Higher Levels Of Trait Anxiety Research Articles

Anxiety and sportsmanship in adolescent athletes: the multiple mediating effects of athlete burnout and exercise cognition

ABSTRACT Sportsmanship is a core characteristic of competitive sports. To determine the factors related to sportsmanship and explore effective strategies to maintain sportsmanship in adolescent athletes, the present study examined the relationship between anxiety and sportsmanship in adolescent athletes and evaluated the potential mediating roles of athlete burnout and exercise cognition. In this study, 1,544 adolescent athletes (852 boys and 692 girls) with an average age of 14.43 years (SD = 1.92) were enrolled. The analyses showed that there was a significant correlation between state anxiety, trait anxiety, athlete burnout, exercise cognition, and sportsmanship. Additionally, state and trait anxiety were associated with lower levels of sportsmanship, and athlete burnout and exercise cognition played multiple mediating roles in the relationship between anxiety and sportsmanship. These findings suggest that anxiety is a plausible explanation for sportsmanship. Adolescent athletes with high levels of trait or state anxiety are more likely to experience athlete burnout, have poorer levels of exercise cognition, and display less sportsmanship.

Worriers of the Pandemic: How People with Mental Disorders Cope with COVID-19 Restrictions

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the level of anxiety as well as the attitude toward disease and mitigation strategies in people with non-psychotic mental disorders and healthy controls. Methods: A case-control study (1:4) was conducted during a self-isolation regimen in Moscow. Cases were adult patients with NPMD admitted to the Moscow Research and Clinical Center for Neuropsychiatry. Sex and age-matched controls (individuals who have never sought psychiatric help) were selected from a cohort of 7498 Moscow residents who participated in a large cross-sectional survey delivered via social networks and popular Russian web platforms. Fisher's exact test, Mann-Whitney U test, and General linear modelling were used as statistic methods. Results: In the univariate analysis, patients with NPMD had a lower level of education and were less likely to be married. The level of the trait but not state anxiety was higher in people with NPMD. People with mental disorders were significantly more often concerned about the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their lives, were more likely to be confident that they would contract the coronavirus and their disease would be severe, showed suboptimal adherence to mitigation strategies, were dissatisfied with the amount of information they received about the COVID-19 disease, and were more concerned about becoming a victim of domestic violence. Marital status, education, use of information resources, dissatisfaction with information about COVID-19, use of public transport, paying attention to the need of others and domestic violence assessment remained significant in the general linear model. All the factors included in the multivariate model accounted for 36.4% of the variance. Conclusion: People with NPMD have a higher level of trait anxiety and are prompted to develop a constellation of maladaptive beliefs toward a pandemic. These beliefs, along with the lack of reliable information on coronavirus infection, can lead to misunderstanding and disregard of sanitary and self-isolation recommendations. Educational programs and vaccination campaigns should be sensitive to these features of people with NPMD.

Pre-scan state anxiety is associated with greater right amygdala-hippocampal response to fearful versus happy faces among trait-anxious Latina girls.

Unfamiliarity with academic research may contribute to higher levels of anticipatory state anxiety about affective neuroimaging tasks. Children with high trait anxiety display differences in brain response to fearful facial affect compared to non-anxious youth, but little is known about the influence of state anxiety on this association. Because reduced engagement in scientific research and greater mistrust among minoritized groups may lead to systematic differences in pre-scan state anxiety, it is crucial to understand the neural correlates of state anxiety during emotion processing so as to disambiguate sources of individual differences. The present study probed the interactive effects of pre-scan state anxiety, trait anxiety, and emotional valence (fearful vs. happy faces)on neural activation during implicit emotion processing in a community sample of 46 preadolescent Latina girls (8-13 years). Among girls with mean and high levels of trait anxiety, pre-scan state anxiety was associated with greater right amygdala-hippocampal and left inferior parietal lobe response to fearful faces relative to happy faces. Anticipatory state anxiety in the scanning context may cause children with moderate and high trait anxiety to be hypervigilant to threats, further compounding the effects of trait anxiety. Neuroimaging researchers should control for state anxiety so that systematic differences in brain activation resulting from MRI apprehension are not misleadingly attributed to demographic or environmental characteristics.

