Individual Difference Factors Research Articles

Analysis of Factors Influencing Acupuncture Clinical Effects: A Systematic Review

Background Acupuncture therapy has been widely applied all around the world. But there still lacks high-quality evidence to evaluate its clinical effects, safety and cost-effectiveness, which seriously restricts its further promotion and development. Acupuncture, as an operational intervention, is more complex than drug therapy. Factors involved in the acupuncture operation process, such as individual and interventional factors, may affect the clinical effects. Purposes Through this systematic review, we attempt to analyze the current status of studies about the key factors influencing clinical effects, so as to provide evidence for the design of acupuncture studies. Methods A literature research was conducted in six databases until May, 2020. Studies were screened and assessed by two authors independently. Data extraction was made after screening. We extracted the basic information of these studies, including publishing years and countries, population and factors influencing clinical effects. Results Through the initial search in these six database, 6404 records were retrieved. After duplication and screening, a total of 355 studies were finally included in the qualitative analysis. About 88.5% of these studies were conducted in China with increasing number in the past decades, covering neurological disorders, orthopedic disorders, obstetrical and gynecological diseases, digestive diseases and so on; 239 studies focused on stimulus parameters which may influence effects, accounting for 67.3%, and 128, 44, 39, 32, 15, 11 studies discussed acupoints, patients' pathological states, individual difference, psychological states, deqi, and other factors separately. Conclusion There are more and more studies focusing on factors influencing acupuncture clinical effects, including stimulus parameters, acupoints, individual difference, patient pathological and psychological states. Based on this systematic review, several ignored factors should be considered for future researches, and more scientifically and objectively high quality evidence should also be proved.

Cognitive Appraisal of Sleep and Brain Activation in Response to Sleep-Related Sounds in Healthy Adults.

PurposeSounds play important roles in promoting and disrupting sleep. How our brain processes sleep-related sounds and individual differences in processing sleep-related sounds must be determined to understand the role of sound in sleep. We investigated neural responses to sleep-related sounds and their associations with cognitive appraisals of sleep.Participants and MethodsForty-four healthy adults heard sleep-related and neutral sounds during functional magnetic resonance imaging using a 3T scanner. They also completed the Dysfunctional Beliefs and Attitudes about Sleep (DBAS) questionnaire, which was used to assess cognitive appraisals of sleep. We conducted a voxel-wise whole-brain analysis to compare brain activation in response to sleep-related and neutral sounds. We also examined the association between the DBAS score and brain activity in response to sleep-related sounds (vs neutral sounds) using region of interest (ROI) and whole-brain correlation analyses. The ROIs included the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), anterior insula (AI), and amygdala.ResultsThe whole-brain analysis revealed increased activation in the temporal regions and decreased activation in the ACC in response to sleep-related sounds compared to neutral sounds. The ROI and whole-brain correlation analyses showed that higher DBAS scores, indicating a negative appraisal of sleep, were significantly correlated with increased activation of the ACC, right medial prefrontal cortex, and brainstem in response to sleep-related sounds.ConclusionThese results indicate that the temporal cortex and ACC, which are implicated in affective sound processing, may play important roles in the processing of sleep-related sounds. The positive association between the neural responses to sleep-related sounds and DBAS scores suggest that negative and dysfunctional appraisals of sleep may be an important factor in individual differences in the processing of sleep-related sounds.

How regulatory focus–mode fit impacts variety‐seeking

AbstractVariety‐seeking research has examined antecedents in terms of contextual factors and individual differences. However, it does not consider the interaction of individual difference factors such as regulatory focus (promotion vs. prevention) and regulatory mode (locomotion vs. assessment) to predict variety‐seeking. Drawing on regulatory fit theory, this study introduces a new kind of regulatory fit based on the interaction between regulatory focus and mode (i.e., regulatory focus–mode fit), thereby extending previous work examining fit based on either regulatory focus or regulatory mode in isolation. Results from five studies, including field data from 10,547 music app consumers (text analysis), two preregistered studies, and two online experiments, show that regulatory focus–mode fit (vs. non‐fit) decreases variety‐seeking. Engagement and attitude certainty serially mediate regulatory focus–mode fit effects. Findings provide implications for consumer segmentation and message framing.

