Negative Emotional Situations Research Articles

Autonomous sensory Meridian response as a physically felt signature of positive and negative emotions.

Current research on Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) assumes that ASMR is always accompanied by contentment, and it is distinct from frisson due to positive emotions. Thus, research investigations tend to limit their scope to solely focusing on the sensation of relaxation that ASMR induces. This study explores whether it is possible to have a different emotional experience and still perceive ASMR, testing the theory of ASMR as an amplifier of pre-existing emotion instead of a determination of positive affect. The emotional arousal and valence, and mood changes of 180 ASMR-capable and incapable individuals were analysed using questionnaires after altering the affective interpretation associated with auditory ASMR (tapping) with visual priming to examine whether the primed emotion (fearful, relaxing, or neutral) could be amplified. It was found that an ASMR response occurred in all priming conditions, including the fear priming group. No significant difference was found in the emotional outcome or mood of the neutral and relaxing priming groups. Upon comparison with ASMR-incapable individuals, both the relaxing and neutral priming groups demonstrated the same affect, but greater potent for ASMR-capable. Individuals who appraised ASMR after visual fear priming demonstrated a significant decrease in positive emotional valence and increased arousal. The findings suggest that ASMR occurs in both positive and negative emotional situations, suppressing contentment induction if ASMR stimuli are interpreted negatively and amplifying contentment when interpreted positively. While more research is needed, the results highlight that ASMR and frisson might describe the same phenomenon, both a physically felt signature of emotion. Therapeutic usage of ASMR should carefully select appropriate stimuli that emphasise contentment to avoid potential health risks associated with negative emotions until a further understanding of ASMR's affective parameters has been established.

Self-Efficacy to Regulate Eating Behaviors Scale for Children: A Validation Study.

Self-efficacy has a strong influence on children's eating behavior. Feeling capable of regulating one's eating behavior is especially relevant in situations of activation while facing temptations or experiencing negative emotions. Despite the relevance, there is no validated measure to assess children's self-efficacy to regulate eating behaviors in these domains. The present study examines the psychometric properties of the Self-Efficacy to Regulate Eating Behaviors Scale for Children based on a sample of 724 elementary school children in Portugal. The sample was split randomly into two groups, and a principal component analysis with Group 1 and a confirmatory factor analysis with Group 2 were carried out. The scale comprises two distinct but related factors-self-efficacy to regulate eating behaviors in activation and temptation situations and self-efficacy to regulate eating behaviors in negative emotional situations. Moreover, self-efficacy to regulate eating behaviors was positively and statistically related to self-regulation processes toward healthy eating, declarative knowledge about healthy eating, and attitudes and perceptions toward healthy eating. The present study provides preliminary evidence that the Self-Efficacy to Regulate Eating Behaviors Scale for Children is valid and reliable for evaluating children's self-efficacy in regulating their eating behaviors.

Neural activations to loss anticipation mediates the association between difficulties in emotion regulation and screen media activities among early adolescent youth: A moderating role for depression

BackgroundScreen media activities (SMAs; e.g., watching videos, playing videogames) have become increasingly prevalent among youth as ways to alleviate or escape from negative emotional states. However, neural mechanisms underlying these processes in youth are incompletely understood. MethodSeventy-nine youth aged 11–15 years completed a monetary incentive delay task during fMRI scanning. Neural correlates of reward/loss processing and their associations with SMAs were explored. Next, brain activations during reward/loss processing in regions implicated in the processing of emotions were examined as potential mediating factors between difficulties in emotion regulation (DER) and engagement in SMAs. Finally, a moderated mediation model tested the effects of depressive symptoms in such relationships. ResultThe emotional components associated with SMAs in reward/loss processing included activations in the left anterior insula (AI) and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during anticipation of working to avoid losses. Activations in both the AI and DLPFC mediated the relationship between DER and SMAs. Moreover, depressive symptoms moderated the relationship between AI activation in response to loss anticipation and SMAs. ConclusionThe current findings suggest that DER link to SMAs through loss-related brain activations implicated in the processing of emotions and motivational avoidance, particularly in youth with greater levels of depressive symptoms. The findings suggest the importance of enhancing emotion-regulation tendencies/abilities in youth and, in particular, their regulatory responses to negative emotional situations in order to guide moderate engagement in SMAs.

