Online Community Sample Research Articles

The development of the Negative Mental Imagery Questionnaire (MIQ-N).

Mental imagery plays a key role in the onset and maintenance of psychological disorders, and has become the target of psychological interventions for the treatment of several anxiety-related conditions. However, there are currently no transdiagnostic measures designed to assess the varied dimensions of mental imagery relevant to psychopathology. To develop and validate a new measure assessing the experiences and appraisals of negative mental imagery. The initial item pool was generated through a comprehensive literature review and interviews with subject-matter experts. An online community sample provided data for the exploratory (n=345) and confirmatory (n=325) factor analyses. The new 16-item Negative Mental Imagery Questionnaire demonstrated four subscales (Intrusiveness, Controllability, Beliefs about Mental Imagery, and Realness). Reliability and validity were good to excellent for both the full- and sub-scales. Appraisals of mental imagery captured by the new measure are consistent with previous research on mental imagery and psychopathology.

Non-consensual forwarding of sexts: characteristics and overlap with in-person sexual coercion

ABSTRACT This study sought to describe the characteristics of people who non-consensually forward sexts, to examine the overlap between the non-consensual forwarding of sexts and in-person sexual coercion, and to investigate what correlates were associated with each perpetration type (i.e. the non-consensual forwarding of sexts and in-person sexual coercion). In our online community sample of 2,780 emerging adults (i.e. aged 18–30), mostly from North America (97.9%), we found a prevalence of 9.2% for the non-consensual forwarding of sexts and a 13.7% prevalence for in-person sexual coercion. The two types of sexual coercion overlapped; however, more perpetrators of the non-consensual forwarding of sexts had also committed in-person perpetration than in-person perpetrators who also committed the non-consensual forwarding of sexts. Higher sex drive, being a man, greater susceptibility to peer pressure, and self-reporting the other type of sexual coercion were independently related with in-person sexual coercion and the non-consensual forwarding of sexts. Our findings suggest a possible overlapping etiology between in-person sexual coercion and the non-consensual forwarding of sexts and that programmes aimed at reducing in-person sexual coercion could be effective for reducing the non-consensual forwarding of sexts. PRACTICE IMPACT STATEMENT Results from our online survey of 2,780 adults aged 18-30 suggest that using “revenge pornography” to refer to the non-consensual forwarding of sexual materials is unnecessarily restrictive and does not represent the nature of this phenomenon. Further, we found that positive beliefs about the non-consensual forwarding of sexts was a common motivation for non-consensually forwarding sexts, suggesting that social media campaigns educating emerging adults on the risks of the non-consensual forwarding of sexts may be effective in reducing this behaviour.

Filling the void: boredom’s associations with hoarding symptom severity

In hoarding disorder, features including attentional difficulties and emotion dysregulation can contribute to the core symptoms of clutter, difficulties discarding, and excessive acquisition. Boredom is a negative feeling state that shares a high level of overlap with associated features of hoarding, including inattention, depressive symptoms, and impulsivity, and has been implicated in compulsive buying behaviors. Boredom may be a particularly relevant factor in compulsive hoarding; however, this relationship remains significantly under-researched. The present studies aimed to thoroughly investigate associations between boredom and hoarding severity using diverse methodologies. Study 1 (N = 253) replicated, in an online community sample, previously reported positive associations between hoarding severity and recent state boredom while statistically controlling for potentially confounding variables (e.g., depression, indecisiveness), and extended these findings to include boredom proneness. In Study 2, individuals with elevated hoarding symptoms (n = 56) and a history of hoarding problems (n = 43) reported higher levels of recent state and trait boredom than controls (n = 61). Additionally, boredom was associated with performance on simulated acquiring and discarding tasks. Finally, Studies 3a (N = 144) and 3b (N = 146) attempted the first experimental tests of induced boredom on acquiring and discarding behaviors. Although results were mixed and preclude causal conclusions, exploratory analyses revealed that individuals reporting higher in-the-moment boredom took more (p = .008) and discarded fewer (p = .021) items on the simulated tasks. Overall, results suggest that boredom may have crucial implications in hoarding symptom severity.

