Negative Reinforcement Research Articles

Protracted abstinence in males with an opioid use disorder: partial recovery of nucleus accumbens function

Opioid use disorder (OUD) affects more than 27 million people globally accounting for more than 300,000 deaths annually. Protracted abstinence among individuals with OUD is rare due to a high relapse rate among those not receiving medications for OUD. Extensive preclinical studies form the basis of the allostasis theory, which proposes long-lasting functional brain abnormalities that persist after opioid withdrawal and contribute to relapse. Few studies have tested the allostasis theory in humans using neuroimaging. Here, we used fMRI and an instrumental learning task to test allostasis theory predictions (ATP) of functional abnormalities in both positive valence (PVS) and negative valence (NVS) accumbens systems in OUD patients with protracted abstinence (n = 15), comparing them with OUD patients receiving methadone treatment (MT) (n = 33), and with healthy controls (n = 23). As hypothesized, protracted abstinence OUD patients showed incomplete recovery of nucleus accumbens function, as evidenced by the blunted response to aversive events (NVS) during negative reinforcement, as observed in MT patients. In contrast, their accumbens response to rewarding events (PVS) during positive reinforcement was similar to that of controls and different from that in MT patients whose response was blunted. Protracted abstinence OUD patients also showed improvements in depression symptoms compared to MT patients. Residual depressive symptoms and pre-MT intravenous drug measures were associated with worse accumbens function in protracted abstinence. These results support the ATP of long-lasting dysfunction of NVS after withdrawal and show preliminary evidence of recovery of PVS function with protracted withdrawal. Therapeutic strategies that target NVS may facilitate recovery.

How short-form video features influence addiction behavior? Empirical research from the opponent process theory perspective

PurposeConsidering the popularity and addictive attributes of short-form videos, this study aims to determine mechanisms by which short-form video features affect addiction.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducts empirical research using data collected from 382 Chinese TikTok users. Based on the stimulus–organism–response framework, the research model was constructed from the opponent process theory (OPT) perspective through features and emotional elements.FindingsThe results show that short-form video features influence addiction by activating users' perceived enjoyment and feeling of withdrawal. Based on the positive and negative reinforcement of the OPT, users must repeatedly interact with short-form videos to maintain positive emotions or reduce negative emotions. Eventually, this practice will lead to addiction. Additionally, users' procrastination moderates the relationship between feeling of withdrawal and addiction.Originality/valueThis study discussed how features influence addiction through opponent emotions on short-form video from the OPT perspective, enriching scholars' research on social media addiction. Furthermore, this study examined the moderating effects of procrastination and identifies unique features of short-form videos.

Assessing combined effects of varenicline and N-acetylcysteine on reducing nicotine seeking in rats.

Nicotine addiction is a chronic relapsing brain disorder, and cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Currently, the most effective pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation is Varenicline (VRN), which reduces both positive and negative reinforcement by nicotine. Clinically, VRN attenuates withdrawal symptoms and promotes abstinence, but >50% of smokers relapse within 3 months following a quit attempt. This may indicate that VRN fails to ameliorate components of nicotine-induced neuroplasticity that promote relapse vulnerability. Animal models reveal that glutamate dysregulation in the nucleus accumbens is associated with nicotine relapse. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) normalizes glutamate transmission and prolongs cocaine abstinence. Thus, combining VRN and NAC may promote and maintain, respectively, nicotine abstinence. In rats, we found that VRN effectively reduced nicotine self-administration and seeking in early abstinence, but not seeking later in abstinence. In contrast, NAC reduced seeking only later in abstinence. Because VRN and NAC are sometimes associated with mild adverse effects, we also evaluated a sequential approach combining subthreshold doses of VRN during self-administration and early abstinence with subthreshold doses of NAC during late abstinence. As expected, subthreshold VRN did not reduce nicotine intake. However, subthreshold VRN and NAC reduced seeking in late abstinence, suggesting a combined effect. Overall, our results suggest that combining subthreshold VRN and NAC is a viable and drug-specific approach to promote abstinence and reduce relapse while minimizing adverse effects. Our data also suggest that different components and time points in addiction engage the different neurocircuits targeted by VRN and NAC.