Transarterial Chemoembolization in Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Albanian Experience.

Liver cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide in terms of the number of cases (626,000 or 5.7% of new cancer cases) but due to the very poor prognosis, the number of deaths is nearly similar (598,000). The survival rate is 3% to 5% in cancer registries for the United States and developing countries. The modality of treatment in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients depends on the stage of the disease. The Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer Classification (BCLC) is the favorite staging system. There are many patients who initially present with the intermediate-stage disease, and in this setting transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is the treatment of choice.
 The purpose of this article is to highlight and discuss the role of chemoembolization in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma, including the results of recent large studies, and the concept of combined therapies, illustrating our case.
 The differences in individual factors that are not captured by the BCLC framework, such as the tumor growth pattern, degree of hypervascularity, and vascular supply, complicate the further evaluation of these patients. Because of these differences, not all patients benefit equally from TACE. Several tools have been devised to aid the decision-making process which have shown promising initial results but have failed external evaluation and have not been translated to the clinical aspects. Criteria for treatment decisions in daily clinical practice are needed in all stages of the disease.
 Conclusion: TACE is a safe method for prolonging patients' survival with unresectable HCC. The correct treatment of HCC is concentrated in cancer centers, and cooperation between multiple specialists is necessary.

The social psychology of intergroup tolerance and intolerance

ABSTRACT Living with cultural, religious, and ideological diversity inevitably creates situations where people are confronted with beliefs, values, or practices that they disapprove of. In such situations, people may consider reasons to nevertheless tolerate what they disapprove of (i.e., forbearance tolerance), or reject these (i.e., intolerance). In the current review, we consider empirical research on the processes of intergroup tolerance and consider different manifestations of (in)tolerance. Then we discuss recent work on the dual process model of tolerance, which considers intuitive versus deliberative objections to cultural, religious, and ideological differences, and how these can be overridden to produce tolerance. We then review literature on the boundaries of tolerance including the role of moralization and moral values, before considering individual difference factors and situations of threat that can hamper intergroup tolerance. We conclude by considering five areas ripe for future exploration on the social psychology of intergroup tolerance and intolerance.

EXPLORING THE INFLUENCE OF ANXIETY SENSITIVITY ON COLLEGE ENGLISH LEARNING -BASED ON THE LEARNING ATTACHMENT STYLES

EXPLORING THE INFLUENCE OF ANXIETY SENSITIVITY ON COLLEGE ENGLISH LEARNING -BASED ON THE LEARNING ATTACHMENT STYLES

Differential activation of a frontoparietal network explains population-level differences in statistical learning from speech.

People of all ages display the ability to detect and learn from patterns in seemingly random stimuli. Referred to as statistical learning (SL), this process is particularly critical when learning a spoken language, helping in the identification of discrete words within a spoken phrase. Here, by considering individual differences in speech auditory-motor synchronization, we demonstrate that recruitment of a specific neural network supports behavioral differences in SL from speech. While independent component analysis (ICA) of fMRI data revealed that a network of auditory and superior pre/motor regions is universally activated in the process of learning, a frontoparietal network is additionally and selectively engaged by only some individuals (high auditory-motor synchronizers). Importantly, activation of this frontoparietal network is related to a boost in learning performance, and interference with this network via articulatory suppression (AS; i.e., producing irrelevant speech during learning) normalizes performance across the entire sample. Our work provides novel insights on SL from speech and reconciles previous contrasting findings. These findings also highlight a more general need to factor in fundamental individual differences for a precise characterization of cognitive phenomena.

