-out volume are extracted from the fitting to transverse momentum spectra. We observed that the mentioned five quantities increase with the increase of event centrality due to the fact that the average transverse momentum increases with the increase of event centrality. This renders that larger momentum (energy) transfer and further multiple scattering had happened in central centrality.

Longitudinal Investigation of Posttraumatic Growth in Female Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence: The Role of Event Centrality and Identity Exploration.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the change in posttraumatic growth (PTG) of women survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Lithuania, in relation to the centrality of traumatic experience, identity exploration, and time after exposure to violence. The longitudinal study sample consisted of 217 women who experienced IPV, recruited from women shelters, social support centers, and through counseling psychologists. In this sample the assessment instruments were administered three times during an 18-month period (at 6-month intervals). The results of the study revealed that PTG significantly increased over time for the women who experienced IPV more recently. Those women who experienced IPV more anciently reported higher PTG levels at the beginning of the study, but significant changes in PTG did not emerge. In addition, higher levels of PTG at the beginning of the study were positively associated with event centrality and identity exploration, meaning that those women who perceived their IPV experience as central to their identity and who explored possible identity choices were more likely to have higher levels of PTG at the beginning of the study. However, neither the centrality of the event nor the identity exploration was important for the change in PTG over the study period. Findings of this study highlighted the importance of the first 2-year period after the violence when the potential for PTG and its increase occurs. Limitations of the study and implications for future research are discussed.

Centrality and transverse momentum dependence of inclusive J/ψ production at midrapidity in Pb–Pb collisions at [formula omitted] TeV

The inclusive J/ψ meson production in Pb–Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon–nucleon collision of sNN=5.02 TeV at midrapidity (|y|<0.9) is reported by the ALICE Collaboration. The measurements are performed in the dielectron decay channel, as a function of event centrality and J/ψ transverse momentum pT, down to pT=0. The J/ψ mean transverse momentum 〈pT〉 and rAA ratio, defined as 〈pT2〉PbPb/〈pT2〉pp, are evaluated. Both observables show a centrality dependence decreasing towards central (head-on) collisions. The J/ψ nuclear modification factor RAA exhibits a strong pT dependence with a large suppression at high pT and an increase to unity for decreasing pT. When integrating over the measured momentum range pT<10GeV/c, the J/ψRAA shows a weak centrality dependence. Each measurement is compared with results at lower center-of-mass energies and with ALICE measurements at forward rapidity, as well as to theory calculations. All reported features of the J/ψ production at low pT are consistent with a dominant contribution to the J/ψ yield originating from charm quark (re)combination.

Developmental trajectories of event centrality and socio-emotional well-being after transition to high school.

Although the transition from junior high or middle school to high school can be a stressful turning point for youth socio-emotional development, the role of individual differences in susceptibility to the transition in adolescents' socio-emotional well-being remains unclear. The current study examined the developmental relation between how central the high school transition is to a student's identity or life course (i.e., event centrality) and socio-emotional well-being after transition. High school students, including cohorts in tenth to twelveth grade (n=2,265, Mage at Time 1=15.9years, SDage =0.9years), participated in a four-wave longitudinal survey for a year and completed questionnaires assessing event centrality and socio-emotional well-being. Latent growth curve modelling revealed individual differences in the developmental trajectory of event centrality regarding high school transition across the tenth to twelveth grades. Increase in the centrality of transition was closely associated with improvement in socio-emotional well-being for each grade progression. Findings highlight the value of examining individual differences in the degree to which the school transition becomes a turning point in a student's identity or life course. Statement of contribution What is already known on the subject? Adolescents' socio-emotional well-being decreases on average after school transition. Event centrality, how central the transition is to student identity, is related to socio-emotional well-being. No study has examined event centrality and well-being after transition longitudinally. What the present study adds? Individual differences exist in the development of event centrality across grades 10-12. Increased event centrality of transition is associated with improved socio-emotional well-being. Development researchers must consider individual differences in susceptibility to the transition.

Vivid memories of distant trauma: Examining the characteristics of trauma memories and the relationship with the centrality of event and posttraumatic stress 26 years after trauma

SummaryIn the present study, we investigated the phenomenological characteristics of distant trauma memories and the relationship between the vividness of trauma memories, the centrality of event and symptoms of posttraumatic stress in two groups with different types of trauma exposure, namely survivors and bereaved, from the fire on the passenger ferry, Scandinavian Star, 26 years earlier. More than two decades after the fire, the traumatic event was represented as a vivid, emotional recollection for many of the victims. For both the survivors and the bereaved, a higher degree of vividness of trauma memories and centrality of the event were associated with higher levels of posttraumatic stress. The present findings show that even very distant trauma memories can be represented as vivid recollections. Furthermore, the findings suggest that both vividness of trauma memories and event centrality may contribute to explain how posttraumatic stress reactions can remain present over a very long time.

