Model Of Threat Research Articles

Conflicting patterns of cardiovascular reactivity, self-report, and behavior associated with social anxiety during a conversation with a close friend.

Social anxiety (SA) is characterized by anxious symptomology and fear during social situations, but recent work suggests that SA may not necessarily be associated with negative interpersonal and intrapersonal outcomes in support contexts. The current research investigates the discrepancies between self-perceptions, behavior, and physiological responses associated with SA in social support conversations with close friends. Specifically, we examined the associations between SA and positive and negative affect, perceptions of demands and resources, and responsiveness. Additionally, we used the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat to understand the physiological responses associated with SA. Participants (79.9% White, 9.8% Black or African American, 10.3% Multiple races or other; 78.7% Female), totaling 172 undergraduate friend dyads, completed self-report measures and had physiological responses recorded while they discussed a problem unrelated to the friendship. Trained coders rated responsive behaviors exhibited during the conversation. Results revealed that greater SA was associated with greater negative perceptions of social interactions (greater negative affect, fewer perceived resources, and greater perceived demands). However, cardiovascular reactivity and behavioral responses within the conversation, as well as perceptions of partners' behavior after the conversation, contrasted with these negative perceptions. Indeed, greater SA was associated with greater sympathetic arousal (indicative of greater task engagement), but not with greater challenge or threat, and SA was not associated with perceived partner responsiveness or responsive behaviors. These results add to the growing body of research that suggests people with greater SA show inconsistencies between their conscious appraisals of social situations and their physiological responses.

A Motivational Perspective on (Anticipated) Mental Effort Investment: The Biopsychosocial Model of Challenge and Threat

Research in cognitive load theory is increasingly recognizing the importance of motivational influences on students’ (willingness to invest) mental effort, in particular in the context of self-regulated learning. Consequently, next to addressing effects of instructional conditions and contexts on groups of learners, there is a need to start investigating individual differences in motivational variables. We propose here that the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat may offer a useful model to study the motivational antecedents of (anticipated) mental effort. We also report four experiments as initial tests of these ideas, exploring how feedback valence affects students’ challenge/threat experiences, self-efficacy, and mental effort investment. The results showed that negative feedback leads participants to expect that they will have to invest significantly more effort in future problems than positive feedback (Experiments 1, 2, and 3) or no feedback (Experiment 3). Had we not considered the motivational variables in investigating the effect of feedback conditions on effort investment, we would not have known that this effect was fully mediated and thus explained by participants’ feelings of self-efficacy (Experiments 1/2) and threat (Experiment 1). We would also have concluded that feedback does not affect the willingness to invest effort in future problems (all four experiments), whereas actually, there were significant indirect effects of feedback on willingness to invest effort via challenge (in Experiments 1/2) and threat (in all experiments). Thus, our findings demonstrate the added value of considering challenge and threat motivational states to explain individual differences in effort investment.

Conquering pressure! The effects of mild-anxiety training on motor performance under pressure during early motor learning.

We conceptually replicated the one previous study (see record 2009-13549-001) revealing that individuals who practice a motor skill under psychological pressure (anxiety training-AT) avoid performance deterioration when exposed to higher levels of pressure. We used a >3× larger sample size than the original study and attempted to shed light on mechanisms whereby AT may promote performance under pressure by measuring variables related to three theories of choking under pressure: attentional control theory (ACT), reinvestment theory, and the biopsychosocial model (BPSM) of challenge and threat. Eighty-four participants practiced 300 golf putts over 2 days with mild psychological pressure manipulations (AT group) or no pressure manipulations (control group). On the third day, all participants completed putting posttests with no pressure manipulations, mild pressure manipulations, or high-pressure manipulations. We had participants report their mental effort, movement reinvestment, and perceived challenge/threat after each posttest to investigate ACT, reinvestment theory, and the BPSM of challenge and threat, respectively. Results showed the AT group maintained their performance across posttests, whereas the control group performed worse under pressure. Additionally, results indicated that AT moderated changes in mental effort and movement reinvestment during pressure, although neither mechanism mediated the relationship between AT and performance under pressure. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Examining Dyadic Stress Appraisal Processes Within Romantic Relationships from a Challenge and Threat Perspective

The biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat emphasizes how individuals appraise stress. Close relationship theories emphasize the interpersonal context, communication, and outcomes that arise from stress. We integrate these approaches by examining the individual variability surrounding appraisals of sufficient (more challenge, less threat) or insufficient (more threat, less challenge) resources to cope with demands and examining how these appraisals are associated with couples’ behavior and feelings toward each other. Across three studies, 459 romantic couples (N = 918), and various potentially stressful in-lab conversations (extra-dyadic problem, dislikes about each other, dependability, and relationship conflict), we found evidence that stress appraisals indicative of more challenge and less threat were associated with more approach- and less avoidance-oriented behaviors within interactions. These approach- and avoidance-oriented behaviors were associated with greater feelings of relationship security and well-being after the conversation. However, whose (actors or partners) appraisals and behaviors were associated with security and well-being varied across the three studies. This work provides theoretical and empirical evidence for an interpersonal emphasis on intraindividual stress appraisal processes through a dyadic and close relationships lens. Our integrative theoretical framework breaks away from the idea that stress is inherently “bad” or “maladaptive” to show that appraising stress as more manageable (more challenge, less threat) is associated with more relationship behaviors that approach incentives and less that avoid threats and enhance feelings of relationship security and well-being.

To tell or not to tell? Exploring the social process of stigma for adults with hearing loss and their families: introduction to the special issue

Objective Stigma has long been implicated as a reason why adults with acquired hearing loss are slow to seek help and for sub-optimal uptake of hearing devices. However, the field has not developed a comprehensive understanding of why stigma occurs, nor has it related this comprehensive knowledge to a theoretical framework. Design This special issue presents results from a two-phase, multi-method study to systematically investigate how stigma is experienced by adults with hearing loss and their families, how they manage it in everyday life, and how these experiences relate to the decision to wear hearing aids. Study Sample Phase 1 of the study involved 20 dyads of adults with hearing loss and their family members. Phase 2 involved 331 adults with hearing loss and 313 family members. Results Results of the study are presented in each of the subsequent papers that are part of this special issue. Results are mapped onto the Major and O’Brien model of stigma-induced identity threat in each paper. Conclusions This paper provides an introduction to the Special Issue and describes the methods for the overall study that is the focus of the papers within the issue.

An examination of specialness meaning framework threat in reactive and retroactive romantic jealousy experiences

AbstractExtant jealousy models explain cases of reactive jealousy, which occurs in response to a partner's unambiguous romantic or sexual involvement with a rival from the present. However, they likely cannot explain cases of retroactive romantic jealousy, which is evoked in response to information about a partner's previous romantic or sexual experiences that occurred before the primary relationship began. Some prior theoretical speculation and research suggest that a sense of specialness may be threatened in jealousy‐evoking situations involving either a partner's current or past romantic activities. The idea that jealousy stems from a threat to expectations of specialness is consistent with a broader model of threat, the meaning maintenance model (MMM). The main purpose of this study was to experimentally test MMM predictions in the context of both reactive and retroactive jealousy alongside of predictions derived from extant jealousy models. The study examined the role of attachment as well. Results indicate expectations of specialness were threatened in experiences of both types of jealousy, and a threat to specialness was the only type of threat perceived for retroactive jealousy. The results also help clarify previous findings regarding attachment and romantic jealousy.

Gender Differences of Smoking Stigma on Gender and Smoking Self-identification in Korean Smokers

This research aimed to investigate the gender difference in Korean smokers’ smoking stigma and the degree of self-identification of their smoking status. Two Implicit Association Tests (IATs) were conducted to provide empirical evidence and compare the smoking stigma and self-identification of male and female smokers. Smoking stigma was measured to evaluate the attitude on smokers’ own gender and the self-identification as a smoker was measured as a perception of their smoking status as a stigmatized feature. As a result, it was found that Korean female smokers tended to attribute smokers with the same gender less favorably than male smokers and identify themselves as smokers more than males do. Additional correlation analysis on each subgroup found that the public stigma of Korean female smokers was correlated to their smoking self-identification, unlike male smokers, suggesting that female smokers were more vulnerable to higher smoking stigma by recognizing their self-identity as a smoker. In accordance with the model of stigma-induced identity threat, the result showed that gender differences in smokers’ stigma might be a risk factor in some cultural contexts which warrants further research in substance dependence.