Living conditions during confinement moderate the relationship between trait anxiety and negative repetitive thinking

Confinement and isolation have negative mental health consequences. It is however unknown how the characteristics of these singular situations interact with psychological vulnerability factors in the development of psychological disorders.The present study was designed to test the extent to which trait anxiety is a predictor of the level of repetitive negative thinking in individuals and how this relationship may be moderated by the environmental characteristics in which individuals experience confinement. An internet survey was conducted on a sample of 435 participants aged 18 to 85, including 82 % women and mainly students (65 %). The results showed that the level of repetitive negative thinking was significantly higher for participants who exhibited a high level of trait anxiety and this was even more the case for participants who had the most detrimental environmental characteristics during confinement.Future studies should replicate these results in other contexts, and also test the mediating role of repetitive negative thinking in the relationship between psychological vulnerability factors and psychological disorders, and whether such mediation is moderated by environmental characteristics.

Mental disorders, social and demographic characteristics of patients with chronic and episodic migraine

To compare socio-demographic, clinical and psychological characteristics and comorbid mental disorders in patients with chronic migraine (CM) and episodic migraine (EM). Eighty patients with migraine (40 with CM (16 men and 24 women, mean age 33.5±6.1 years) and 40 with EM (9 men and 31 women, mean age 31.4±5.7 years) were examined. All patients were interviewed and tested with psychometric methods. Socio-demographic and clinical-psychological characteristics were determined in all patients. The psychiatrist assessed the mental status of patients and diagnosed comorbid mental disorders according to the ICD-10 criteria. Symptoms of depression, high levels of trait and state anxiety, and a tendency to emotional inadequacy of response were more common in CM patients than in EM patients (p<0.05). Mental disorders, predominantly of the anxiety-depressive spectrum, were more common in CM patients than EM patients (OR (95% CI)=2.54 (2.03 to 2.98, p<0.001). Seventy-five percent of CM patients had more than one psychiatric diagnosis, almost a quarter of CM patients had schizotypal disorder, which is significantly higher than in EM patients (OR (95% CI)=1.99; 1.03 to 2.42, p<0.001). There were more unmarried, single (without constant partner), unemployed, high-education patients in the CM group than in the EM group. The negative impact of headache on the daily activity of patients was significantly higher in the CM group than in the EM group (p<0.05). Mental disorders and psychological features (anxiety, depression symptoms, a tendency to emotional inadequacy of response) are more common in CM patients than in EM patients. The presence of these factors may contribute to the chronification of migraine.

Trait anxiety and health self-esteem of as one of the causes of atherosclerosis related diseases of the cardiovascular system among young age people

The aim of the study was to conduct an associative analysis between trait anxiety and selfdetermination of one’s cardiovascular health among young people.Material and methods. In a typical area of a large industrial and scientific center (Novosibirsk) in 2013–2016 a study of a random sample of young people aged 25–44 was performed, which included 975 participants, 427 of which 427 are men. To assess trait anxiety, a form of Spielberger self-assessment scales was proposed.Results. Men and women with a high level of trait anxiety (HTA) in 57.1 and 64.9 % cases, respectively, believed that they could not classify themselves as healthy people, especially since a third of the respondents complained about their health status; almost 30 % of participants with HTA did not take care of their health (p &lt; 0.001). Persons of both sexes in 41 % cases and 38.6% women with HTA admitted a high probability of a severe illness soon (p &lt; 0.01). However, even pronounced pain sensations in persons of both sexes with HTA in 60.3 % cases was not the reason for seeking medical help, especially since they did not have confidence in the routine examination of a doctor (47.4 % persons of both sexes and 57.1 % men). Only 5.1 % of both sexes examined with HTA would go to the doctor if they were unwell at work (p &lt; 0.05). If they had the flu or had a temperature, then 44.9 % people with HTA worked as usual, with low TA – 26.6 % (p &lt; 0.01).Conclusions. Personal anxiety contributes to a lower health self-esteem, especially cardiovascular, and does not encourage timely seeking medical help.