Negative Reinforcement, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) Strategies: A Narrative Review of Literature

Clinical evidence has increasingly shown that Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can be effectively treated through psychotherapeutic interventions. Considering that there currently is a high diversity of psychotherapeutic interventions, how can health professionals decide on which strategies to use? What are the characteristics of the strategies effectively applied to treat OCD? The aim of the present review of clinical reports was to provide an overview of strategies employed in the psychotherapeutic treatment of OCD. The bibliographic research carried out through the Online Library of Knowledge (B-on) allowed for the identification of 23 publications that met the inclusion criteria for the present narrative review of the literature. Results revealed that amongst several strategies derived from the cognitive-behavioural model of learning, Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) strategies applied in order to extinguish behaviours shaped by negative reinforcement directed many health professionals' attention.

Romantic relationship status, stress, and maturing out of problematic drinking.

The current study examined the unique influences of romantic relationship status and episodic and chronic stress associated with relationships in predicting changes in alcohol consumption and drinking motivations from college to post-college life. Moderate to heavy college student drinkers reported their drinking level and drinking motives using an Internet-based daily diary for 30 days in college and again 5 years later. At the post-college wave, participants also completed a semi-structured phone-based interview to assess romantic relationship stress. Multiple regression analysis indicated that chronic relationship stress and relationship dissolution stress were uniquely related to mean daily levels of post-college drinking to cope (DTC) motivation, but not to mean daily levels of enhancement motivation. Some evidence was found for the effect of relationship status, but not stress, on mean daily heavy drinking levels. We also found evidence that chronic stress moderated the effect of relationship dissolution stress, with individuals showing higher mean daily chronic stress levels displaying a stronger positive association between relationship dissolution and post-college DTC motivation. Results are discussed in terms of how negative reinforcement processes might be an important mechanism underlying commonly found associations between romantic relationship status and problematic drinking during young adulthood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Towards an affect intensity regulation hypothesis: Systematic review and meta-analyses of the relationship between affective states and alcohol consumption.

While self-medication and positive and negative reinforcement models of alcohol use suggest that there is an association between daily affect and alcohol consumption, findings within the academic literature have been inconsistent. This pre-registered systematic review meta-analytically interrogated the results from studies amongst non-clinical populations that examine the relationship between daily affective states and alcohol consumption volume. PRISMA guided searches of PsychINFO, PsycARTICLES, Science Direct, PubMed, SCOPUS, and JSTOR databases were conducted. When both laboratory and field studies were included, meta-analyses with robust variance estimation yielded 53 eligible studies on negative affect (8355 participants, 127 effect sizes) and 35 studies for positive affect (6384 participants, 50 effect sizes). The significant pooled associations between intra-day affect and alcohol consumption were r = .09, [.03, .14] for negative affect, and r = .17, [.04, .30] for positive affect. A small-to-medium sized effect (d = .275, [.11, .44]) of negative affect on daily alcohol consumption volume was found in laboratory studies (14 studies, 1100 participants). While publication bias was suspected, P-curve analyses suggested that the results were unlikely to be the product of publication bias and p-hacking alone, and selection model analysis revealed no significant differences in results when publication bias was accounted for. For negative affect, using number of drinks as the measure of alcohol consumption was associated with lower effect sizes. For positive affect, the results demonstrated a decline of this observed effect over time. Overall, findings point towards the possibility of developing an affect intensity regulation theory of alcohol use. Conceptualizing the mood-alcohol nexus in terms of affect intensity regulation may afford a more parsimonious explanation of alcohol consumption rather than viewing the behavior as being shaped by either positive or negative affective states.

Using Decision Trees to Identify Salient Predictors of Cannabis-Related Outcomes

ABSTRACT Cannabis use continues to escalate among emerging adults and college attendance may be a risk factor for use. Severe cases of cannabis use can escalate to a cannabis use disorder, which is associated with worse psychosocial functioning. Predictors of cannabis use consequences and cannabis use disorder symptom severity have been identified; however, they typically employ a narrow set of predictors and rely on linear models. Machine learning is well suited for exploratory data analyses of high-dimensional data. This study applied decision tree learning to identify predictors of cannabis user status, negative cannabis-related consequences, and cannabis use disorder symptoms. Undergraduate college students (N = 7000) were recruited from nine universities in nine states across the U.S. Among the 7 trees, 24 splits created by 15 distinct predictors were identified. Consistent with prior research, one’s beliefs about cannabis were strong predictors of user status. Negative reinforcement cannabis use motives were the most consistent predictors of cannabis use disorder symptoms, and past month cannabis use was the most consistent predictor of probable cannabis use disorder. Typical frequency of cannabis use was the only predictor of negative cannabis-related consequences. Our results demonstrate that decision trees are a useful methodological tool for identifying targets for future clinical research.