How teachers feel: exploring secondary physical educators’ emotions, control beliefs, and coping mechanisms on the job

ABSTRACT Research shows that teaching can be emotionally demanding and can result in stress and anxiety prompting reduced motivation and attrition. These experiences may be exacerbated in Physical Education (PE) teaching as this position holds a marginal status in most school settings. Teacher emotions are suggested for the investigation to understand teacher experiences as they are integral in understanding teaching beliefs, practices, well-being and student-teacher relationships. In addition, emotions are used to express teaching experiences which serves as a starting point for dissecting what caused a teachers’ emotions and what was the resulting action. The purpose of this study was to explore how PE teachers interpret their emotions while teaching and what internal and external factors may impact their perceived ability to control and cope with their positive and negative emotional situations. A cross-sectional qualitative design was used to gain in-depth understanding of current secondary in-service PE teachers (N = 10; 5 = Female, 5 = Male; 50% Middle School; 50% High School). Semi-structed interviews and scenario-based questioning were used to explore tenants of emotions, guided by the Appraisal Theory, which included participants describing the cause and effect of each emotion. Inductive and deductive qualitative analysis resulted in two themes: positive and negative emotion experiences with subthemes. Subthemes described with positive emotions included student learning and relationships, program development and maintenance and colleague relationships. Negative emotions included marginalization of the subject, student behavior and shame driven reactions. In conclusion, appraisals are highly aligned with teacher emotions and interconnection exists between teaching ability, psychosocial beliefs/experiences and the emotions teachers feel. Teaching behaviors and well-being are likely dictated by this relationship.

Speakers' emotional facial expressions modulate subsequent multi-modal language processing: ERP evidence

ABSTRACT We investigated the brain responses associated with the integration of speaker facial emotion into situations in which the speaker verbally describes an emotional event. In two EEG experiments, young adult participants were primed with a happy or sad speaker face. The target consisted of an emotionally positive or negative IAPS photo accompanied by a spoken emotional sentence describing that photo. The speaker's face either matched or mismatched the event-sentence valence. ERPs elicited by the adverb conveying sentence valence showed significantly larger negative mean amplitudes in the EPN and descriptively in the N400 time windows for positive speaker faces - negative event-sentences (vs. negatively matching prime-target trials). Our results suggest that young adults might allocate more processing resources to attend to and process negative (vs. positive) emotional situations when being primed with a positive (vs. negative) speaker face but not vice versa. Post-hoc analysis indicated that this interaction was driven by female participants. We extend previous eye-tracking findings with insights into the timing of the functional brain correlates implicated in integrating the valence of a speaker face into a multi-modal emotional situation.

