Individual Subjective Experience Research Articles

The effects of simultaneous alcohol and cannabis use on subjective drug effects: A narrative review across methodologies.

Over 75% of young adults who use cannabis also report drinking alcohol, leading to increased risks that include impaired cognition, substance use disorders, and more heavy and frequent substance use. Studies suggest that subjective responses to either alcohol or cannabis can serve as a valuable indicator for identifying individuals at risk of prolonged substance use and use disorder. While laboratory studies show additive effects when alcohol and cannabis are used together, the impact of co-using these substances, specifically with respect to cannabidiol, on an individual's subjective experience remains unclear. This narrative review explores the effects of simultaneous alcohol and cannabis (SAM) use on subjective drug effects, drawing from qualitative research, laboratory experiments, and naturalistic studies. Experimental findings are inconsistent regarding the combined effects of alcohol and cannabis, likely influenced by factors such as dosage, method of administration, and individual substance use histories. Similarly,findings from qualitative and naturalistic studies are mixed regarding subjective drug effects following SAMuse. These discrepancies may be due to recall biases, variations in assessment methods, and the measurement in real-world contexts of patterns of SAM use and related experiences. Overall, this narrative review highlights the need for more comprehensive research to understand more fully subjective drug effects of SAM use in diverse populations and settings, emphasizing the importance of frequent and nuanced assessment of SAM use and subjective responses in naturalistic settings.

The importance of individual beliefs in assessing treatment efficacy.

In recent years, there has been debate about the effectiveness of treatments from different fields, such as neurostimulation, neurofeedback, brain training, and pharmacotherapy. This debate has been fuelled by contradictory and nuanced experimental findings. Notably, the effectiveness of a given treatment is commonly evaluated by comparing the effect of the active treatment versus the placebo on human health and/or behaviour. However, this approach neglects the individual's subjective experience of the type of treatment she or he received in establishing treatment efficacy. Here, we show that individual differences in subjective treatment - the thought of receiving the active or placebo condition during an experiment - can explain variability in outcomes better than the actual treatment. We analysed four independent datasets (N = 387 participants), including clinical patients and healthy adults from different age groups who were exposed to different neurostimulation treatments (transcranial magnetic stimulation: Studies 1 and 2; transcranial direct current stimulation: Studies 3 and 4). Our findings show that the inclusion of subjective treatment can provide a better model fit either alone or in interaction with objective treatment (defined as the condition to which participants are assigned in the experiment). These results demonstrate the significant contribution of subjective experience in explaining the variability of clinical, cognitive, and behavioural outcomes. We advocate for existing and future studies in clinical and non-clinical research to start accounting for participants' subjective beliefs and their interplay with objective treatment when assessing the efficacy of treatments. This approach will be crucial in providing a more accurate estimation of the treatment effect and its source, allowing the development of effective and reproducible interventions.

Painful differences between different pain scale assessments: The outcome of assessed pain is a matter of the choices of scale and statistics.

Perceived pain is a multi-factorial subjective variable, commonly measured by numeric rating scales, verbal descriptive scales (VDS), or by a position on an analogue line (VAS). A major question is whether an individual's VAS and VDS pain assessments, on the same occasion, could be comparable. The aim was to compare continuous and discretized VAS pain data with verbal descriptive pain datasets from the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and the European Quality of Life Scale (EQ-5D) in paired pain datasets. The measurement level of data from any type of scale assessments is ordinal, having rank-invariant properties only. Non-parametric statistical methods were used. Two ways of discretizing the VAS-line to VAS-intervals to fit the number of the comparing VDS-categories were used: the commonly used (equidistant VAS,VDS)-pairs and the (unbiased VAS,VDS)-pairs of pain data. The comparability of the (VAS,VDS)-pairs of data of perceived pain was studied by the bivariate ranking approach. Hence, each pair will be regarded as ordered, disordered, or tied with respect to the other pairs of data. The percentage agreement, PA, the measures of disorder, D, and of order consistency, MA, were calculated. Total interchangeability requires PA = 1 and MA = 1. The wide range of overlapping of (VAS,VDS)-pairs indicated that the continuous VAS data were not comparable to any of the VDS pain datasets. The percentage of agreement, PA; in the (equidistant VAS,ODI) and (equidistant VAS, EQ-5D) pairs were 38 and 49%, and the order consistency, MA, was 0.70 and 0.80, respectively. Corresponding results for the (unbiased VAS,VDS)-pairs of pain data were PA: 54 and 100%, and MA: 0.77 and 1.0. Our results confirmed that perceived pain is the individual's subjective experience, and possible scale-interchangeability is only study-specific. The pain experience is not possible to be measured univocally, but is possible for the individual to rate on a scale.