Alcohol’s Effects During Uncertain and Uncontrollable Stressors in the Laboratory

Alcohol's effects on reactivity to stressors depends on the nature of the stressor and the reactivity being assessed. Research identifying characteristics of stressors that modulate reactivity and clarifies the neurobehavioral, cognitive, and affective components of this reactivity may help prevent, reduce or treat the negative impacts of acute and chronic alcohol use with implications for other psychopathology involving maladaptive reactivity to stressors. We used a novel, multi-measure, cued electric shock stressor paradigm in a greater university community sample of adult recreational drinkers to test how alcohol (N=64), compared to No-alcohol (N=64), effects reactivity to stressors that vary in both their perceived certainty and controllability. Preregistered analyses suggested alcohol significantly dampened subjective anxiety (self-report) and defensive reactivity (startle potentiation) more during uncertain than during certain stressors regardless of controllability, suggesting that stressor uncertainty -but not uncontrollability- may be sufficient to enhance alcohol's stress reactivity dampening and thus negative reinforcement potential.

Teacher’s Reinforcement in English Classroom in MTSS Darul Makmur Sungai Cubadak

This research was due to some problems found in MTsS Darul Makmur. First, some students were not motivated in learning. Second, sometime the teacher still uses Indonesian in giving reinforcements. Third, some Students did not care about the teacher's reinforcement. This study aimed to find out the types of reinforcement used by the teacher. Then, to find out the types of reinforcement often and rarely to be usedby the teacher. Then, to find out the reasons the teacher used certain reinforcements. Last, to find out how the teacher understands the reinforcement. This research used a qualitative approach. The design of this research was descriptive because the researcher made a description of the use of reinforcement by theteacher in the English classroom. In this research, the interview and observation sheets were used by the researcher. The researcher found that the type of reinforcement used by the teacher is positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. First, there were two types of positive reinforcement used by teachers, namely verbal reinforcement and non-verbal reinforcement. The verbal often used by theteacher was a reinforcement in the form of words and reinforcement in the form of phrases. Then, verbal reinforcement in the form of sentences was never done by the teacher in the learning process. While the non-verbal reinforcement often used by the teacher was gestural, activity reinforcement, and proximity reinforcement. Second, the negative reinforcement often used by the teacher was a warning, gesture, and eye contact. Meanwhile, the negative reinforcement rarely used by the teacher was speech volume andpunishment. Third, the reasons teachers reinforce learning are to motivate students and make students feel appreciated and happy while learning.

Effects of Abstinence Self-Efficacy and Outcome Expectancies of Tobacco Smoking on the Desire to Quit Among Saudi Women: A Cross-Sectional Mediation Analysis.

BackgroundSmoking is one of the major preventable causes of morbidity and mortality and has been associated with numerous illnesses. While smoking is increasing among Saudi women, the characteristics of smoking behavior related to abstinence self-efficacy, which is a belief regarding one’s ability to successfully resist performing a behavior, and outcome expectancies, meaning the anticipated consequences of performing a behavior, are unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to test whether abstinence self-efficacy mediated the relationship between tobacco smoking outcome expectancies and the desire to quit tobacco among Saudi women who smoke.MethodsThis cross-sectional study collected a sample of 211 Saudi women who smoked tobacco, including cigarettes and shisha. A self-administered questionnaire was used to examine several variables, including abstinence self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, and desire to quit tobacco smoking. Mediational path analysis was used to answer the research question. Indirect effects were estimated through a bootstrapping of 10,000.ResultsAll 4 constructs of outcome expectancies (negative consequences, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and appetite/weight control) were associated with lower abstinence self-efficacy and desire to quit tobacco smoking. In the mediation analysis, the indirect effect of negative consequences (standardized beta = −.013, SE = .008, 95% CI [−.030, −.001]), negative reinforcement (standardized beta = −.012, SE = .006, 95% CI [−.025, −.001]), and appetite/weight control (standardized beta = −.008, SE = .006, 95% CI [−.022, −.001]) through abstinence self-efficacy were significant, suggesting mediation in the relationship between outcome expectancies and desire to quit tobacco smoking.ConclusionCognitive mechanisms that may explain the desire to quit tobacco smoking among Saudi women were identified. Although future longitudinal studies are required to determine relationships prospectively, targeted interventions that correct tobacco smoking outcome expectancies and boost abstinence self-efficacy skills may reduce tobacco smoking among Saudi women.

Anhedonia, Hyperkatifeia, and Negative Reinforcement in Substance Use Disorders.