Elevated cognitive failures in trait anxiety

Previous research indicates that individuals with high levels of trait anxiety have poor attentional control as gauged by the Attentional Control Scale (ACS). However, the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) is a measure of attentional control that has key advantages over the ACS, including predicting important real-world outcomes such as car crash risk. The present study assessed the relationships between trait anxiety, cognitive failures as gauged by the CFQ, and the Focusing and Shifting factors from the ACS in a large sample (N = 532) of adult participants. It was found that higher levels of trait anxiety were associated with increased cognitive failures, and CFQ scores explained unique variance in trait anxiety beyond that explained by either Focusing or Shifting. This means that trait anxious individuals experience problems with attentional control that manifest in important real-world domains such as driving. We discuss reasons why future research should employ the CFQ when investigating experiences of attentional control in relation to trait anxiety. Further, individual differences in the use of reappraisal as an emotion regulation strategy did not account for the relationship between attentional control and trait anxiety. This informs theoretical models that seek to explain why these variables are related.

Empowering the Victims of Bullying: The ‘Bullying: The Power to Cope’ Program

This study replicates an earlier study (Markopolous &amp; Bernard, 2015) that evaluated the impact of the program, Bullying: The Power to Cope (Bernard, 2019) on potential victim’s cognitive, emotional and behavioral responses. The program is aimed at teaching student rational beliefs and coping skills they can employ to cope with various types of bullying. In the present study, participating classes were randomly allocated to either an experimental or control condition. The study conducted in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, consisted 115 participants (n = 55, experimental group; n = 60 in the control group), 57 males and 58 females, aged 10 to 14 years of age. Self-report data was collected pre- and post-test, measuring children’s cognitive, behavioral and emotional coping responses to four written bullying vignettes. Measures of state and trait anxiety were also collected at pre- and post-tests. Results revealed students in the experimental group significantly improved in cognitive and emotional coping responses compared with students in the control group. Nonsignificant differences were found between males and females and between primary and secondary school students on their response to the program. State anxiety did not influence responsiveness to the program, but students with lower levels of trait anxiety (pre-test) made significantly greater improvements on emotional coping responses compared to students with higher levels of trait anxiety. Implications of these findings are discussed as well as limitations and considerations for future research.

Preprocedural Anxiety in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease: The PANIC Study

BackgroundPreprocedural anxiety may have detrimental effects both cognitively and physiologically. ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to determine the association between state (situational) and trait (persistent in everyday life) anxiety and differences between the adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) and acquired heart disease populations. MethodsThe State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and financial stress scale were administered to adults with acquired and CHD at 4 tertiary referral centers in the United States prior to cardiac catheterization. Student’s t-test and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression analyses were used to assess differences in anxiety between groups and identify the optimal model of predictors of anxiety. ResultsOf the 291 patients enrolled, those with CHD (n = 91) were younger (age 41.3 ± 16.3 years vs 64.7 ± 11.3 years, P < 0.001), underwent more cardiac surgeries (P < 0.001), and had higher levels of trait anxiety (t[171] = 2.62, P = 0.001, d = 0.33). There was no difference in state anxiety between groups (t[158.65] = 1.37, P = 0.17, d = 0.18). State anxiety was singularly associated with trait anxiety. Trait anxiety was negatively associated with age and positively associated with state anxiety and financial stress. Patients with CHD of great complexity were more trait (F[2,88] = 4.21, P = 0.02) and state anxious (F[2,87] = 4.59, P = 0.01), though with relatively small effect size. ConclusionsTrait anxiety levels are higher in the ACHD population and directly associated with state anxiety. Specialists caring for ACHD patients should not only recognize the frequency of trait anxiety but also high-risk subgroups that may benefit from psychological or social interventions to reduce preprocedural anxiety.