A hybrid neural network based on the small-world network for inner speech recognition

This study is devoted to the identification of human inner speech using an electroencephalogram (EEG), where inner speech refers to an individual's subjective experience of language, disconnected from discernible audible articulation. The core aim of this system is the rapid and precise classification of signals via human inner speech, thus facilitating enhanced control and interaction functionalities. The research entails a comprehensive analysis of 10 volunteers' brain activity across 128 channels from OpenNeuro's Inner speech dataset. A hybrid neural network, which incorporates the small-world network structure, is employed to model neural activity within the brain. This approach outperforms random chance and aligns with current research expectations.

Psilocybin-induced changes in cerebral blood flow are associated with acute and baseline inter-individual differences

Research into the use of psilocybin for the treatment of psychiatric disorders is a growing field. Nevertheless, robust brain–behavior relationships linking psilocybin-induced brain changes to subjective drug-induced effects have not been established. Furthermore, it is unclear if the acute neural effects are dependent on individual heterogeneity in baseline characteristics. To address this, we assessed the effects of three oral doses of psilocybin vs. placebo on cerebral blood flow (CBF) using arterial spin labeling in healthy participants (N = 70; n = 31, 0.16 mg/kg; n = 10, 0.2 mg/kg; n = 29, 0.215 mg/kg). First, we quantified psilocybin-induced changes in relative and absolute CBF. Second, in an exploratory analysis, we assessed whether individual baseline characteristics and subjective psychedelic experience are associated with changes in CBF. Psychological and neurobiological baseline characteristics correlated with the psilocybin-induced reduction in relative CBF and the psilocybin-induced subjective experience. Furthermore, the psilocybin-induced subjective experience was associated with acute changes in relative and absolute CBF. The results demonstrated that inter-individual heterogeneity in the neural response to psilocybin is associated with baseline characteristics and shed light on the mechanisms underlying the psychedelic-induced altered state. Overall, these findings help guide the search for biomarkers, paving the way for a personalized medicine approach within the framework of psychedelic-assisted therapy.

After one year in university; a robust decrease in autistic traits reporting among autistic students.

Previous research on autistic students enrolled in university support programs has reported moderate improvement in anxiety/depression or adaptive behavior. However, alterations in autistic traits have not been examined. This longitudinal study evaluated changes in university students' autistic trait and state/trait anxiety levels. Participants were 24 neurotypically developed (ND) students with high levels of social anxiety symptoms (High SA), 30 ND students with low levels of SA symptoms (Low SA), and 41 autistic students (the primary focus of this study) residing with an ND peer student mentor as part of participating in the university's integration support program. Autism spectrum quotient [AQ and State Trait Anxiety Inventory STAI] data were collected during the first semester of two consecutive academic years (T1, T2), as well as baseline (T1) levels of social anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Significant interaction between group and time was observed, denoting a sharp decrease (2.9 SD) from T1 to T2 in the overall autistic trait level among the autistic group (AQ "attention switching" subscale demonstrating the most robust decrease), and a moderate decrease (0.5 SD) among the high SA group. Only for the autistic students were more compulsive symptoms at T1 associated with a lesser decrease in AQ scores (T1-T2), which in turn was negatively correlated with their T1 year-end grade point average. The findings suggest that attending post-secondary education (while partaking in a support/transition program) is followed by a profound change of the individual's subjective experience of autism, characterized by a sharp decline in the level of autistic traits, particularly attention switching. This change is independent of alterations in well-being indices, such as anxiety, that are known to characterize students attending university.