The digital divide in action: how experiences of digital technology shape future relationships with artificial intelligence

AbstractThe digital divide remains an ongoing societal concern, with digital exclusion shown to have a significantly detrimental impact on people’s quality of life. Artificial intelligence (AI), the latest wave of digitalisation, is being integrated into the fabric of society at an accelerated rate, the speed of which has prompted ethical concerns. Without addressing the digital divide, the AI revolution risks exacerbating the existing consequences of digital exclusion and limiting the potential for all people to reap the benefits provided by AI. To understand the factors that might contribute to experiences of AI, and how these might be related to digital exclusion, we surveyed a diverse online community sample (N = 303). We created a novel measure of digital confidence capturing individual levels of awareness, familiarity, and sense of competence with digital technology. Results indicated that measures of digital confidence were predicted by structural, behavioural, and psychological differences, such that women, older people, those on lower salaries, people with less digital access, and those with lower digital well-being, reported significantly less digital confidence. Furthermore, digital confidence significantly moderated the relationship between people’s experiences with everyday AI technologies and their general attitudes towards AI. This understanding of the spill-over effects of digital exclusion onto experiences of AI is fundamental to the articulation and delivery of inclusive AI.

Associations between transdiagnostic traits of psychopathology and hybrid posttraumatic stress disorder factors in a trauma-exposed community sample.

Dimensional conceptualizations of psychopathology hold promise for understanding the high rates of comorbidity with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Linking PTSD symptoms to transdiagnostic dimensions of psychopathology may enable researchers and clinicians to understand the patterns and breadth of behavioral sequelae following traumatic experiences that may be shared with other psychiatric disorders. To explore this premise, we recruited a trauma-exposed online community sample (N = 462) and measured dimensional transdiagnostic traits of psychopathology using parceled facets derived from the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 Faceted-Short Form. PTSD symptom factors were measured using the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 and derived using confirmatory factor analysis according to the seven-factor hybrid model (i.e., Intrusions, Avoidance, Negative Affect, Anhedonia, Externalizing Behaviors, Anxious Arousal, And Dysphoric Arousal). We observed hypothesized associations between PTSD factors and transdiagnostic traits indicating that some transdiagnostic dimensions were associated with nearly all PTSD symptom factors (e.g., emotional lability: rmean =.35), whereas others showed more unique relationships (e.g., hostility-Externalizing Behavior: r =.60; hostility with other PTSD factors: rs =.12-.31). All PTSD factors were correlated with traits beyond those that would appear to be construct-relevant, suggesting the possibility of indirect associations that should be explicated in future research. The results indicate the breadth of trait-like consequences associated with PTSD symptom exacerbation, with implications for case conceptualization and treatment planning. Although PTSD is not a personality disorder, the findings indicate that increased PTSD factor severity is moderately associated with different patterns of trait-like disruptions in many areas of functioning.

Social support mediates the effects of childhood unpredictability on anhedonia: A retrospective investigation in an online adult community sample

Increasingly, research is highlighting the implications of exposure to unpredictable environments during childhood (i.e., “childhood unpredictability”) on outcomes in adulthood. Converging evidence from preclinical and clinical studies has implicated childhood unpredictability in disrupted reward processing and anhedonia. From the stress generation literature, altered social support has emerged as a possible mechanism by which this effect may occur. In the current study, our goal was to understand whether the pathway from childhood unpredictability to anhedonia occurs through reduced perceptions of social support. Toward this end, we recruited an online community sample of adults in the US (N = 242) to complete surveys assessing childhood unpredictability, depressive symptoms, anhedonia, and social support, as well as a novel online version of the Probabilistic Reward Task. We found that childhood unpredictability was associated with increased depressive symptoms and anhedonia (but not objective measure of anhedonia), and reduced perceptions of social support in adulthood. Mediation analyses revealed a significant indirect effect of perceived social support on the association between childhood unpredictability and anhedonia, controlling for age, sex, and non-anhedonic depressive symptoms. Unexpectedly, measures of reward responsiveness from the behavioral task were not related to childhood unpredictability. The current findings replicate previous reports linking childhood unpredictability and self-reported anhedonia, and extend them to incorporate the potential mediating pathway of reduced social support. Implications for treatment for anhedonia are discussed.