Emotion regulation in mild cognitive impairment and subjective cognitive decline

AbstractBackgroundOur previous research in emotional verbal memory in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and work from others suggest the hypothesis that emotion dysregulation is a signature of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk. Whether subjective cognitive decline (SCD), conceptualized as a possible preclinical stage of AD, is associated with emotion dysregulation is unknown. In the current study, we compared responses on the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) and behavioural responses on a threat task amongst SCD, MCI, and cognitively unimpaired (CU) older adults.MethodsThe sample included 146 older adults free of lifetime history of psychiatric illness/neurological conditions: 33 MCI [17F, age 72.3(SD7.6)] defined as subjective memory/other cognitive complaints, impaired neuropsychological (NP) test performance, and functional independence, 71 SCD [49F, age 71.1(SD6.3)] based on subjective memory decline with worry with normal NP performance, and 42 CU [27F, age 70.6(SD6.8)] based on absence of subjective memory decline and normal NP test scores. Participants completed the CERQ which assesses cognitive coping strategies in negative emotional situations. A subset (19 MCI, 43 SCD, 19 CU) completed a computerized task in which they rated a physical feature or threat level of faces with varying degrees of threat. Multivariate ANOVA was used to examine group differences, followed by Sidak‐adjusted post hoc comparisons.ResultsOn the CERQ, groups differed in use of catastrophizing [F(2, 142)=3.51, P=.032], with a trend for use of rumination (P=.07), attributable to greater use of both strategies in MCI compared to CU (P=.04). On the threat task, groups differed in response latencies to judging physical features of threatening faces relative to neutral [F(2, 78)=3.17, P=.048)]. Relative to CU, SCD participants were slower to make physical judgements of threatening faces compared to neutral (P=.026).ConclusionsOlder adults with SCD do not report greater use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies compared to CU. However, alterations in behavioural responses to threat versus neutral in SCD may represent deficits in regulating attention towards negative emotional information, similar to mood‐congruent cognitive biases observed in depression. These preliminary data highlight the need to increase our understanding of explicit and implicit emotional processing in older adults at risk for AD.

Association of stress, anxiety, and depression levels with sleep quality in patients with temporomandibular disorders

ABSTRACT Objective To examine the psychological symptoms of TMD and their effects on sleep quality in patients with temporomandibular disorders. Methods The study was carried out with 425 consecutive TMD patients who sought care at the oral and maxillofacial surgery clinic of a faculty of dentistry. Perceived Stress Scale-14, Beck Anxiety Scale, and Beck Depression Scale were used to evaluate the psychological state. Sleep quality was evaluated with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Results The mean sleep score of all participants was 6.52. As the level of anxiety and depression increased, the scores of both total sleep quality and sleep quality components increased significantly p < 0.01. On the other hand, those with poor sleep quality had significantly higher stress, anxiety, and depression levels than those with good sleep quality p < 0.01. Conclusion Negative emotional situations such as stress, anxiety, and depression seriously impair sleep quality in TMD patients.

Understanding patients' experiences of being mechanically ventilated in the Intensive Care Unit: Findings from a meta-synthesis and meta-summary.

To synthesise the evidence reported in qualitative studies concerning the lived experiences of adult patients receiving mechanical ventilation in Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation in the ICU have been reported to suffer from severe physical and emotional responses such as hopelessness, anxiety, high levels of frustration and stress. Recent improvements in the field of mechanical ventilation and sedative medications as experienced by patients that can inform nursing care have not been summarised to date. A systematic review of qualitative studies followed by a meta-synthesis and a meta-summary was performed. Four electronic databases were searched by two authors in June 2019. A total of nine studies were included and evaluated based on their methodological quality using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist. A total of 24 codes emerged from the abstraction process, which were categorised into 11 categories and four themes: (a) "The effect of the intense stress on the body's systems," (b) "The induced negative emotional situations," (c) "The feeling of being cared for in a hospital setting" and (d) "The perceived support from the family and loved ones." Furthermore, the most frequent codes across studies were "Being afraid," "Feeling supervised," "Feeling comforted," "Failing to communicate," and "Experiencing difficulties in breathing," with an intensity of 66.6%. Patients receiving mechanical ventilation have expressed a general sense of vulnerability, of which critical care nurses need to be aware. Findings suggest the need for improvements at the nursing, unit, educational and policy levels; furthermore, more research is also required at the international levels given the current trends towards no sedation protocols for the management of ICU patients: listening to their experiences becomes imperative, in order to ensure an awake, comfortable and ventilator-tolerant patient.