Indonesian Students' Psychological Well-Being in Istanbul, Turkey

This qualitative study aims to determine and analyze Indonesian students' psychological well-being in Turkey. In addition, it is intended to explore students' experiences when studying in Turkey and reveal what and how vigorous efforts were made to adapt to a new country. The research approach used was phenomenology, which pays more attention to the individual's subjective experience. The researchers then interviewed students who had just lived in Turkey for one year and students who had been in Turkey for more than one year. Hopefully, it could be explored more in aspects of the psychological well-being of students studying in Turkey. The study results highlighted that several elements affected students' psychological well-being during the adaptation period in Turkey, including different food, a quite complicated language to learn, different weather, association with international students, and not easy adaptation on campus. Furthermore, self-defense efforts to stay strong and motivated by new students in Turkey comprised of holding motivational halaqah, visits (monitoring) to new students' residences, maximizing WhatsApp groups, and bringing in motivators from outside.

Awareness of age-related change in the context of major life events

Although gains and losses are an integral part of human development, the experience of change and readjustment that often comes with major life events may be particularly influential for an individual's subjective aging experience and awareness of age-related change (AARC). Thus, this study focused on the role of life events in the domains of family and health for an individual's awareness of age-related gains and losses. Specifically, we differentiated between the experience of specific life events (e.g., entering a new romantic relationship; hospital stay) and the cumulative experience of multiple life events. Furthermore, we differentiated between life events experienced at an expected time in life and life events experienced relatively early or relatively late compared to established social norms. Data came from the Innovation Sample of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP-IS) and consisted of 1,612 participants aged 16 to 93 years (M = 54.1; SD = 18.2). Life events were assessed annually and retrospectively for the last 2 years. Propensity score matching provided evidence for an association of specific family life events and a higher awareness of age-related gains, as well as specific health life events and a higher awareness of age-related losses. Results furthermore indicated that the cumulative experience of family life events was associated with a higher awareness of age-related gains. Conversely, the cumulative experience of health events was associated with higher awareness of both age-related losses and age-related gains. Moreover, it was not only life events happening at an expected age, but also those happening relatively early and particularly those happening late in life, which were associated with AARC. In summary, life events and the change they may bring seem to be reflected in individuals' awareness of age-related losses and awareness of age-related gains.

The Idiosyncrasy Principle: A New Look at Qualia

In the study of consciousness, qualia, the individual subjective experience, is neglected. It remains impenetrable because the objective perspective used for scientific investigations misses its subjective nature. In 1974, Thomas Nagel suggested that studying qualia requires an “objective phenomenology method” whose goal would be to describe the subjective character of experiences in an independent manner. We introduce a corresponding theoretical and experimental framework based on the “idiosyncrasy principle.” Accordingly, subjectivity depends on the idiosyncratic composition of physical properties to qualia. This allows conceptualizing an idiosyncratic transfer function between the world and its representation. The main challenge in delineating such a transfer function is to come up with an objective measure for another person’s perspective. Numerosity, as opposed to other perceived contents of the physical world, allows reporting subjective experience in an objective manner. On the basis of this unique attribute of numerosity, we suggest a tentative neurocognitive research plan aimed at delineating such idiosyncratic transfer functions, permitting one person to adopt the perspective of another and linking qualia to its mechanism.