Living while fat: Development and validation of the Fat Microaggressions Scale.

Fat microaggressions are microlevel social practices in the form of commonplace everyday indignities that insult fat people and have been documented anecdotally and qualitatively. However, no psychometrically validated scale exists for measuring fat microaggressions, despite decades of microaggression research demonstrating their negative health associations. This research describes the development and construct validation of the Fat Microaggressions Scale across four studies. Study 1 focused on item development through a systematic review, qualitative analysis of Tweets using #fatmicroaggressions, and a Delphi review. Study 2 (N = 343) determined that a four-factor structure was appropriate in an online community sample of fat adults. Study 3 (N = 410) confirmed the factor structure in a new online sample of fat adults and provided initial evidence of construct validity. Study 4 (N = 197) found evidence of test-retest reliability and demonstrated additional construct validity. Our findings offer a newly validated quantitative measure of fat microaggressions and an initial framework for naming and categorizing these experiences, which may be used to advance the study of fat microaggressions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Dysfunctional attributions of success as a distinct feature of amotivation

We examined the association between causal attributions and self-reported motivational negative symptoms (amotivation) in a German online community sample (n = 251). Bivariate correlations revealed significant associations between amotivation and attribution of success to external, variable, and specific causes. No associations between amotivation and failure attributions were found. Our data suggest that demotivational causal attributions of success could be a feature of amotivation and a promising target for research and intervention.

How do explicit, implicit, and sociodemographic measures relate to concurrent suicidal ideation? A comparative machine learning approach.

Suicide is a leading cause of death, and decades of research have identified a range of risk factors, including demographics, past self-injury and suicide attempts, and explicit suicide cognitions. More recently, implicit self-harm and suicide cognitions have been proposed as risk factors for the prospective prediction of suicidal behavior. However, most studies have examined these implicit and explicit risk factors in isolation, and little is known about their combined effects and interactions in the prediction of concurrent suicidal ideation. In an online community sample of 6855 participants, we used different machine learning techniques to evaluate the utility of measuring implicit self-harm and suicide cognitions to predict concurrent desire to self-harm or die. Desire to self-harm was best predicted using gradient boosting, achieving 83% accuracy. However, the most important predictors were mood, explicit associations, and past suicidal thoughts and behaviors; implicit measures provided little to no gain in predictive accuracy. Considering our focus on the concurrent prediction of explicit suicidal ideation, we discuss the need for future studies to assess the utility of implicit suicide cognitions in the prospective prediction of suicidal behavior using machine learning approaches.

Acceptability of Men’s Externalizing Depression Constructs Among Black American Men and Middle-Aged and Older White Men

Research on the dissemination and implementation of gender-based care for men has rarely considered diversity within the male-identifying population. The present study evaluated the acceptability of men’s externalizing depression (MED) constructs across purposive samples of men understudied in the MED literature and at higher risk for MED-related outcomes (Black American men and middle-aged and older White men). Following brief psychoeducation, participants rated MED constructs for comprehensibility and perceived clinical value. Using a convergent mixed-methods design, we examined how attitudes varied by sample and experimentally-manipulated psychoeducational variables pertaining to different MED conceptual models. Across samples and psychoeducation conditions, we observed similarly strong levels of acceptability for MED as a gender-based conceptualization of mixed internalizing-externalizing symptoms. Small differences emerged as a function of sample-psychoeducation interactions. Quantitative and qualitative data converged to suggest race-gender intersections influence men’s construal of psychological symptoms. Overall, results supported MED as an acceptable formulation of symptoms across multiple subpopulations of men in the context of an international, online community sample.