Drug addiction has been defined as a chronically relapsing disorder that is characterized by a compulsion to seek and take a drug or stimulus, the loss of control in limiting intake, and the emergence of a negative emotional state when access to the drug or stimulus is prevented, a component of which is anhedonia. The present review explores a heuristic framework for understanding the role of anhedonia in addiction, in which anhedonia is a key component of hyperkatifeia (conceptualized as the potentiated intensity of negative emotional/motivational symptoms during drug withdrawal) and negative reinforcement in addiction. The neural substrates that mediate such anhedonia and crosstalk between elements of hyperkatifeia that contribute to anhedonia are then explored, including crosstalk between physical pain and emotional pain systems. The present review explores current knowledge of neurochemical neurocircuitry changes that are associated with conditioned hyperkatifeia/anhedonia. The overall hypothesis is that the shift in motivation toward negative reinforcement in addiction reflects the allostatic misregulation of hedonic tone, such that drug taking makes anhedonia worse during the process of seeking temporary relief by compulsive drug taking, thereby perpetuating the addiction cycle and hedonic comorbidities that are associated with addiction.

Cannabis use as a predictor and outcome of positive and negative affect in college students: An ecological momentary assessment study

BackgroundReinforcement models identify negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA) to be important momentary determinants and outcomes of cannabis use. Sensitization and allostatic models further suggest that these mood-cannabis associations are stronger among individuals with more cannabis-related problems. Despite this theoretical background and the fact that cannabis is commonly used for its mood-enhancing effects among college students, surprisingly, little is known about the momentary associations between mood and cannabis use in this population. AimsTo examine the associations between (a) momentary within-person variations in NA (worried, stressed, nervous) and PA (happy, enthusiastic, proud, excited) and intention to use cannabis within the next hour, (b) the within-person variations in time elapsed since last cannabis use, amount used and momentary NA and PA, and (c) to test whether cannabis-related problems moderate the stated associations. MethodEighty, more-than-weekly, cannabis using students at the University of Amsterdam reported on cannabis use, NA and PA three times daily for 14 consecutive days. Mixed-effects models were performed to analyze the dataset. ResultsWithin-persons, relatively high PA and low NA were associated with a higher likelihood of intending to use cannabis. Within-persons, more recent and greater amounts of cannabis use were associated with relatively high PA. More recent cannabis use was associated with relatively low NA. Cannabis-related problems did not moderate the associations. ConclusionsWhile recent cannabis use related to higher PA and lower NA, high PA but low NA preceded use, supporting positive reinforcement rather than negative reinforcement in this college sample of regular cannabis users

Self-injurious behavior of children with autism in Vietnam: A cross sectional study

This study explored self-injurious behavior (SIB) of autistic children in Vietnam through a cross-sectional design. 60 informants, including 57 parents and 3 caregivers completed the questionnaire on problem behavior consisting of aggression, self-injury, stereotyping, property destruction, other problem behaviors and their functions. Results revealed that children experienced all mentioned problem behaviors, especially self-injurious behavior. The topographies of self-injurious behavior of the children included head-hitting, head-scratching, head-banging, hair-pulling, face-hitting, face-puncturing with a pen, ear-scratching, lip-picking, hand-biting, hand-scratching, hand-pinching, and belly-scratching. The most common area of self-injurious behavior is the head. The functions of these problem behaviors were expressed in four types (social positive reinforcement, social negative reinforcement, automatic positive reinforcement and automatic negative reinforcement). Social positive reinforcement appeared as a prominent function.  Out of these 57 children, 21 of them who were autistic with self-injurious behavior went through a functional assessment (FA) in which the four conditions known as attention, tangible items, escape from task/activities, automatic stimulation were tested. The results of functional analysis (FA) further indicated the correspondence between the FAST-R and FA outcome on function of problem behavior, especially self-injurious behavior. Results also showed that the prominent function of these self-injurious behaviors was social function. It means self-injurious behaviors usually occur within a condition of social interaction, especially, in this present study, in the tangible condition. The antecedent of self-injurious behavior is the removal of tangibles (e.g. food, preferred items). This paper contributes to our knowledge of self-injurious behavior of children with autism in Vietnam where empirical research of this field was still very rare.&nbsp

No evidence for trait- and state-level urgency moderating the daily association between negative affect and subsequent alcohol use in two college samples.