Understanding and Working with Performance Anxiety in Education

Recently, so-called mental health issues were exposed at the Tokyo Olympics. Yet the term “performance anxiety” was not in vogue in the media as it had been in the past. The emphasis was now on mental health in clinical terms. Although I acknowledge the work in this area being done in clinical psychology, I am not including this approach but rather provide a complementary one rooted in philosophy. An interpretation of experiences working with anxiety rather than with mental health issues is also possible by considering psychological perspectives that are derived from phenomenology and existentialism. This interdisciplinary conceptualization contributes to the concept of performance anxiety by providing a more detailed theoretical account of individual subjective experience involving a relational perspective on the nature of both positive and negative anxiety and its metaphorical implications for creative performances, be they musical, athletic, or any kind of performance. Performance planning is ultimately an indeterminate activity associated with negative and positive anxiety over time, because such preparation cannot predict the exact nature of a performer’s emergent, indeterminate self during any performance. Yet this “unfixed” emergent self is also connected to the preparatory self in that it is the self that also prepares the performance and is (hopefully) successfully blended into an emergent and thus indeterminate self. It can emerge as an earned attribute of positive anxiety and receptivity to risk-taking creativity and new understandings of anxiety based on experience and self.

Reduced calibration between subjective and objective measures of episodic future thinking in alcohol use disorder.

A reduced capacity to mentally simulate future scenarios could be of clinical importance in alcohol use disorder (AUD). However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying episodic future thinking (EFT) impairment in AUD. We tested patients with severe AUD using two measures of EFT: the individual's own subjective experience of their imaginings (phenomenology) and the objective number of details included in imagined events, as assessed by an independent observer (examination). The comparison between the two measures allowed us to investigate the extent to which the subjective and objective characteristics of EFT are calibrated in healthy and AUD participants matched for age, education, and gender. The possible impact of cognitive functioning and disturbed mood on EFT measures was also investigated. In terms of objective details of EFT, patients with AUD (n=40) generated fewer episodic components and more non-episodic components than control participants (n=40), even when controlling for cognitive functioning. However, self-ratings of phenomenological characteristics indicated that participants with AUD perceived imagined future events at a similar level of detail as control participants. Additionally, there was a significant correlation between objective and subjective measures in healthy individuals but not in the AUD group. A higher depression score in the AUD group was not associated with the EFT measures. These results suggest a distorted self-assessment of the richness of imagined future events in individuals with AUD. We discuss these apparent limitations in metacognitive abilities and verbal descriptions of imagined events among individuals with AUD and their clinical implications.

Mori Arimasa’s Concept of <i>Experience</i>

The article introduces and reconstructs the main ideas of the book Experience and Thought by Mori Arimasa. Released in the form of journal publications in 1970–1972, it has never been translated into European languages. The Japanese philosopher who spent a large part of his life in France undertakes a comparative analysis of the socio-cultural and linguistic foundations of the experience of the Japanese and Europeans. The article examines the main aspects of Mori’s concept of experience: understanding experience as a reality and as a subject, separation of two forms of experience — universal and personal, the relationship between experience and language and between experience and thought, the theory of binary connections and second person world, designed to identify and explain the underlying prerequisites that determine the specific character of the experience of the Japanese. The author of the article shows that Mori confirms his own thesis that the primary experience of a person is conditioned by original cultural deep predisposition and linguistic affiliation. Notwithstanding his life abroad and passion for Western philosophy, Mori thinks in about the same way as his fellow philosophers who lived in Japan, sharing their empiricism, understanding the subject as a relatum, perceiving an individual subjective experience as a segment of the universal experience, interpreting a subject as a sum total of relations. In conclusion, Mori’s ideas are assessed in terms of ethno-epistemological approaches. Undoubtedly, Mori’s analysis of the experience provides arguments for epistemological pluralism. It allows us to talk about the variability of the perception of reality in different cultural and historical contexts and about the possibility of different ways and perspectives of its comprehension, the spatial and temporal dynamics of epistemological terminology, despite the apparent commonality. Mori Arimasa taking experience as the starting point and the main task of his analysis, by his own example, demonstrated the importance of the empirical form of acquiring knowledge for Japanese epistemic culture, along with its inherent specificity of understanding experience. His linguistic studies of the structures of the native language resulted in the creation of a memorable image of the second person world and outlined the field of joint collective experience without a clearly expressed single autonomous subject of cognitive activity. Mori demonstrated an approach to cognition, in which the knower feels oneself a part of the cognized reality, and is not alienated from it, as a result the cognition turns into self-cognition of reality.