Differing Perceptions of Criminal Justice and Views of Law Enforcement: A Cluster-Analytic Approach to Racial-Ethnic Identities.

Race and ethnicity within psycholegal research have often been treated as nominal variables which ignores their rich within-cultural diversity and can sometimes lead to sweeping pejorative conclusions (e.g., higher prevalence of arrests). The development of several salient measures of racial-ethnic attitudes-such as the CERIS-A and MEIM-has sparked a refocusing on dimensional perspectives of race and ethnicity. This refocus becomes especially important when examining views of law enforcement and criminal justice in light of unwarranted deaths of minoritized groups while in police custody. The current study recruited a juror-eligible, online community sample (i.e., MTurk) to study their views of justice and police. Using the seven subscales of the CERIS-A, four cluster groups were identified that spanned participants' race and ethnicity. Unique patterns emerged when comparing the four groups. For example, the cluster high on both multiculturalism and their own racial-ethnic identity had far more negative views of police conduct regarding its lawfulness and fairness. Further differences emerged for views of criminal justice including the death penalty. The research implications of these findings were discussed.

Functionality appreciation is associated with improvements in positive and negative body image in patients with an eating disorder and following recovery

BackgroundResearch on body image in eating disorders has predominantly focused on negative body image, only recently shifting to positive body image. Findings suggest that enhancing positive body image can, amongst other things, serve as a protective mechanism against (re)developing a negative body image. One suggested way of enhancing positive body image is to focus on enhancing body functionality appreciation. Although studies show promising effects, this research is mainly conducted in non-clinical samples.MethodsThe current study investigated the levels of positive and negative body image in an online community sample of patients with an eating disorder (PAT, n = 227), patients recovered from an eating disorder (REC, n = 102) and controls (HC, n = 175) (self-reported diagnosis, not confirmed). In addition, we tested whether body functionality appreciation was associated with appearance dissatisfaction (negative body image) and body appreciation (positive body image).ResultsREC showed similar results to controls to most of the body image measures except for how much importance one places on their appearance (no different between REC and PAT), and how satisfied one is with certain body parts. For this measure, REC scored in-between PAT and HC. We further found functionality appreciation to be significantly associated with of both positive and negative body image, except for appearance evaluation in patients with an eating disorder.ConclusionsThis study showed a positive association between body functionality appreciation and positive body image and a negative association between body functionality appreciation and negative body image. Further research is required to investigate the effectiveness of interventions targeting body functionality appreciation in clinical settings.

Pathways from childhood trauma to aberrant salience: A structural equation approach to mentalization model.

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between affective disturbances and aberrant salience in the context of childhood trauma, attachment, and mentalization in an analogue study. Using a cross-sectional design, an online community sample completed self-report measures of key variables. Structural equation modelling was used to test childhood trauma's influence on aberrant salience via a set of intermediate risk factors (depression, negative schizotypy, and insecure attachment). These intermediate risk factors were assumed to lead to the proximal risk factors of aberrant salience (i.e., disorganized schizotypy and disorganized attachment) depending on the vulnerability of mentalizing capacity to elevated stress. The sample (N = 1263) was 78% female and aged between 18 and 35 years. The tested models closely fitted the observed data, revealing significant pathways from childhood trauma to aberrant salience via the hypothesized pathways. The direct effect of childhood trauma on aberrant salience was significant. Findings suggest that the pathway to aberrant salience may be characterized by disorganization of self-state and intersubjectivity as a function of diminishment in mentalizing ability. This may relate to changes in attachment organization and socio-cognitive capacity, which could constitute possible risk factors signalling development of aberrant salience.