It remains unclear whether the negative reinforcement pathway to problematic drinking exists, and if so, for whom. One idea that has received some support recently is that people who tend to act impulsively in response to negative emotions (i.e. people high in negative urgency) may specifically respond to negative affect with increased alcohol consumption. We tested this idea in a preregistered secondary data analysis of two ecological momentary assessment studies using college samples. Participants (N = 226) reported on their current affective state multiple times per day and also the following morning reported alcohol use of the previous night. We assessed urgency both at baseline and during the momentary affect assessments. Results from our Bayesian model comparison procedure, which penalises increasing model complexity, indicate that no combination of the variables of interest (negative affect, urgency, and the respective interactions) outperformed a baseline model that included two known demographic predictors of alcohol use. A non-preregistered exploratory analysis provided some evidence for the effect of daily positive affect, positive urgency, as well as their interaction on subsequent alcohol use. Taken together, our results suggest that college students’ drinking may be better described by a positive rather than negative reinforcement cycle.

Horse-Human Communication: The Roles of Language and Communication in the Context of Horse-Human Interactions

Horses have played an important role in human history and the techniques and strategies with which we interact with them is based on concepts of operant conditioning with emphasis on negative and positive reinforcement. The human-horse interactions in training are primarily based on the desires and goals of the human with the recognition that proper response to horse behaviors should be considered in order to effectively achieve the desired training goal and minimize stress. When considering the concepts of language and communication, horse owners need to consider the ethological communication strategies of horses and the role they play in traditional horse-human interactions. By including principles of interspecies communication, mutual development of language, and pro-social behaviors, it may be possible to involve horses in the decision-making processes in which they are so often involved.

Personality traits as risk factors for the development of cognitive impairment and affective symptoms in patients with COVID-19

To identify possible associations between premorbid personality traits and cognitive impairment and affective symptoms in patients who have recovered from COVID-19. The study included 30 people with the so-called post-COVID syndrome. The diagnosis of COVID-19 was previously confirmed by laboratory tests in each patient. The control group included 15 healthy individuals. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was used to assess depression and anxiety. Cognitive function was assessed using the Verbal Fluency Test (VF), the Montreal Cognitive Scale (MOCA), and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). The Munich Personality Test (MRT) and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-26) were used to assess premorbid personality characteristics. Multiple stepwise regression analysis was used as the main statistical method to identify the relationship between premorbid personality constructs and cognitive test results and affective and anxiety symptoms. The presence of frustration tolerance in the personality structure reduced the number of incorrect answers (beta coefficient -0.811) in WCST and decreased the delay in responses with positive reinforcement (-0.630), and also reduced the level of depression (-0.465). Extraversion decreased the MOCA test score (-0.675) and increased the percentage of perseverative incorrect answers on the WCST test (0.573). The constructs of adherence to social norms and propensity to isolate lowered the final MOCA score (beta coefficients are -0.725 and -0.527, respectively). The esoteric tendencies construct decreased the latency of positive and negative reinforcement responses in WCST (-0.441 and -0.528, respectively). The severity of alexithymia was positively correlated with depression (beta 0.577), while neuroticism was positively correlated with anxiety (0.737). Low levels of frustration tolerance and esoteric tendencies have negative effects on cognition in COVID-19 survivors, while high levels of these constructs are protective against cognitive decline and depression.

Supplemental Material for Impact of Acute Stress on Neural Indices of Positive and Negative Reinforcement Processing in Cannabis Users

Supplemental Material for Impact of Acute Stress on Neural Indices of Positive and Negative Reinforcement Processing in Cannabis Users

ВИНИКНЕННЯ ТА ЕМОЦІЙНЕ РЕГУЛЮВАННЯ РОЗЛАДІВ, ПОВ'ЯЗАНИХ З УЖИВАННЯМ ПСИХОТРОПНИХ РЕЧОВИН

The present article focuses on emotion regulation as a predictors and treatment of substance addictions, the scope of this theoretical review is in response to the problematic issue of emotional dysregulation and its intergenerational trauma among families with substance use disorders. It is emphasized that substance dependence is a disorder characterized by a disturbance in the regulation of emotional processes. It has been found that the use of drugs in order to quickly relieve emotional pain acts as a very strong negative reinforcer and disrupts the foundations of the development of emotional management in the consumer. Of course, the children of these families do not learn emotional skills through modeling sick behavior and have difficulty in regulating and managing their emotions. Therefore, the importance of emotional skills and strengthening the management of emotions in the context of restoring emotional maturity and mental health has been investigated as one of the important tools for addiction recovery and the mental health of substance addictions and their children. In the field of emotional management psychotherapy, two classic forms of addiction treatment, which are Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), have been examined and compared. The two main known components of CBT for addiction, cognitive-behavioral therapy and functional analysis and training, are generally known to be effective in managing negative emotions. The two main known components of CBT for addiction, cognitive-behavioral therapy and functional analysis and skill training, are generally known to be effective in managing negative emotions. By analyzing specific emotional disorders among substance users' families, these emotional problems have been identified and classified, and in this regard, investigated why skills through emotion regulation therapy (ERT) is a vital part of addiction treatment.