Role of antenatal anxiety in the relationship between maternal exposure to nitrogen dioxide and small for gestational age: A birth cohort study

BackgroundBoth Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) exposure and antenatal anxiety have individually been associated with small for gestational age (SGA). Little is known, however, about whether there is effect modification of antenatal anxiety on NO2-related SGA. MethodsThe prospective birth cohort study included 1823 mother-newborn pairs in Guangzhou, China, from January 2017 to April 2020. Exposure to NO2 during the pre-conceptional and prenatal periods was estimated using an inverse distance weighted method. Antenatal anxiety was assessed by Trait Anxiety Inventory. SGA was determined by the Chinese gestational age- and sex-specific birthweight standards. Cox proportional hazards regression models was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) for SGA as per 10 μg/m3 increase in NO2. Modifying effects of trait anxiety on NO2-related SGA were identified by stratified analyses, and three-dimensional response surface plots and two-dimensional heat maps. ResultsEach 10 μg/m3 increase in NO2 exposure during the third trimester was significantly associated with SGA risk among overall participants (HR = 1.221, 95 % CI: 1.014–1.471) and primipara (HR = 1.271, 95 % CI: 1.023–1.579). We found significant effect modification of anxiety level for NO2-related SGA in the third trimester (Pinteraction < 0.05). Pregnant women with higher levels of trait anxiety were more likely to deliver SGA newborns, particularly for those with high trait anxiety (HR = 1.781, 95 % CI: 1.007–2.945). Primiparous women were more susceptible. ConclusionsThis study provides evidence that antenatal trait anxiety may modify the effects of maternal NO2 exposure on SGA risk. The third trimester could be a critical window of susceptibility.

Improving disease management of patients with inflammatory bowel disease: the potential role of self-concordant health goals.

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic gastrointestinal conditions that significantly impact patients' quality of life. Previous research indicates that patients with IBD have a higher prevalence of anxiety compared to the general population and other chronic diseases. This pilot study aimed to investigate the relationships between goal integration, positive and negative emotions, goal self-efficacy, and trait anxiety as the outcome variable, focusing on patients' self-management strategies. Drawing from the Self-Concordance Model (SCM) of Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the study explored how goal integration is associated with more fulfilling and enjoyable experiences and fewer negative emotions, ultimately improving psychological well-being. Health-related goals were evaluated using the Personal Project Analysis technique, while the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory was utilized to measure general anxiety levels. Among the 141 participants with inflammatory bowel disease, 96 reported having health-related goals. Of these, 66 were female (68.75%), and 30 were male participants (31.25%). Path analysis revealed a moderate negative association between self-concordance (SC) and negative emotions, which, in turn, predicted higher levels of trait anxiety. Furthermore, the alternative model tested indicated that trait anxiety predicted a lower level of self-concordance. Setting well-integrated health goals involves an internal capacity, enabling patients to experience less negative emotions during self-management activities. Anxiety can hinder individuals from accessing their inner needs, resulting in less self-concordant aspirations and more negative emotions. These findings may contribute to developing prevention and intervention programs to enhance IBD patients' adherence to lifestyle changes, ultimately improving their overall well-being.

0069 Effects of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms on Sleep-Dependent Consolidation of Emotional Memory in College Students