When trauma is stigmatized: Disidentification and dissociation in people affected by adverse childhood experiences

AbstractSurvivors of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can experience dissociation because of their trauma. Those survivors can also experience stigma stemming from their traumatic experiences, which may encourage disidentification from the stigmatized group (i.e., other survivors of ACEs). However, the relationships between disidentification and dissociation have not been empirically tested. Using a social identity framework, we examined whether stigmatized trauma perceptions (the degree to which a trauma is perceived as a stigmatized experience) predicted dissociative symptoms and disidentification using cross‐sectional survey data. An online community sample of ACEs survivors (N = 181) completed measures of disidentification and dissociation. Stigmatized trauma perceptions were measured by respondents rating the extent to which they perceived ACEs are a stigmatizing experience. Path analysis revealed higher stigmatized trauma perceptions predicted more disidentification which resulted in greater dissociative symptoms, after controlling for ACEs and gender. The results show that survivors are more likely to disidentify from people with similar experiences when they feel their trauma is stigmatized. This disidentification was associated with greater dissociation. The findings demonstrate a link between social disidentification and personal dissociation. Further research can explore this link in other types of stigmatized traumas (e.g., suicide).

Don't worry, it won't be fine. Contributions of worry and anxious arousal to startle responses and event-related potentials in threat anticipation.

A widely shared framework suggests that anxiety maps onto two dimensions: anxious apprehension and anxious arousal. Previous research linked individual differences in these dimensions to differential neural response patterns in neuropsychological, imaging, and physiological studies. Differential effects of the anxiety dimensions might contribute to inconsistencies in prior studies that examined neural processes underlying anxiety, such as hypersensitivity to unpredictable threat. We investigated the association between trait worry (as a key component of anxious apprehension), anxious arousal, and the neural processing of anticipated threat. From a large online community sample (N = 1,603), we invited 136 participants with converging and diverging worry and anxious arousal profiles into the laboratory. Participants underwent the NPU-threat test with alternating phases of unpredictable threat, predictable threat, and safety, while physiological responses (startle reflex and startle probe locked event-related potential components N1 and P3) were recorded. Worry was associated with increased startle responses to unpredictable threat and increased attentional allocation (P3) to startle probes in predictable threat anticipation. Anxious arousal was associated with increased startle and N1 in unpredictable threat anticipation. These results suggest that trait variations in the anxiety dimensions shape the dynamics of neural processing of threat. Specifically, trait worry seems to simultaneously increase automatic defensive preparation during unpredictable threat and increase attentional responding to threat-irrelevant stimuli during predictable threat anticipation. The current study highlights the utility of anxiety dimensions to understand how physiological responses during threat anticipation are altered in anxiety and supports that worry is associated with hypersensitivity to unpredictable, aversive contexts.

Online behavioral addictions: Longitudinal network analysis and invariance across men and women.

Online activity has become increasingly prevalent worldwide, raising concerns about potential online behavioral addictions (e.g., problematic social media use, disordered online gambling, internet gaming disorder, and problematic internet use in general). The aim of this study was to conduct a longitudinal network analysis of symptoms associated with online behavioral addictions to examine their interrelations and potential differences across one’s biologically assigned gender (i.e., male, female). An online community sample of 462 adult participants (28.5% women, 69.5% men) completed self-rating questionnaires across two time-points one year apart. Participants’ responses were assessed with Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator regularized partial correlations (EBICglasso) and invariance methods. Gender differences were observed, with online gaming symptoms showing higher centrality in men and disordered social media use in women. Additionally, disordered gaming and internet use symptoms were highly influential, followed by online gambling, and social media use. Longitudinal differences were observed across genders, suggesting their different vulnerability to problematic behaviors associated with online activities. Additionally, mood modification associated with disordered internet use and impairment due to disordered gaming were highly influential in longitudinal measures, increasing the likelihood of developing coexisting or persistent symptoms of internet use disorders over time. Conclusions and implications are addressed considering the emerging literature.

The Brief Multidimensional Assessment Scale (BMAS): A Broad Measure of Patient Well-Being.