Empirical test of a general process model of threat and defense: A systematic examination of the affective-motivational processes underlying proximal and distal reactions to threat

The general process model of threat and defense (Jonas et al., 2014) states that a common affective-motivational mechanism underlies threat-related solution strategies and threat-unrelated palliative responses to solvable and unsolvable (i.e., existential) threats. In a series of three studies (Ntotal = 683), we systematically tested the assumption that threat induces anxiety proximally (that is, immediately after a threat yet before a defense) and defense activates approach motivation distally (that is, after a defense has been implemented). We used an experimental design to manipulate both threat and defense and measured people's affective-motivational states following threat (proximal response) and following defense (distal response). We assessed people's proximal responses to unsolvable threats (mortality salience in Study 1; generalized uncontrollability in Study 2) and solvable threats (relationship conflict in Study 3). For the proximal threat response, the results showed that solvable and unsolvable threats activated feelings of anxiety proximally, mediated by increased need and expectancy discrepancies. A merged data analysis showed the predicted motivational function of defense following threat: Participants reported higher approach-related affect after engaging in resolution or palliation (but not after being distracted). Defensive engagement enhanced approach motivation only in the threat conditions. The findings support the notion that threat-unrelated palliation and threat-related resolution both reactivate approach motivation.

The intrapersonal and interpersonal consequences of a new experimental manipulation of co-rumination.

Co-rumination is a form of interpersonal emotion regulation wherein dyads engage in extensive, cyclical conversations regarding the causes and consequences of problems and associated negative emotions. In the present investigation, we leveraged the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat to elucidate the intrapersonal costs and interpersonal benefits of co-rumination. To do so, we developed the first direct experimental manipulation of co-rumination using a multimethod, dyadic approach to test the effects of co-rumination on both dyad members. Friend dyads (N = 172) engaged in conversation during which one dyad member (i.e., the discloser) divulged and discussed their most stressful, extradyadic problem with their friend (i.e., the responder). Dyads either engaged in co-rumination or talked about the problem as they would naturally. Validating the experimental paradigm, results revealed a pattern of intrapersonal costs (stressed/upset feelings and rumination) and interpersonal benefits (perceived partner responsiveness) of co-rumination that replicated and extended past research. Regarding challenge and threat, results indicated that female disclosers in the co-rumination (vs. natural) condition exhibited physiological responses corresponding to greater psychological threat (i.e., greater total peripheral resistance). This research contributes to a growing body of literature identifying co-rumination as a vulnerability factor that exacerbates stress, potentially leading to poor downstream health outcomes. Furthermore, these results highlight the importance of examining co-rumination from a dyadic perspective, as inter- and intrapersonal effects varied as a function of whether individuals were disclosing or responding during the problem talk discussion. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Causes and consequences of large-scale windthrow on the development of fir-beech forests in the Dinaric mountains

We investigated several aspects of windthrow that are relevant to our understanding and management of forest ecosystems. As an example, we used an extreme event in December 2017, when the strongest storm in recent history occurred in the Slovenian Dinaric High Karst. We examined influential factors such as soil properties, wind speed, precipitation and ecological consequences for the affected forests. Soil properties were measured around standing and fallen silver fir trees at all three research sites. Tree species composition in the regeneration was observed on plots with chemical and acoustic ungulate deterrents and on control plots without deterrents. Economic estimates of yield loss due to damage were calculated at the national level. A model of the potential threat from windthrow was also developed based on data collected from windthrow events and meteorological data over the past 20 years. Our results indicate that soil depth and mineral fraction depth were similar at sites with and without damaged trees and were not the determining factors for tree toppling. Plots with acoustic deterrents showed the most effective regeneration development, the least decline in silver fir and the greatest increase in noble hardwood seedlings, while plots with chemical deterrents showed the least browsing damage. The estimated economic loss of €16.1 million is 6.6% less than the harvest under normal conditions. The economic loss was relatively low due to the nature of the storm, with the predominant type of damage being uprooted trees with no damaged trunks. The windthrow hazard model revealed that a large number of consecutive events with strong winds in each section weakened the stand, which was subsequently knocked down during the next extreme wind and rainfall event.