Abstract Introduction Depression and anxiety have been associated with emotional memory biases, disturbed sleep, and cognitive deficits. The goal of the present study is to investigate the effects of elevated levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms on sleep physiology and sleep-dependent consolidation of emotional memory and reactivity over a mid-day nap in young college students. Methods Data collection is ongoing, preliminary analyses are based on 34 participants (26F, 7M, 1 non-binary, 18-27 yrs). Based on well-validated depression and anxiety scales, participants were classified into high (n=10) vs low (n=24) symptom groups. Participants studied negative and neutral picture stimuli and rated them on the dimensions of valence and arousal. Recognition memory was tested after a 5 hr interval which included a high-density EEG monitored 90 min nap. Results We do not observe any group differences in memory accuracy (d’) or in selectivity for emotional stimuli. In the entire sample, depressive symptoms correlate with decision criterion (C) for negative stimuli (r = -0.357, p=.04), such that individuals with higher depressive symptoms have a more liberal responding bias for negative stimuli. Napping is associated with a decrease in arousal ratings across all participants (F(1,32)=5.43, p=.03), and the high mood symptom group rate stimuli as more arousing (F(1,32)=13.96, p&amp;lt;.001). Further, high levels of trait anxiety is associated with more negative valence ratings post-nap (r = -0.350, p=.03). Conclusion The effects of a mid-day nap on memory consolidation and reactivity for emotional stimuli are similar between individuals with high vs low levels of mood symptoms, but heightened levels of depression and anxiety are associated with altered response bias and higher emotional reactivity. Future plans involve comparisons of NREM oscillations between groups and investigation of their relations with task performance. Support (if any) Iowa Neuroscience Institute “2021 Ideas Lab” Award (Baran)

The impact of the second COVID-19 lockdown on anxiety and depressive symptoms in pregnant women: A case study of pregnant women in northern Italy

Backgroundthe different lockdown phases due to COVID-19 may have negatively impacted pregnant women's mental health. Concerning antenatal stress, most studies focused more on the effect of pandemic onset than on the impact of the following phases and restrictions. Aimthe present study aimed to assess levels of anxiety and depression in a group of Italian pregnant women during the second COVID-19 phase and possible risk factors. MethodWe recruited 156 pregnant women through our Perinatal Psychology Outpatient Clinic. We divided the sample into women recruited before the pandemic (N = 88) through a face-to-face antenatal class and pregnant women recruited during the second lockdown (Covid-19 study group) (November 2020–April 2021) through the same antenatal class via Skype (N = 68). To investigate depressive and anxiety symptoms, we administered the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y) scales; women's medical history and obstetric data were collected. Findingswomen belonging to the Covid-19 study group reported higher depressive and anxious levels than the pre-pandemic group. Moreover, during the second lockdown previous psychopathology and being close to childbirth were related to increased depression; a history of abortion was related to higher levels of trait anxiety instead. Conclusionrecurrent restrictive measures due to COVID-19 negatively affected the antenatal mental well-being of pregnant women, particularly worsening depressive and anxious feelings. Pregnant women during the pandemic represented a vulnerable population to be monitored more closely and timely to prevent psychological problems in the postpartum period and their consequences on the child. Keywordsanxiety, depression, pregnancy, COVID-19, mental health, lockdown.

The effect of acute nicotine administration on human delay cued and context fear conditioning.

Nicotine has been shown to facilitate hippocampal-dependent context fear conditioning (FC), but not hippocampal-independent delay cued fear conditioning. Studies examining the effects of nicotine on learned fear have been exclusively limited to nonhumans. The present study aimed to translate nonhuman findings by investigating the effects of nicotine on cued and context fear in humans using a virtual reality (VR) analog of the fear conditioning task. Sixty-seven nicotine-using undergraduates were randomly assigned to receive either a 2 mg nicotine or placebo lozenge prior to conditioning. During conditioning, participants were confined to a virtual room and were conditioned to green floodlight presentations (conditioned stimulus [CS +]) paired with a wrist shock (unconditioned stimulus [US]). A red floodlight served as the CS- during which no shock occurred. Delay cued and context fear testing immediately followed conditioning. Physiological skin conductance responses (SCRs) were recorded continuously throughout all sessions. Nicotine enhanced context fear conditioning such that SCRs to the shock-paired context were significantly greater for the nicotine group than the placebo group. Nicotine did not enhance delay cued fear. Exploratory analyses examining the relationship between fear conditioning and self-reported anxiety revealed that relative to those with lower levels of trait anxiety, nicotine-treated individuals with higher trait anxiety levels were less likely to demonstrate differential conditioning to the shock-paired cue. These findings support abundant nonhuman literature indicating that nicotine facilitates hippocampus-dependent versions of fear conditioning in humans. Results also suggest a role for dysregulated safety learning in pathological anxiety, which may be exacerbated by nicotine use. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