Exploring fatigue sensitivity in terms of mental health and fatigue severity among a racially and ethnically diverse sample with severe fatigue

ABSTRACT Background Fatigue sensitivity, or the misattribution that fatigue symptoms will lead to negative personal consequences, is one individual difference factor related to adverse behavioral health consequences. Methods The current study investigated whether fatigue sensitivity was related to panic symptoms, depression, as well as fatigue severity among 166 persons of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds with severe fatigue. Results As hypothesized, fatigue sensitivity was statistically significantly related to greater panic symptoms, general depression, and fatigue severity. These results were evident over the variance explained by age, sex, neuroticism, and somatic symptoms. Conclusions This work is the first to evaluate fatigue sensitivity in terms of behavioral health outcomes among a racial/ethnically diverse sample with severe fatigue.

Occasions of Alcohol and Cannabis Use and Associated Risk for Sexual Assault Among College Women With Higher Sexual Risk Alcohol Expectancies

College women report high rates of sexual assault. Research focused on women's risk factors for sexual assault remains necessary to assist women in reducing their risk. Previous work has shown alcohol use and cannabis use to be associated with sexual assault. The current study examined whether individual difference variables moderated women's risk for sexual assault during occasions of alcohol use and cannabis use using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Participants were 18- to 24-year-old first-year undergraduate women (N = 101) who were unmarried and interested in dating men, consumed three or more alcoholic drinks on one occasion in the month before baseline, and engaged in sexual intercourse at least once. Baseline individual difference variables included sex-related alcohol expectancies, alcohol problems, decision skills, and sexual attitudes. EMA reports, collected three times per day over 42 days, included items regarding alcohol and cannabis use and sexual assault experiences. Among women who experienced sexual assault during the EMA period (n = 40), those with higher sexual risk expectancies had a higher probability of sexual assault during occasions when they were using alcohol or cannabis. Several modifiable risk factors for sexual assault and individual differences factors may exacerbate risk. Ecological momentary interventions may be useful to reduce sexual assault risk for women with high sexual risk expectancies who use alcohol or cannabis.

Investigating grit in second language learning: The role of individual difference factors and background variables

Grit is among the individual difference (ID) variables that have recently come to the attention of researchers investigating second language acquisition. While some empirical evidence has been accumulated, it is clearly scant and limited, also because of the fact that many studies have looked into domain-general grit rather than this attribute as related to learning second or foreign languages. The present article seeks to fill this gap by reporting the findings of a study which has investigated the relationships among grit and a number of other ID factors, that is, domain-general grit, intended effort, language learning enjoyment, and language learning curiosity, as well as background variables, such as age, gender, year of study and experience in learning the target language. Correlational analyses, regression analyses, independent samples and paired t-tests, as well as one way ANOVAs were run on the data collected from 99 Polish students majoring in English. The main finding was that while language learning enjoyment is a direct predictor of L2 grit for younger students, general grit only enters the picture in the case of older students, being itself predicted by enjoyment. The results serve as a basis for the assumption that L2 grit is distinct from general grit, its levels may differ for different languages being learnt and it is likely to be malleable.

Occasions of Alcohol and Cannabis Use and Associated Risk for Sexual Assault among College Women with Higher Sexual Risk Alcohol Expectancies.

College women report high rates of sexual assault (SA). Research focused on women's risk factors for SA remains necessary to assist women in reducing their risk. Previous work has shown alcohol and cannabis use to be associated with SA. The current study examined whether individual difference variables moderated women's risk for SA during occasions of alcohol and cannabis use using ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Participants were 18-24-year-old first-year undergraduate women (N=101), who were unmarried and interested in dating men, consumed three or more alcoholic drinks on one occasion in the month before baseline, and engaged in sexual intercourse at least once. Baseline individual difference variables included sex-related alcohol expectancies, alcohol problems, decision skills, and sexual attitudes. EMA reports, collected three times per day over 42 days, included items regarding alcohol and cannabis use and SA experiences. Among women who experienced SA during the EMA period (n=40), those with higher sexual risk expectancies had a higher probability of SA during occasions when they were using alcohol or cannabis. Several modifiable risk factors for SA and individual differences factors may exacerbate risk. Ecological momentary interventions may be useful to reduce SA risk for women with high sexual risk expectancies who use alcohol or cannabis.