Adolescent sleep patterns are associated with the selection of positive and negative emotional situations

Poor sleep in youth is a risk factor for experiencing increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions, which can contribute to the development of later emotional disorders. Understanding of specific processes that produce sleep-related alterations in emotion is limited, although preliminary studies suggest changes in the ability to appropriately regulate or control emotions as one mechanism. The current study builds on this research by examining the relationship between adolescent sleep patterns and a previously unexplored emotion regulation strategy: situation selection. Situation selection strategies are implemented prior to the onset of an emotional experience via decisions to approach rewarding/positive situations or avoid unwanted/negative situations. Fifty-four healthy adolescents (ages 13-17 years) completed 1 week of actigraphy and assessments of situation selection using: (a) trait-based questionnaires; (b) daily reports; and (c) an experimental lab task where participants were given the option to watch various emotional video clips of their choice. Greater variability in sleep timing was associated with less avoidance of negative emotional situations, and a longer sleep-onset latency was associated with more avoidance of negative emotional situations. Greater variability in nightly sleep patterns was also associated with decreased tendencies to select positive emotional situations as assessed by trait questionnaires, daily reports, and the lab-based task, but only for boys. These findings add to a growing body of research on sleep and emotional experience, and provide further support for the importance of intra-individual variability of sleep patterns in youth.

0255 Adolescent Sleep Patterns are Associated with the Selection of Positive and Negative Emotional Situations

0255 Adolescent Sleep Patterns are Associated with the Selection of Positive and Negative Emotional Situations

Correlations between sex-related hormones, alcohol dependence and alcohol craving

BackgroundSex-related differences in the susceptibility, progression, and treatment response in alcohol-dependent subjects have been repeatedly reported. In this study, we aimed to investigate the associations of the sex-related hormone/protein levels with alcohol dependence (AD) and alcohol craving in male and female subjects. MethodsPlasma sex-related hormones (estradiol, estrone, total testosterone, progesterone, follicle stimulated hormone [FSH], luteinizing hormone), and sex hormone binding globulin were measured by mass spectrometry or automated immunoassays from 44 recently-abstained subjects (29 males and 15 females; mean age = 45.9 ± 15.6) meeting DSM-IV-TR criteria for AD and 44 age-, sex- and race-matched non-AD controls. Conditional logistic regression was conducted to examine the association of sex-related hormone and protein levels with AD risk, accounting for matching variables. Their associations with alcohol craving scales (Penn Alcohol Craving Scale and Inventory of Drug-Taking Situations) were assessed in AD subjects. ResultsPlasma FSH level was significantly higher in AD males (10.3 ± 9.8 IU/L) than control males (8.0 ± 15.9 IU/L; p = 0.005, pcorrected = 0.035). We also found a significant inverse correlation of FSH level with propensity to drink in negative emotional situations (Spearman’s rho=-.540; p = 0.021) and positive correlations between progesterone level and craving intensity (Spearman’s rho=.464; p = 0.020) and between total testosterone level and propensity to drink under temptations (adjusted for no-drinking days; β=6.496; p = 0.041) in AD males. ConclusionsThese results suggest that FSH, progesterone, and testosterone levels may be associated with AD and alcohol craving in AD males. Future research is needed to replicate these findings and investigate the underlying biological mechanisms.

Does emotional state influence motor lateralization in California sea lions (Zalophus californianus)?

Motor lateralization is a behavioural asymmetry between the left and the right side of an individual due to hemispheric specialization. The right hemisphere controls the left side of the body and the left hemisphere the right side. The right hemisphere processes negative emotions such as fear and frustration, and on the contrary, the left hemisphere processes positive emotions such as happiness. This study, conducted at Parc Asterix Delphinarium (Plailly, France), tested the influence of supposedly positive, negative and neutral emotional situations on four California sea lions’ (Zalophus californianus) motor lateralization while performing a known exercise, here climbing on a stool. Latency between the caretakers’ command and the animals’ response was recorded. The results showed an interindividual variability in the effect of the supposed emotional situations on their motor lateralization and their response latency. The nature and the strength of this effect require deeper investigation by further studies, on a larger number of individuals and contexts.