An Evaluation of the PERMA Model as a Framework for Reducing Psychiatric Comorbidity in Individuals With Alopecia Areata

Abstract. Background: Alopecia areata (AA) is among the most common immunological conditions. Although AA is considered to be a medically benign condition, those living with AA often report comorbid psychiatric conditions, high levels of functional impairment, and diminished quality of life. These consequences are largely due to the unique psychological turmoil associated with the condition. Unfortunately, little research has considered how to improve quality of life outcomes for this group. Aims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate how the PERMA framework of well-being is associated with the individual subjective experience of AA. A greater understanding of how PERMA applies to this group holds promise for assisting clinicians with devising psychosocial coping strategies for this population. Method: 274 individuals were recruited for participation. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to evaluate associations between the PERMA variables and AA-related (a) subjective symptoms (e.g., self-consciousness, sadness) and (b) relationship impact (e.g., perceived attractiveness). Each analysis controlled for demographic and condition-specific variables. Results: Demographic and PERMA variables were found to be significantly associated with positive experiences of each quality of life outcome. Limitations: The male to female ratio of participants was biased toward females. Furthermore, the nature of cross-sectional survey research has inherent limitations. Conclusion: The findings provide support for a relationship between PERMA variables and quality of life outcomes among people with AA. Clinical implications and future research directions are discussed.

Implementasi Manajemen Berbasis Madrasah Dalam Peningkatan Mutu Pendidikan Di Madrasah

The purpose of this study was to explore the uniqueness of the implementation of School Based Management (MBS) in Madrasahs. Madrasah education is interesting to study because after Pesantren, Madrasah became a reference for Islamic schools, which are formal schools with modern Islamic ideas. However, Madrasahs also have various problems related to quality and quality, both input and process and output. Using data from Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Negeri (MIN) 2 Sukoharjo and Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Negeri (MIN) 4 Sukoharjo, researchers will compare how the implementation of SBM in each Madrasah. Data collection techniques using interviews, documentation and field observations. The analysis technique used in the research is phenomenology, where the researcher tries to reveal the reality and experiences experienced by the individual, to understand something that is not visible from the individual's subjective experience. Researchers will go directly to the field, describe and construct existing realities and make approaches to information sources, so that it is hoped that the data obtained will be maximized. The research subjects were the principals of Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Negeri (MIN) 2 Sukoharjo and Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Negeri (MIN) 4 Sukoharjo, while the informants in this study were Deputy Heads, Administration, Teachers, Employees, Head of the Ministry of Religion of Sukoharjo Regency, Kasi who could provide information. about SBM policies, stakeholders and parents. The results of the research on the Concept of School-Based Sharia Management (MBS) implemented in Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Negeri 2 Sukoharjo and Madrasah Ibtidaiyah Negeri (MIN) 4 Sukoharjo are good enough. Some of the components in the SBM concept can be implemented well, such as the democratic leadership of the principal, the principal has been able to carry out the roles of educators, managers, leaders, administrators, supervisors, innovators and motivators well. In addition, the active role of the community has also been It seems that this can be seen with the assistance given to MIN 2 Sukoharjo and MIN 4 Sukoharjo both material and non-material.

Physicians' empathy levels in a primary care setting: perceptions of patients and their physicians, a qualitative study.