COHERENCE OF THE TETA1-BAND EEG IN A STATE OF RELATIVE REST AND DURING ATTENTION TESTING IN SUBJECTS WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS OF TRAIT ANXIETY

Anxiety has a significant impact on the effectiveness of cognitive activity, which may be due to the peculiarities of the organization of voluntary and involuntary attention in individuals with different anxiety. Aim: to examine functional cortical connections in subjects with different levels of trait anxiety in a state of relative rest and when performing an attention test with usage of the coherent analysis of the teta1-band EEG (4–6 Hz). Coherence of teta1-band of EEG was analyzed in subjects (43 people, men aged 19–21 years) with low, medium and high level of trait anxiety (TA, according to C.D. Spielberger) in three experimental situations: the state of relative rest with closed eyes, the initial state before performing the test (with eyes opened) and during the test (red-black tables of F.D. Gorbov). Subjects with high TA in the state of relative rest with their eyes closed had a lower right-hemisphere coherence of the teta1-band EEG in the system of interrelations with focus in the temporal lead. In the initial state, with eyes opened and during test performing, individuals with high TA showed high level of interhemispheric coherence of the teta1-band of EEG. The highest lability of the structure of coherent relationships in the teta1-range of the EEG was observed in subjects with medium TA, who demonstrated an increase mainly in the interhemispheric coherence of most areas of the cortex during the test compared to the initial state. Individuals with high TA were characterized by relative inertia of the structure of coherent relationships in the teta1-range of the EEG at the stages of examination. The results of the study indicate that trait anxiety is one of the factors modulating the organization of neurocognitive networks both in a state of relative rest and during attention testing.

Anxiety sensitivity, stress, and postural control: their implications on archery performance in 11–14-year-olds

Purpose.Archery, a sport based on individual performance, requires postural stability,oncentration and the ability to cope with stress. The effect of stress on success, however, is not clear in the adolescent age group. The present study investigates the association between stress and trait anxiety levels and postural control and shooting performance in young adolescent archers.Methods.Included in the study were a total of 22 licensed archers (6 female; 16 male) aged between 11 and 14 who were evaluated using the ‘Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3’ and ‘Trier Social Stress Test’ (child version, arithmetic component) to measure their trait anxiety status and susceptibility to stress, respectively. Stress was measured based on the number of heartbeats per minute. An evaluation of static postural control was made using a pedobarography device before arrow release, with and without subjecting the archer to stress. To assess performance, 10 arrows were shot at a target 18 metres away, twice – before and after subjecting the participant to stress.Results.Postural control showed no significant change under stress. However, the participants’ trait anxiety status inversely correlated with shooting success. Post-stress shooting scores correlated with total ASI-3 score (&lt;i&gt;r&lt;/i&gt; = –0.513; &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; = 0.021) and its social sub-group (&lt;i&gt;r&lt;/i&gt; = –0.634; &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; = 0.003).Conclusions.A moderately inverse correlation can be noted between the trait anxiety state and shooting success in young adolescent archers subjected to stress. Furthermore, stress was observed to have a detrimental effect on the shooting success of people with a high level of trait anxiety.

Trait Anxiety and Unhealthy Eating in Adult Women: The Mediating Role of Cognitive Instability.