Executive Mechanisms for Thinking about Negative Situations in Both Cooperative and Non-Cooperative Contexts.

Mentalizing is a fundamental aspect of social cognition that includes understanding the mental states of others. This process involves the participation of a well-defined set of brain regions. However, it is still unknown how different contextual situations, such as previous cooperative or non-cooperative interactions, can modulate the brain activity related to the inference of others’ mental states. Hence, this study investigated whether a previous social interaction can modulate the neural mechanisms involved in a way to response to inferred mental states of cooperators and non-cooperators in positive vs. negative emotional situations. Participants first engaged in a Dictator game with cooperator and non-cooperator confederates. Then, in an fMRI setup, participants had to infer the mental states of the cooperator and non-cooperator confederates under positive and negative situations. Results showed that in addition to the mentalizing network, inferring mental states recruited occipital and cerebellar areas in the cooperative context. A differential pattern of activity that depended on the emotional valence of the situation was also detected, i.e., negative situations recruited prefrontal cortex (PFC) in both contexts, while temporal regions were recruited only for the non-cooperative context. Overall, these results suggest that our previous experiences with others modulate the brain activity related to the inferences we make about their mental states in specific emotional situations.

Postnatal auditory preferences in piglets differ according to maternal emotional experience with the same sounds during gestation.

Prenatal sensory experience, notably auditory experience, is a source of fetal memories in many species. The contiguity between sensory stimuli and maternal emotional reactions provides opportunity for associative learning in utero but no clear evidence for this associative learning has been presented to date. Understanding this phenomenon would advance our knowledge of fetal sensory learning capacities. In the present study we tested the hypothesis that sounds (human voice) broadcast to pregnant sows while they experienced positive or negative emotional situations influences postnatal reactions of their offspring to these same sounds. The results show that: 1) from the first testing at the age of 2 days, the experimental piglets were less distressed by a social separation than controls if they heard the “familiar” voice, 2) piglets generalized to any human voice although the influence of novel voices was less pronounced, 3) in a challenging situation, piglets were more distressed if they heard the voice that was associated with maternal negative emotional state in utero. These findings open a whole line of new research on the long term effect of in utero associative learning that goes well beyond pigs, providing a framework for reconsidering the importance of sensory and emotional experiences during gestation.

Gender-specific effects of comorbid depression and anxiety on the propensity to drink in negative emotional states.

Background and AimsDepression and anxiety are often comorbid with alcoholism and contribute to craving and relapse. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of life‐time diagnoses of major depressive disorder (MDD), substance‐induced depression (SID), anxiety disorder (AnxD) and substance‐induced anxiety (SIA), the effects of these comorbidities on the propensity to drink in negative emotional states (negative craving), and test whether these effects differ by sex.DesignSecondary analyses of baseline data collected in a single‐arm study of pharmacogenetic predictors of acamprosate response.SettingAcademic medical center and affiliated community‐based treatment programs in the American upper mid‐west.ParticipantsA total of 287 males and 156 females aged 18–80 years, meeting DSM‐IV criteria for alcohol dependence.MeasurementsThe primary outcome measure was ‘propensity to drink in negative emotional situations’ (determined by the Inventory of Drug Taking Situations) and the key predictors/covariates were sex and psychiatric comorbidities, including MDD, SID, AnxD and SIA (determined by Psychiatric Research Interview of Substance and Mood Disorders).FindingsThe prevalence of the MDD, SID and AnxD was higher in females compared with males (33.1 versus 18.4%, 44.8 versus 26.4% and 42.2 versus 27.4%, respectively; P < 0.01, each), while SIA was rare (3.3%) and did not differ by sex. Increased propensity to drink in negative emotional situations was associated with comorbid MDD (β = 6.6, P = 0.013) and AnxD (β = 4.8, P = 0.042) as well as a SID × sex interaction effect (P = 0.003), indicating that the association of SID with propensity to drink in negative emotional situations differs by sex and is stronger in males (β = 7.9, P = 0.009) compared with females (β = −6.6, P = 0.091).ConclusionsThere appears to be a higher prevalence of comorbid depression and anxiety disorders as well as propensity to drink in negative emotional situations in female compared with male alcoholics. Substance‐induced depression appears to have a sex‐specific effect on the increased risk for drinking in negative emotional situations in males.