Getting High or Getting By? An Examination of Cannabis Motives, Cannabis Misuse, and Concurrent Psychopathology in a Sample of General Community Adults.

OBJECTIVE:Few studies have examined cannabis motives in adults and, although associations between cannabis use and psychiatric conditions are well documented, there has been limited investigation of the intersection of cannabis use, cannabis motives, and psychopathology. In a sample of community adults, the present study examined cannabis motives in relation to cannabis misuse, and investigated whether motives linked cannabis misuse with concurrent psychiatric symptoms.METHOD:Participants (N = 395; Mage = 34.8; %F = 47.6; % White = 81.3%) completed assessments related to cannabis misuse, cannabis use motives, and symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and somatic experiences. Bivariate correlations, hierarchical regressions, and indirect effect analyses were performed to examine associations between motives and cannabis misuse and to investigate mechanistic relationships between psychiatric symptoms and cannabis misuse.RESULTS:Regressions revealed significant associations between cannabis misuse and social (β = .13, P < .02), enhancement (β = .12, P < .02), and coping motives (β = .48, P < .001). Indirect effects were present such that coping motives consistently linked psychiatric and somatic symptoms with cannabis misuse (anxiety: unstandardized effect = 0.26,and 95% CI = 0.17-0.37; depression: unstandardized effect = 0.12, CI = 0.11-0.25; PTSD: unstandardized effect = 0.07, CI = 0.04-0.10; somatic symptoms: unstandardized effect = 0.20, CI = 0.11-0.30). In addition, enhancement motives exhibited an indirect effect (unstandardized effect = 0.02, CI = 0.002-0.04) between depressive symptoms and cannabis misuse.CONCLUSION:These results support a negative reinforcement motivational profile as the predominant pattern in adult cannabis users, albeit with links to enhancement and social motives. This motivational profile is especially pronounced with regard to comorbid psychopathology and cannabis misuse. These results support the importance of treatment strategies targeting maladaptive coping to address cannabis misuse and co-occurring psychopathology.

Research on the Emotional Evolution Mechanism of Network Public Opinion Based on an Information Ecosystem

As an important carrier of public emotion expression, public opinion spreads on a large scale with the continuous upgrading of social networks, and effectively controlling the spreading process of public opinion is an essential topic of contemporary social research. In view of the competition between positive and negative information in the process of public opinion dissemination, this paper introduces the theory of emotional infection and proposes a network public opinion communication model based on emotional contagion, considering the reinforcement effect of different individual mentalities and the influence of government intervention. Based on the data from the COVID‐19 epidemic situation, MATLAB simulation technology is used to verify the validity of the model, and the effect of strengthening the validity and government intervention on public opinion control is discussed. According to the experiment, three conclusions have been come up with. First, a positive reinforcement effect can enhance the ignorant participants’ ability to maintain the same emotion as the infected information. When positive information repeatedly stimulates the ignorant, it will positively strengthen the ability of people with a positive mentality to maintain positive emotions, which is significantly beneficial to public opinion control. Its essence is to increase the effect of positive information’s belief factor on the dynamic infection rate. When negative information repeatedly stimulates an ignorant person, it will positively strengthen the ability of the person with a negative attitude to maintain negative emotion, which is not conducive to public opinion control. Second, a negative reinforcement effect will strengthen the ignorant ability to change the same emotion as the infected information. When negative information repeatedly stimulates the ignorant, the negative reinforcement effect will strengthen the positive people’s ability to change negative information into positive emotion, which is significantly beneficial to public opinion control. Its essence is to increase the effect of suspicion factor on the dynamic immunization rate. It will strengthen the positive mentality and negative mentality into the path of immunization, which is beneficial to epidemic control. When positive information repeatedly stimulates the ignorant, it will negatively strengthen the ability of the negative mentality to change the positive information into negative emotions, which is not beneficial to the control of public opinion. It will be harmful to strengthen the path of positive and negative mentality into immunization, which is beneficial to epidemic control. Third, the earlier the government intervenes in public opinion, the better it will be. The essence of intervention is to decrease the dynamic incitement rate.