Identifying EFL Students Learning Styles in the Context of Afghanistan

In recent years, great attention was paid to the factors of individual differences in EFL context, especially the learner learning styles. The main purpose of this study is to determine the learning styles of Parwan university EFL learners. A mixed method of research (quantitative and qualitative) was considered in order to collect and analyze the data. A total of 110 EFL Parwan university students (90 males) and (20 females) were participated in this study. The results of descriptive statistics indicated that the majority of the participant 81 % positively valued the visual learning styles. In addition, the findings showed that 53 % of the participants preferred auditory learning styles while 66 % of them determined as kinesthetic learners.

Reaching the Finish Line: Personality and Persistence in Postsecondary Education

Few studies have examined the contribution of individual psychological factors to long-term indicators of academic success.This study examines the influence of personality and individual difference factors in relation to retention. In this study, 290 Canadian undergraduate students completed measures of personality, resiliency, perfectionism, and trait Emotional Intelligence in the first semester of their first year, and enrolment status was collected at the end of each academic year for four years. Multinomial logistic regression analysis indicated that only high school grade point average (GPA) and being male predicted a higher likelihood of withdrawing from the program or delaying degree completion, compared to those who completed. The need for future studies with larger samples and consideration of more complex relationships between factors is highlighted.

The Inflammatory Factor SNP May Serve as a Promising Biomarker for Acitretin to Alleviate Secondary Failure of Response to TNF-a Monoclonal Antibodies in Psoriasis.

Psoriasis is a common immune-mediated inflammatory skin disease. Although biological agents have achieved good clinical efficacy in the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis, the phenomenon of secondary non-response (SNR) has been gradually recognized. SNR refers to the gradual decline of efficacy after the patient achieves clinical remission with biological agents such as TNF-α biologics. Acitretin, as an immunomodulatory systemic drug for psoriasis, can improve the SNR to biological agents with good tolerance, but there are still individual differences in efficacy. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of many related inflammatory cytokines have been shown to be important factors of individual differences in drug response in psoriasis, but there have been few reports on the use of pharmacogenomics to alleviate the SNR to biological agents. This study recruited 43 patients with psoriasis and 24 normal controls to investigate whether SNPs of inflammatory cytokines could be used as biomarkers for acitretin to alleviate SNR to TNF-α biologics in psoriasis, including rs1800795 (IL-6), rs6887695 (IL-12b), rs3212227 (IL-12b), rs10484879 (IL-17a), rs4819554 (IL-17ra), rs763780 (IL-17F), rs11209032 (IL23R), rs11209026 (IL23R), and rs2201841 (IL23R). The study also analyzed the correlation between the abovementioned SNPs and the efficacy of acitretin-only patients so as to understand whether the improvement is attributable to the intervention of acitretin on SNR or a simple response of acitretin. We found that in patients with homozygous AA (χ2 = 6.577, p = 0.02) at the SNP rs112009032 (IL-23R), acitretin could improve the SNR to TNFα monoclonal antibody. Patients with the genotype of TG (χ2 = 6.124, p = 0.035) at rs3212227 (IL-12B) were more sensitive to using acitretin in the treatment of psoriasis. Rs3212227 (χ2 = 7.664, p = 0.022) was also associated with the susceptibility to psoriasis. The study might provide a clinical decision reference for personalized treatment of secondary loss of response to psoriasis biologics.