Positive and negative urgency and sleep quality among patients with borderline and antisocial personality disorder

Aim of the studyThe aim of the present study was to compare positive and negative urgency as well as sleep quality among patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD).Subject or material and methodsThe present study is causal-comparative. The sample includes 50 patients diagnosed with ASPD and 50 patients diagnosed with BPD, as well as 50 healthy persons. Also, all subjects were selected based on availability. The instrument used was Lynam et al Impulse Control Scale and Pittsburg’s Sleep Quality Index .ResultsThe results show that the mean of negative urgency in BPD patients is significantly higher than ASPD patients. Also, the mean of positive urgency in ASPD patients is significantly higher than BPD patients. Dimensions of sleep quality in both BPD and ASPD patients are significantly higher than healthy persons (P&lt;0.01).DiscussionThe results show that a significant difference exists among the BPD and ASPD patients and healthy group in the positive and negative urgency and sleep quality.ConclusionsWe found that BPD and ASPD patients, manifest reckless behaviors when experience, respectively, due to more negative urgency when experiencing negative emotional situations and positive urgency when experiencing positive emotional situations. The both show weaker sleep quality which has diagnostic and therapeutic implications.

1344 – PDYN rs2281285 variant is associated with alcohol dependence in male but not female subjects

Recent findings support sex-specific effects of PDYN polymorphisms on association with opioid addiction (Clarke et al. 2012). We have demonstrated that PDYN haplotypes, which include rs2281285, are associated with alcohol dependence and propensity to drink in negative emotional situations (negative craving) (Karpyak et al 2012). The rs2281285 variant may contribute to regulation of alternative PDYN mRNA transcription specific to brain area or physiological condition. To investigate sex-specific effects of the PDYN rs2281285 variant on risk for alcohol dependence. To examine the association of the PDYN rs2281285 variant with alcohol dependence in male and female subjects. rs2281285 was genotyped in the investigation cohort of 816 (554 males) alcohol dependent subjects (DSM-IV-TR) and 1248 (603 males) non-alcoholic controls and in the replication cohort of 467 (347 males) alcohol dependent subjects and 431 (224 males) non-alcoholic controls. Logistic regression models were used to test for sex-specific associations after controlling for age. As previously reported, significant association of the PDYN rs2281285 variant with alcohol dependence was found in the investigation (p = 0.008, odds ratio = 1.299), but not the replication cohort (0.223, OR = 0.118). However, sex-specific analyses revealed stronger association in males (p = 0.002, OR = 1.493) but not females (p = 0.684, OR = 1.066) in the investigation cohort, and a trend for association in males (p = 0.086, OR = 1.352) but not females (p = 0.808, OR = 0.947) in the replication cohort. Our findings support association of PDYN rs2281285 variant with alcohol dependence in male but not female subjects. Future studies should investigate functional mechanisms of this effect.