Evental Infrastructure: Momentous Geographies of Technoscience Production

This article addresses recent valorizations of infrastructure as a vital lens for understanding and explaining the constitution of modern life. It argues that greater care needs to be shown toward the evental (or events-led) underpinnings of infrastructure to accurately grasp the latter’s space-ordering powers. Indeed, existing work on infrastructure has tended to stress the postformative political effects of infrastructure, omitting the events-led triggers that continually reproduce technoscience realities. Even among scholars who recognize the role of social agencies in technoscience production, the propensity remains to treat these interactions as a bundle of rational negotiations and contestations that then go on to determine infrastructure’s final forms. To foster new appreciations of the deep dynamics responsible for infrastructure’s production, this article uses the case of an airspace upgrade in the South China Sea to demonstrate the centrality of events—including engineered ones—in steering technoscience development in air transport. It considers how a series of reframings, ruptures, and catastrophes—corresponding with commercial, affective, and accidental events—have precipitated fifteen years of modifications to airspace infrastructure in Southeast Asia. Analyzing two aviation report series alongside meeting proceedings, news articles, and semistructured interviews with a postqualitative touch, the article calls for renewed attention on the various exigencies that uncertainly drive infrastructural (and wider spatial) outcomes. The article concludes by reflecting on the theoretical purchase of evental infrastructure and the momentous geographies through which its politics must be tackled.

Centrality of traumatic events and men’s intimate partner violence perpetration.

The event centrality model indicates that the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSSs) occurs when a traumatic event becomes central to one's identity, marking a key turning point in one's life narrative and influencing the meaning assigned to subsequent posttrauma events. Previous research has shown that event centrality is associated with PTSSs among survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). However, research has not yet determined whether event centrality may explain associations between trauma exposure and IPV among perpetrators of IPV. Trauma and PTSSs are key risk factors for IPV perpetration, but many questions remain about the mechanisms that explain these associations. Study participants came from a sample of 134 men presenting for treatment at a community-based relationship violence intervention program in the Baltimore-Washington, DC metro area between July 2013 and July 2015 during routine program intake. In the hypothesized serial model, exposure to potentially traumatic events predicted event centrality, which predicted PTSSs, which predicted IPV perpetration and relationship problems. The serial mediation model was significant for physical assault, psychological aggression, emotional abuse, and relationship problems, but not for sexual coercion. The results indicate that the extent to which a trauma becomes central to one's identity is important in understanding the links between trauma exposure, PTSSs, and IPV perpetration. These findings support the development and application of trauma-informed interventions to reduce IPV perpetration and reduce event centrality in this population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The moderating effect of psychological flexibility on event centrality in determining trauma outcomes.

Emerging research shows that event centrality, or the degree to which trauma is perceived as integral to one's worldviews and personal identity, has a substantial impact on trauma recovery. Given that high centrality fosters both distress and growth, additional research on potential moderators that could better distinguish the course of adjustment is needed. This study examined whether differences in psychological flexibility (or the ability to persist in a behavior despite urges to do otherwise) impacted posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTS) and perceived posttraumatic growth (PTG) as event centrality increased. One-hundred and 25 college students (52% female) with a history of trauma exposure were recruited from a large Midwestern university. Participants completed an electronic survey for course credit. There was a significant interaction between event centrality and psychological flexibility on PTS severity (B = 2.10, p = .003). A simple slopes analysis revealed that low psychological flexibility was associated with greater PTS severity as event centrality increased. Although event centrality and psychological flexibility independently predicted perceived PTG, no interaction effect was observed (B = -4.68, p = .080). This suggests that while differences in psychological flexibility may influence PTS severity following highly centralized traumatic experiences it has a more complicated relationship with perceived PTG that requires further investigation. Clinical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Z boson production in Pb+Pb collisions at [formula omitted] TeV measured by the ATLAS experiment

The production yield of Z bosons is measured in the electron and muon decay channels in Pb+Pb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Data from the 2015 LHC run corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.49 nb−1 are used for the analysis. The Z boson yield, normalised by the total number of minimum-bias events and the mean nuclear thickness function, is measured as a function of dilepton rapidity and event centrality. The measurements in Pb+Pb collisions are compared with similar measurements made in proton–proton collisions at the same centre-of-mass energy. The nuclear modification factor is found to be consistent with unity for all centrality intervals. The results are compared with theoretical predictions obtained at next-to-leading order using nucleon and nuclear parton distribution functions. The normalised Z boson yields in Pb+Pb collisions lie 1–3σ above the predictions. The nuclear modification factor measured as a function of rapidity agrees with unity and is consistent with a next-to-leading-order QCD calculation including the isospin effect.