МАТЕМАТИЧЕСКАЯ МОДЕЛЬ УГРОЗЫ БЕЗОПАСНОСТИ ПЕРСОНАЛЬНЫХ ДАННЫХ КАДРОВОГО ОРГАНА ПРЕДПРИЯТИЯ ОПК

The purpose of this article is to substantiate the indicator for evaluating the effectiveness ofmeasures to ensure the security of personal data of the personnel body of an industrial complexenterprise (hereinafter - the defense industry). To build a mathematical model of the probability ofa threat, the methodological apparatus for assessing current threats to information security,formed on the basis of regulatory and methodological documents of the FSTEC of Russia, is used.The article presents the author's interpretation of the main methodological provisions presented inthe documents under consideration in relation to the assessment of threats to the security of personaldata (hereinafter - PD) of the personnel body of the defense industry enterprise. The peculiarityof identifying vulnerabilities of information resources of the personnel body of the defenseindustry enterprise, through which it is possible to implement threats to the security of PD, is theuse of calculation methods that allow to establish the fact of the potential possibility of a threat. odetermine the vulnerabilities of the information resources of the personnel body of the defenseindustry enterprise to the implementation of threats to the security of PD, an expert analysis of theinformation environment of the IP is carried out. As a result, a set is formed, the elements of whichdetermine vulnerabilities. Thus, it is necessary to consider a mathematical model of the probabilisticcharacteristics of the occurrence of a threat to the security of the PD of the personnel body ofthe defense industry enterprise as a product of the probabilities of preventing unauthorized copying,unauthorized modification and blocking access to the information resources of the IS of thepersonnel body of the defense industry enterprise

From threat to challenge—Improving medical students’ stress response and communication skills performance through the combination of stress arousal reappraisal and preparatory worked example-based learning when breaking bad news to simulated patients: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BackgroundBreaking bad news (BBN; e.g., delivering a cancer diagnosis) is perceived as one of the most demanding communication tasks in the medical field and associated with high levels of stress. Physicians’ increased stress in BBN encounters can negatively impact their communication performance, and in the long term, patient-related health outcomes. Although a growing body of literature acknowledges the stressful nature of BBN, little has been done to address this issue. Therefore, there is a need for appropriate tools to help physicians cope with their stress response, so that they can perform BBN at their best. In the present study, we implement the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat as theoretical framework. According to this model, the balance between perceived situational demands and perceived coping resources determines whether a stressful performance situation, such as BBN, is experienced as challenge (resources > demands) or threat (resources < demands). Using two interventions, we aim to support medical students in shifting towards challenge-oriented stress responses and improved communication performance: (1) stress arousal reappraisal (SAR), which guides individuals to reinterpret their stress arousal as an adaptive and beneficial response for task performance; (2) worked examples (WE), which demonstrate how to BBN in a step-by-step manner, offering structure and promoting skill acquisition.MethodsIn a randomized controlled trial with a 2 (SAR vs. control) x 2 (WE vs. control) between-subjects design, we will determine the effects of both interventions on stress response and BBN skills performance in N = 200 third-year medical students during a simulated BBN encounter. To identify students’ stress responses, we will assess their perceived coping resources and task demands, record their cardiovascular activity, and measure salivary parameters before, during, and after BBN encounters. Three trained raters will independently score students’ BBN skills performances.DiscussionFindings will provide unique insights into the psychophysiology of medical students who are tasked with BBN. Parameters can be understood more comprehensively from the challenge and threat perspective and linked to performance outcomes. If proven effective, the evaluated interventions could be incorporated into the curriculum of medical students and facilitate BBN skills acquisition.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05037318), September 8, 2021.