Deficits in Abstract Thinking Assessed by Theme Identification in Patients with Schizophrenia

Objectives : Patients with schizophrenia often have a concrete thinking or an impairment in abstract thinking, but there has been a limitation in quantitatively measuring this cognitive function. The aim of the current study was to investigate a deficit in abstract thinking in patients with schizophrenia using the theme identification task. Methods : Twenty subjects with schizophrenia and 20 healthy volunteers participated in the behavioral study for theme identifica tion. The visual stimuli were composed of a series of pictures, which contained positive or negative emotional situations. Three words, indicating a main theme of the picture, a theme-related item and a theme-unrelated item, respectively, were presented in the bottom of the pictures, and participants had to select a theme. Results : The patient group selected theme words at significantly lower rate in both emotional conditions than the control group (positive, p=0.002 ; negative, p=0.001). Especially, in the negative condition, the patient group more selected theme-unrelated items than the control group (p=0.001). The rates of theme identification were inversely correlated with scores of the Social An hedonia Scale (positive, r=-0.440, p=0.007 ; negative, r=-0.366, p=0.028). Conclusion : Patients with schizophrenia exhibited an impairment in abstract thinking, and it was remarkable in the negative condition. The ability to think abstractly was associated with the severity of social anhedonia. The impairment of abstract thinking may become one of the reasons for poor social functioning in socially anhedonic patients. (Korean J Schizophr Res 2013;16:25-31)

P-319 - Emotion regulation and cognitive coping strategies in children diagnosed with anxiety disorders

Currently there are no developed theories supported by evidence on the emotion role in development and psychopathology. By elucidating the psychological and biological mechanisms involved in the occurrence of anxiety disorders in children, effective programs for prevention and early intervention can be developed. To investigate the emotion regulation strategies in children diagnosed with anxiety disorders and their parents compared with healthy ones. To examine the relationship between the emotion regulation mechanisms and the presence of psychopathology. Data were obtained from 45 children aged 10–18 years diagnosed with anxiety disorders according to DSM IV-TR and healthy subjects, comparable in age and sex. For diagnostic procedures, assessment of internalizing/externalizing symptoms and anxiety disorders we used specific standardized psychometric instruments. The group of children diagnosed with anxiety disorder showed an increased frequency and intensity of emotional reactivity with intense negative emotions, reassessment use deficits in negative emotional situations and self efficiency, frequent use of avoidance strategy, the use of cognitive coping strategies significantly less adaptive as response to adverse events (e.g. high scores on catastrophe and rumination strategies and low scores on positive reassessment). The description of the mechanisms by which external or internal variables influence the appearance of the anxiety disorders can contribute to the identification of the anxiety etiological models. Changing the regulation and emotional reactivity pattern can have important clinical implications, particularly therapeutic. Preliminary results of the studies on the therapy that includes the emotional component effectiveness are positive for both children and adults.

O-25 - Variations in PDYN sequence are associated with negative craving in alcohol dependent subjects

Craving in negative emotional situations (negative craving) is commonly associated with relapse and heavy alcohol use. Elevated dynorphin levels were associated with negative emotions, while variations in the OPRK1 and PDYN genes encoding OPRK1 receptor and dynorphins were associated with alcohol dependence. To investigate potential overlap in the genetic factors underlying, negative craving and alcohol dependence. Examine the association of the negative craving and genetic variation in the OPRK1 and PDYN genes. 13 PDYN and 10 OPRK1 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), including those previously reported to be associated with alcohol dependence were genotyped in 196 alcohol dependent subjects. The raw scores of the negative subscale of Inventory of Drug Taking Situations (IDTS) were utilized as a quantitative measure of negative craving. Logistic regression models were used to test for associations after controlling for age and gender. Gene-level haplotype testing demonstrated significant association of negative craving with variation in PDYN (p < 0.05) but not OPRK1 gene. The rs2281285 - rs199794 haplotype showed significant association (p = 0.0236) with negative craving, while rs2235749 - rs10485703 haplotype showed marginally significant association (p = 0.055). This replicates previous findings of association between these haplotypes and alcohol dependence. Negative craving was also associated with PDYN rs2281285 variant (p = 0.012) with estimated effect size of 6.95 (SE = 2.75). This new association finding was not significant after correction for multiple testing (p = 0.18). Our findings support association of PDYN sequence variation with negative craving in alcohol dependent subjects. Future studies should investigate functional mechanisms of this association.