The sample was composed of 225 women (Mage = 29.70 ± 9.23; MBodyMass Index = 23.39 ± 4.43). The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), and the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) were used. We first conducted a principal components analysis to reduce the dimensionality of the FFQ data, finding four principal components. For our primary analyses, we focused on unhealthy eating. We then conducted a mediation analysis to examine whether trait anxiety was associated with unhealthy eating and, if so, whether cognitive impulsivity mediated this relationship. Trait anxiety was positively associated with cognitive instability, and cognitive instability was positively associated with unhealthy eating. Trait anxiety was also positively associated with unhealthy eating, but only when controlling for cognitive instability. Consistent with our proposed mediation model, trait anxiety was positively associated with cognitive instability, which in turn predicted unhealthy eating among adult women. Adult women who reported higher levels of trait anxiety experienced higher levels of cognitive instability and engaged in poor dietary behaviors. Identifying the factors related to unhealthy eating represents a crucial step toward findings ways of reducing their impact on food intake and replacing them with more productive ones.

Cultural Differences between University Students in Online Learning Quality and Psychological Profile during COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, educational systems had to adapt to the social and health situation immediately. This led to the appearance of the asynchronous teaching model. Throughout the pandemic at an educational level, we can distinguish three phases, eminently online, hybrid, and face-to-face. However, the perception of educational quality in these three educational moments, considering the psychometric profile and cultural differences comparing Ibero-American countries, has not been studied. The study aims to analyze the psychological profile, and perception of quality in the teaching–learning processes at the university stage, during the three processes of educational transition during COVID-19: online, hybrid, and face-to-face. Thus, 1093 university students from Ibero-American countries were studied. Through a questionnaire, demographic, academic, and psychological variables were analyzed during three phases of the pandemic. Data suggest that Latin American students had higher levels of trait anxiety and stress perception, as well as higher levels of loneliness, during the online teaching phase (lockdown), but higher grades and higher levels of motivation compared to Europeans. Indeed, Latin Americans showed greater convenience, and preference for online learning methods. However, during the face-to-face teaching phase, European students presented greater motivation and grades, showing a greater preference for this method of learning than Latin American students. Factors such as resilience, a more unfavorable and pronounced pandemic evolution, and greater social inequities, may explain the present results. Furthermore, the present study suggests that despite the effect of the pandemic on mental health, online education is postulated as an effective teaching–learning alternative. Indeed, online teaching models have come to stay, not as a substitute, but as a tool, an essential focus of attention on these models should be conducted in European countries, while the governments of Latin American countries ensure that the infrastructures and resources are equitable to be able to correctly implement this teaching model.

Heart rate variability and trait anxiety in children with irritable bowel syndrome: is there a link?

Aim. The aim of current study was to evaluate parameters of heart rate variability and their correlation with the levels of anxiety in children with irritable bowel syndrome. Materials and methods. We enrolled 22 children aged 6–12 years with verified diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome according to the Rome criteria IV. The control group included 10 children of the same age and sex. The CMAS (Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale) test was used for evaluation of the trait anxiety level. A non-invasive method of heart rate variability is used as a transdiagnostic biomarker of neurohumoral regulation and, thus, of the stress resistance. Time and frequency domain parameters of heart rate variability were studied in 5 min ECG-recordings in supine position. Data were processed using Microsoft Excel 2016 and analyzed with GraphPad (Prism 5.0). Results. Children with irritable bowel syndrome had significantly 1.7-fold higher levels of trait anxiety and 2.2-fold lower values of heart rate variability parameters as compared to the control group. In addition, reduced sympathetic (LF) activity was accompanied by upregulation of neurohumoral component (VLF) and parasympathetic (HF) activity. A positive correlation between parameters of heart rate variability and trait anxiety was found in children with irritable bowel syndrome. Conclusions. Children with irritable bowel syndrome were shown with increased levels of trait anxiety. Reduction in heart rate variability and changes of its spectral structure were suggestive about the dysregulation in the gut-brain axis with reduction of the autonomic activity and predominance of neurohumoral regulation. In summary, our study has provided important information about the pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome in children.

Emotion-regulation goals in people with high trait anxiety.

This study examined the goals of emotion-regulation in people with high levels of trait anxiety using the Stimulus Selection Task and self-report scales. People with high trait anxiety were more likely to choose to increase their levels of anxiety than those with low trait anxiety, across demanding and undemanding situations.