Associations between New Mothers’ Partner-Oriented Sexual Values and Sexual Distress in the Transition to Parenthood

ABSTRACT Women commonly experience heightened sexual distress in pregnancy and postpartum, and there is limited knowledge of protective factors. Women report declines in the importance of sexuality during this time, suggesting that valuing sexuality could be a relevant individual difference factor. It may be particularly protective for women to feel successful in living in line with their sexual values. In a longitudinal study, we examined associations between the extent to which women valued their role as a sexual partner, and their success living in line with this partner-oriented sexual value, with their sexual distress. Women (N = 367) reported the importance of their role as a sexual partner, success living according to this value, and sexual distress during pregnancy (18–20 weeks) and at 3, 6, 12 and 24-months postpartum. More strongly valuing one’s role as a sexual partner was associated with more sexual distress, both between-person (i.e., across women) and within-person (i.e., variation within women over time). Above and beyond these effects, greater success at living in line with one’s partner-oriented sexual value was associated with less sexual distress. Finding ways to live in line with one’s sexual values may protect against sexual distress for new mothers in the transition to parenthood.

Inconsistent Reporting of Adverse Life Events Is Predicted by Current Internalizing Distress Among Military Service Members.

Accurate measurement of adverse life events is critical for understanding the effects of stressors on health outcomes. However, much of this research uses cross-sectional designs and self-report years after the events take place. The reliability of this retrospective reporting and the individual difference factors associated with inconsistent recall over time are not frequently addressed, especially among military service members. A longitudinal cohort of National Guard service members (n = 801) completed the Deployment Risk and Resilience Inventory-2 Prior Stressors scale and several measures of general well-being, including anxious depressive symptomatology, personal functioning, perceived social support, and overall health at two time points (before and after completion of basic combat training; median 11-month interval). Consistency in reporting the life event items ranged from 69.5% to 99.7%, with an overall Cohen's kappa coefficient of 0.215 for the scale, indicating minimal agreement. Lower well-being scores at Time 1 independently predicted yes-to-no changes in responding, whereas lower well-being scores at Time 2 independently predicted no-to-yes changes in responding. Follow-up mediations were conducted using study measures available only at Time 2. For all study measures, Time 2 well-being independently predicted changes from no-to-yes responding by way of indirect effects through self-reported non-specific internalizing distress and arousal. These findings highlight the confounding effects of fluctuations in current emotional distress on past stressor recall. There is a need for additional caution regarding the use of retrospective self-report of adverse life events in research and clinical practice and greater consideration of current psychological distress at the time of measurement completion.

Right-wing extremism and its determinants: a theoretically integrative approach

Many studies, in their examinations and explanations of the causes of violent extremism, can be found to be lacking in an integration of the factors of individual differences in the causes of political or religious violence. Also most studies on the topic do not emphasize the role of causal processes in these phenomena. The present study tries to overcome this lacking. Hence, its purpose is to test Wikström’s ‘Situational Action Theory’ (SAT). More specifically in relation to ‘self-reported’ ‘right-wing political violence’ (n = 723). To that effect this study examines the role of ‘perceived grievances’ and ‘us-versus-them’ attitudes to explain the causes of right-wing political violence. Key ‘strain-related’ variables are grouped under those two overarching concepts and are then integrated in the social model of SAT as ‘causes of the causes’, in this case then of right-wing political violence. The results of this analysis support the main hypothesis tested by this article: the secondary effects generated by the causes of the causes of (self-reported) right-wing political violence also manifest themselves in broader moral support for right-wing extremism, causing in their turn probabilistically more future violence, yet also in more self-control abilities, limiting or controlling the generation of more future violence. The limitations of this study are discussed in relation to suggestions for future scientific studies on the topic. Finally, policy recommendations are suggested.

Effect of affective feedback and competitiveness on performance and the psychological experience of exercise within a virtual reality environment.