ИССЛЕДОВАНИЕ ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЯ АНТИВИРУСНЫМИ СРЕДСТВАМИ ВРЕМЕННЫХ РЕСУРСОВ КОМПЬЮТЕРНОЙ СИСТЕМЫ

The paper is devoted to the study of factors affecting the timeliness of response to the effects of malicious software. The analysis of anti-virus protection tools in computer systems is carried out. The analysis is based on expert assessments of protection measures against the effects of malicious software and expert assessment of the time parameters of anti-virus tools. The requirements for the time characteristics of anti-virus tools in the computer systems are defined and justified. The paper provides options for the formal presentation of characteristics for assessing the implementation of information processes in the computer systems and the timeliness of responding to the effects of the malicious software. The characteristics that clarify the model of information security threat in the computer systems are analyzed by taking into account the specifics of the use of the malicious software. The substantiation of mathematical abstraction for the formal representation of a sequence of random events associated with the implementation of the threat of the impact of the malicious software on the computer systems is given, analytical expressions are obtained to evaluate anti-virus protection measures and the actions of the violator to implement unauthorized access. Hypotheses are formulated and proved regarding the adequacy of the use of a temporary computer systems resource by antivirus tools.

On the physiology of flow: Bridging flow theory with the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat

We examined the relation between psychological flow and cardiovascular markers of challenge. According to flow theory and the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat (BPS-CT) optimal motivational states (flow, challenge) arise during activities where task demands meet personal resources. Participants (N = 154) played Tetris in either an underload, fit, or overload condition. Cardiovascular responses were measured during the task and a flow state scale was completed afterwards. Unexpectedly, it was in the underload condition where cardiovascular responses developed in the direction of challenge. Moreover, it was under this condition where relative challenge related positively to both task performance and self-reported flow. Similar results were found for cardiovascular markers of task engagement. In line with the BPS-CT, when only selecting clearly task-engaged participants a tendency towards challenge was found in the fit condition. We discuss why flow and challenge might have co-occurred in the underload condition, as well as the further theoretical and methodological implications of the study. We conclude that at least under some circumstances flow and challenge relate to each other but that future research should examine this relation further.

Intergenerational contact during and beyond COVID-19.

Intergenerational contact is crucial for promoting intergenerational harmony and reducing ageism. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted and changed the nature and frequency of intergenerational contact. In addition, research suggests that both ageism towards older adults and intergenerational threat regarding succession and consumption, have increased. Through the lens of the Temporally Integrated Model of Intergroup Contact and Threat (TIMICAT; Abrams & Eller, 2016), we explore the implications of these changing dynamics on ageism towards older adults during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Our review reveals that research into intergenerational contact needs to articulate both the time course and salience of contact and threats before making predictions about their impacts on prejudice. The implications of understanding how contact and threat combine to affect ageism for policy and practice are discussed in relation to employment, education, and intergenerational contact programs. We highlight that policy makers play a key role in promoting intergenerational harmony through the reduction of narratives that inflame intergenerational tensions and threat.

Early-life social stress induces permanent alterations in plasticity and perineuronal nets in the mouse anterior cingulate cortex.

Child maltreatment disrupts trajectories of brain development, but the underlying pathways are unclear. Stressful stimuli in early life interfere with maturation of local inhibitory circuitry and deposition of perineuronal nets (PNNs), specialized extracellular matrix structures involved in the closure of critical periods of development. Alterations in cortical PNN and parvalbumin (PV) following early-life stress (ELS) have been detected in human and animal studies. Aberrations in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) are the most consistent neuroimaging findings in maltreated people, but the molecular mechanisms linking ELS with ACC dysfunctions are unknown. Here, we employed a mouse model of early social threat to test whether ELS experienced in a sensitive period for ACC maturation could induce long-term aberrations of PNN and PV development in the ACC, with consequences on plasticity and ACC-dependent behavior. We found that ELS increased PNN but not PV expression in the ACC of young adult mice. This was associated with reduced frequency of inhibitory postsynaptic currents and long-term potentiation impairments and expression of intense object phobia. Our findings provide information on the long-term effects of ELS on ACC functionality and PNN formation and present evidence for a novel neurobiological pathway underlying the impact of early adversity on the brain.