The physician-patient relationship is a crucial element in successful medical care. Empathy is the ability to understand an individual's subjective experience yet remain as an observer. It plays a major role in establishing a good physician-patient relationship. The aim of this study was to evaluate the perspectives of patients and their corresponding emergency physicians regarding physicians' empathy levels and to extract themes that both patients and their doctors considered as important for an empathic encounter. This is a qualitative study conducted at a Middle Eastern tertiary care centre Emergency Department (ED) using in-depth semi-structured interviews administered to each participating patient and his/her corresponding ED physician. Empathy-related themes were identified using inductive thematic analysis. This study shows that both patients and physicians believe in the importance of empathy in the ED based on four major themes: emotions, interpersonal skills, time and chief complaint. Time and the chief complaint were perceived as barriers by physicians, but not by their patients. A gap lies in the expressive communication phase of empathy between the two groups. The four major themes retrieved could form the basis of an empathy measure in the medical encounter in Lebanese and similar settings.

Comparison of health-related quality of life across treatment groups in individuals with multiple sclerosis

BackgroundOutcome measures typically used to evaluate disease modifying therapies (DMTs) provide important information regarding their effects on disease activity, but they do not capture the full impact of living with multiple sclerosis (MS). Patient reported outcome measures (PROs) are increasingly being used to capture an individual's subjective experience of disease. We compared DMTs across a wide range of PRO outcomes in individuals with MS. MethodsSubjects enrolled in SysteMS completed the computer adaptive testing version of the Neuro-QoL within four weeks of a clinical neurological exam. Neuro-QoL measures included the following 11 health-related quality of life (HRQOL) domains: Ability to participate in Social Roles and Activities, Anxiety, Cognitive Function, Depression, Emotional and Behavioral Dyscontrol, Fatigue, Lower Extremity Function (mobility), Positive Affect and Wellbeing, Satisfaction with Social Roles and Activities, Stigma, and Upper Extremity Function (fine motor). Treatments were grouped based on the three main modes of delivery: injectable, oral and infusion. The three treatment groups were compared using linear regression adjusting for two sets of covariates (set 1: age, sex, disease duration and EDSS; set 2: age, sex, disease duration, EDSS and treatment duration). We also compared the individual treatments using linear regression. ResultsAfter adjusting for the first set of clinical and demographic features of MS, there was a difference between treatment groups for Upper Extremity Function and Stigma. Subjects using injectable treatments reported better functioning in terms of Upper Extremity Function and Stigma than subjects using infusion treatments. In addition, subjects using injectable treatments reported better Upper Extremity Function than subjects treated with oral DMTs. When all individual treatments were compared, interferon-treated subjects reported significantly better functioning in terms of Stigma than natalizumab treated subjects. When further adjusting for time on treatment, the group differences were attenuated and no longer statistically significant. ConclusionWe examined differences between MS treatment groups across a wide range of HRQOL outcomes. The results suggest that overall there are few differences between treatments on the physical, cognitive and emotional dimensions of well-being.

Method of Evaluation for the Construction Geology of Transmission Line Based on Gray System Theory

A good engineering geological environment is the premise of engineering construction safety and security. The construction of transmission lines needs to take topography, stratigraphic lithology, engineering geological hazard, structural geology into consideration, but the survey personnel always judge the engineering geological environment roughly only based on individual subjective experience, personal professional level when selecting the transmission line route. We call this judgment process has a gray feature in the point of gray system, while the gray scale can be reduced by the calculation based on gray system, each factor play their role in the evaluation process in their respective weight, so the quantitative, clear results can be obtained. This paper constructs the index system of engineering geological factors of transmission line, using gray evaluation system, and with the help of AHP, the quantitative evaluation results are obtained, and provide a theoretical basis for geological environment evaluation of transmission line engineering. Finally, the geological evaluation is carried out by a real construction and realized the transformation of theory to tool.

Emotional Influences on Cognitive Flexibility Depend on Individual Differences: A Combined Micro-Phenomenological and Psychophysiological Study.