Exercise is beneficial for physical and psychological health, yet the majority of Australian adults are not sufficiently active to gain health benefits. Novel methods are needed to enhance the experience of exercise and ultimately exercise participation. The present study examined performance and psychological experiences during a (non-immersive) virtual reality cycling task that incorporated affective feedback. Female participants (N = 137, university students) received either positive, negative, or neutral virtual feedback while cycling on a stationary bicycle in a virtual reality laboratory environment under the instruction to maintain at least 70% of their maximal heart rate for as long as possible (or up to 30 minutes). Participants also responded to measures of affect, motivation, enjoyment, and competitiveness. Data were analysed with ANOVA’s performed with feedback groups and trait competitiveness for the psychological and performance dependent measures. Results showed that positive feedback elicited greater interest and enjoyment during the task than neutral and negative feedback. In addition, perceived competence was greater with positive feedback than for neutral and negative feedback in low competitive participants. The type of feedback did not affect performance (cycling persistence, perceived exertion, and effort). The findings indicate the potential importance of providing positive virtual feedback and considering the interaction of individual difference factors, specifically competitiveness, to enhance virtual exercise experiences.

Electrocortical measures of win and loss processing are associated with mesocorticolimbic functional connectivity: A combined ERP and rs-fMRI study.

The reward positivity (RewP) event-related potential is a well-validated measure of reward processing implicated in internalizing psychopathologies. The RewP is thought to reflect reward reactivity in the mesocorticolimbic system; however, it is not clear how the RewP is related to the functional connectivity of reward-related brain regions. The current study examined associations between the RewP (Win and Loss residuals) and resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI), among adults with internalizing psychopathology (IP) and healthy controls (HC). All participants (N=102) completed a validated monetary reward task during electroencephalogram and rs-fMRI. Regression analyses were conducted with (1) RewP-Win residual amplitude and striatal seeds (caudate, putamen, nucleus accumbens) and (2) RewP-Loss residual amplitude and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) seeds. Overall, individuals with greater RewP-Win residual amplitude demonstrated increased rs-fMRI connectivity between striatal regions and the medial prefrontal cortex, as well as the parahippocampal gyrus, but decreased connectivity between striatal regions and regions involved in cognitive control and sensorimotor processing. Greater RewP-Loss residual was related to greater connectivity between the ACC and regions involved in reward/loss processing and motor control, but decreased connectivity between the ACC and regions involved in cognitive control. Relationships between the RewP and rs-fMRI were generally consistent across IP and HC. However, a few patterns were unique to IP. Results indicate the RewP is associated with resting-state functional connectivity of reward- and loss-related brain regions, suggesting connectivity of the mesocorticolimbic system may be an important individual difference factor in dimensions of attainment of reward and loss.

An examination of the effects of distress intolerance and rating of perceived exertion on changes in mood and anxiety following aerobic exercise among treatment-seeking smokers

ABSTRACT Aerobic exercise is frequently used as an intervention for depression and smoking cessation because of its antidepressant and anxiolytic effects. Distress intolerance (DI) is a proposed individual difference factor that, coupled with a higher rating of perceived exertion during exercise, may significantly impact the acute mood and anxiolytic effects of exercise. The current study examined the interactive effect of maximum rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and DI on change in mood and anxiety. Treatment-seeking smokers (M age = 45.32; 72% female) with elevated depressive symptoms completed a 1-mile treadmill walk at their preferred intensity and self-reported their RPE during the test. Analyses were conducted to examine whether there was an interactive effect of maximum RPE and DI on change in self-reported mood and anxiety from before to after the walk test. Findings indicate a significant moderating effect of RPE at lower ratings. Individuals reporting a low maximum RPE and higher DI exhibit a greater change in mood over the course of an exercise session, whereas individuals reporting a low maximum RPE and a lower DI exhibit smaller changes in mood. These results indicate that the subjective effects of exercise within a population of cigarette smokers could be improved by tailoring exercise intensity to individual characteristics. Mild to moderate-intensity exercise, as compared to high-intensity exercise, may result in greater changes in mood for individuals endorsing difficulty tolerating affective and physical distress.