Cybersecurity Threat Assessment Integrating Qualitative Differential and Evolutionary Games

Most current game theory-based cybersecurity analysis methods use traditional game models, which do not meet realistic conditions of continuous dynamic changes in attack-defense behaviors and decision makers without perfect rationality, and therefore they adapt with difficulty to the practical requirements of cybersecurity threat assessment. This paper draws on infectious disease dynamics methods to describe the cybersecurity threat propagation process. It constructs a dynamic game model of a cybersecurity threat based on continuous attack-defense confrontation and boundedly rational decision makers, combining qualitative differential and evolutionary game theories. Qualitative differential games are used to analyze the confrontation process of security threats, calculate attack-defense barriers, and construct a benchmark to measure the degree of a security threat. Evolutionary games are used to analyze the dynamic change of attack-defense strategy-selection probabilities based on replicator dynamics, and to deduce the evolutionary trajectory of the network security state. We then calculate the multidimensional Euclidean distance between the evolutionary trajectory and the attack-defense barrier metric benchmark, and use it as the basis for a dynamic threat assessment algorithm to improve the timeliness and objectivity of threat assessment. Simulation experiments show that the model and algorithm are effective and feasible.

From Threat to Challenge: Understanding the Impact of Historical Collective Trauma on Contemporary Intergroup Conflict

Collective memories of trauma can have profound impact on the affected individuals and communities. In the context of intergroup conflict, in the present article, we propose a novel theoretical framework to understand the long-term impact of historical trauma on contemporary intergroup relations from both victim and perpetrator perspectives. Integrating past research on intergroup conflict and the biopsychosocial model of threat and challenge, we argue that people appraise their group’s past victimization and perpetration differently, either as a threat or as a challenge. Shaped by contextual factors and individual differences, these differential appraisals will subsequently influence how group members respond to contemporary intergroup conflict, with both adaptive and maladaptive consequences. This model contributes to unifying the previous research that has shown diverse effects of historical trauma on present-day intergroup dynamics. We present preliminary empirical evidence in support of the framework and discuss its theoretical and practical implications.

Planning, conducting, and analyzing a psychophysiological experiment on challenge and threat: A comprehensive tutorial.

The biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat (BPS-CT) is a powerful framework linking psychological processes to reliable patterns of cardiovascular responses during motivated performance situations. Specifically, the BPS-CT poses challenge and threat as two motivational states that can emerge in response to a demanding, self-relevant task, where greater challenge arises when perceived resources are higher than demands, and greater threat arises when perceived resources are lower than demands. By identifying unique patterns of physiological responses associated with challenge and threat, respectively, the BPS-CT affords insight into subjective appraisals of resources and demands, and their determinants, during motivated performance situations. Despite its broad utility, lack of familiarity with physiological concepts and difficulty with identifying clear guidelines in the literature are barriers to wider uptake of this approach by behavioral researchers. Our goal is to remove these barriers by providing a comprehensive, step-by-step tutorial on conducting an experiment using the challenge and threat model, offering concrete recommendations for those who are new to the method, and serving as a centralized collection of resources for those looking to deepen their understanding. The tutorial spans five parts, covering theoretical introduction, lab setup, data collection, data analysis, and appendices offering additional details about data analysis and equipment. With this, we aim to make challenge and threat research, and the insights it offers, more accessible to researchers throughout the behavioral sciences.

An Empirical Approach to Analyzing the Effects of Stress on Individual Creativity in Business Problem-Solving: Emphasis on the Electrocardiogram, Electroencephalogram Methodology.

In this study, experiments were conducted on 30 subjects by means of electrocardiogram (ECG) and electroencephalogram (EEG) methodologies as well as a money game to examine the effects of stress on creativity in business problem-solving. The study explained the relationship between creativity and human physiological response using the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat. The subjects were asked to perform a cognitive mapping task. Based on the brain wave theory, we identified the types of brain waves and locations of brain activities that occurred during the creative problem-solving process in a business environment and studied the effects of stress on creativity. The results of the experiments showed significant differences in creativity in business problem-solving depending on whether or not stress was triggered. Differences were found in the time domain (SDNN, RMSSD) and frequency domain (HF, LF/HF ratio) of heart rates, a physiological stress indicator, between the stress group and the no-stress group. A brain wave analysis confirmed that alpha waves increased in the frontal lobe of the brain during creative business problem-solving but decreased when the subjects were under stress, during which beta waves in the brain increased. This study seeks to examine creativity in business problem-solving by studying the effects of stress on human physiological response and cognitive functions in the hope of providing a new and objective interpretation of existing research results.