Imagine a scenario where you are cooking and suddenly, the contents of the pot start to come out, and the oven bell rings. You would have to stop what you are doing and start responding to the changing demands, switching between different objects, operations and mental sets. This ability is known as cognitive flexibility. Now, add to this scenario a strong emotional atmosphere that invades you as you spontaneously recall a difficult situation you had that morning. How would you behave? Recent studies suggest that emotional states do modulate cognitive flexibility, but these findings are still controversial. Moreover, there is a lack of evidence regarding the underlying brain processes. The purpose of the present study was, therefore, to examine such interaction while monitoring changes in ongoing cortical activity using EEG. In order to answer this question, we used two musical stimuli to induce emotional states (positive/high arousal/open stance and negative/high arousal/closed stance). Twenty-nine participants performed two blocks of the Madrid Card Sorting Task in a neutral silence condition and then four blocks while listening to the counterbalanced musical stimuli. To explore this interaction, we used a combination of first-person (micro-phenomenological interview) and third-person (behavior and EEG) approaches. Our results show that compared to the positive stimuli and silence condition, negative stimuli decrease reaction times (RTs) for the shift signal. Our data show that the valance of the first emotional block is determinant in the RTs of the subsequent blocks. Additionally, the analysis of the micro-phenomenological interview and the integration of first- and third-person data show that the emotional disposition generated by the music could facilitate task performance for some participants or hamper it for others, independently of its emotional valence. When the emotional disposition hampered task execution, RTs were slower, and the P300 potential showed a reduced amplitude compared to the facilitated condition. These findings show that the interaction between emotion and cognitive flexibility is more complex than previously thought and points to a new way of understanding the underlying mechanisms by incorporating an in-depth analysis of individual subjective experience.

Treatment interventions for the management of intestinal permeability: A cross-sectional survey of complementary and integrative medicine practitioners

Animal models of nociception are critical for understanding biological processes associated with pain and its central effects on behavior, cognition, and emotions. However, unlike humans, laboratory animal models have less complex neural processing networks, making it difficult to correlate nociception with individual subjective experience. Although rodents are widely used in translational pain research, alternative experimental models may also be useful, reflecting evolutionarily conserved mechanisms of nociception and their related behavioral phenotypes. Novel model organisms, such as zebrafish (Danio rerio), are emerging as a promising in vivo tool to study nociception. Here, we discuss adult zebrafish models of pain and pain-like behavioral responses, summarize the existing challenges and outline future directions of research in this rapidly developing field.

Appraisals of DisAbility Primary and Secondary Scale-Short Form (ADAPSS-sf): Psychometrics and association with mental health among U.S. military veterans with spinal cord injury.

Cognitive appraisals, that is, interpretations of what is observed and the personal relevance attributed to those observations, affect one's behavior and well-being. Despite the centrality of appraisals in the transactional model of stress and coping, the application of spinal cord injury (SCI)-specific appraisals to adjustment is a recent development. This study examined the psychometric properties of a measure of SCI-specific appraisals, the Appraisals of DisAbility Primary and Secondary Scale-Short Form (ADAPSS-sf). A retrospective study using clinical data from SCI annual evaluations at a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical center was employed (N = 262). Findings supported the ADAPSS-sf's 2-factor structure of catastrophic negativity and determined resilience. SCI appraisals were associated with mental health concerns, mental disorders, life satisfaction, racial minority status, age, SCI severity (based on the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale [AIS]), and SCI etiology (traumatic or nontraumatic). Counterintuitively, those with less severe injuries (i.e., AIS D) had the greatest catastrophic negativity. Although veterans with SCI were heterogeneous in their appraisals, it is encouraging that they tended to endorse determined resilience and disavow catastrophic negativity. The ADAPSS-sf demonstrated many desirable characteristics, including brevity, convergent validity, and face-valid content. An implication of this study is that to understand the adjustment experience, one must look beyond injury severity and impairment to the individual's personal and subjective experience of SCI. The ADAPSS-sf offers clinicians and researchers a potentially valuable tool to assess SCI appraisals and personalize treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record