This article discusses the development and initial clinimetric and psychometric properties of the Brief Multidimensional Assessment Scale (BMAS). The BMAS is an ultrabrief multidimensional measure of global patient well-being that can be used at every clinic visit to assess several facets of patients' perception of themselves, regardless of their diagnosis, at a moment in time and over the course of treatment. Data were collected from 499 adults in the community as well as from psychiatric and medical inpatient and outpatient settings. Participants completed questionnaires as part of their standard care at inpatient and outpatient medical and psychiatric settings or completed them online (community sample). Results indicate that the BMAS measures four discrete dimensions: the ability to get things done, emotional support in important relationships, quality of life, and sense of purpose in life. The scale demonstrates concurrent validity with other measures and discriminates between nonclinical participants and participants from most clinical contexts. The BMAS demonstrates promising initial psychometric properties. It offers clinicians a multidimensional measure of their patients' well-being, regardless of diagnosis, that can be used to monitor well-being at each routine appointment and over time.

Measurement and Correlates of Zoophilic Interest in an Online Community Sample.

Sexual interest in animals (zoophilia) is a scant investigated topic owing partially to difficulties in assessing the behavior outside of a clinical setting. While there have been previous attempts to categorize individuals with a sexual interest in animals into classification systems, this requires extensive clinical interviews and psychometric testing. Previous classifications also lack clarity on the adjacent concept of furryism (i.e., interest in anthropomorphized animals) and how it may be related to zoophilia. As there are currently no validated psychometric measures of zoophilia, individuals with a sexual interest in animals are a challenging population to research and may be underdetected in clinical settings. The central aim of the present study was to examine the measurement and correlates of sexual attraction to nonhuman animals through the development and refinement of psychometric and visual stimulus measures of animal sexual interest. Participants included 1,228 respondents (72% zoophilic and 35% furries; 67% men and 22.9% women) recruited from the online community. The results indicated that a Sexual Interest in Animals-Self-Report (SIA-SR) scale had four distinct subscales with excellent discrimination for self-reported zoophilia. Moreover, endorsement of sexual interest in horses and dogs from visual stimuli was most common among the individuals in the sample, while dog and horse sexual and romantic attractiveness ratings also had the largest and most consistent associations with SIA-SR scores and self-reported zoophilia. The results contribute to a greater understanding of the sexual interest patterns for persons with zoophilia and have implications for theory, future research, and clinical practice.

Healthy orthorexia vs orthorexia nervosa: associations with body appreciation, functionality appreciation, intuitive eating and embodiment.

Current conceptualizations and measures of orthorexia nervosa may not be accurately distinguishing between the healthy vs pathological pursuit of a healthy diet, leading to very high prevalence rates and risking the pathologizing and stigmatizing of healthy eating more generally. Recent research has identified healthy orthorexia as a novel construct conceptually distinct from orthorexia nervosa, which represents the non-pathological pursuit of a healthy diet. In light of the strong body of evidence supporting the role of positive body image in eating behavior, the current study aimed to examine the associations between healthy orthorexia, orthorexia nervosa, intuitive eating and indices of positive body image. The current study employed a cross-sectional design. An online community sample (N = 835; 62% women; Mage = 40.24, SD = 14.45) completed self-report questionnaires including the Teruel Orthorexia Scale, Body Appreciation Scale-2, Functionality Appreciation Scale, Intuitive Eating Scale-2, and Experience of Embodiment Scale. Intuitive eating and indices of positive body image were significantly positively associated with healthy orthorexia and inversely associated with orthorexia nervosa. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis found thatintuitive eating and indices of body image were uniquely associated with 13.3% of the variance of healthy orthorexia above and beyond that accounted for by orthorexia nervosa. Intuitive eating moderated the relationship between healthy orthorexia and orthorexia nervosa. The findings of this study provide support for intuitive eating and indices of positive body image as worthy of further exploration as important factors which distinguish between healthy orthorexia and orthorexia nervosa. V, descriptive study.

Evaluation of the Chrononutrition Profile – Questionnaire in an online community sample of adults

Chrononutrition (i.e., circadian timing of food intake) has been linked to indicators of health status such as body weight and insulin resistance. A measure of general chrononutrition patterns, the Chrononutrition Profile – Questionnaire, has been developed and preliminary evidence of validity and reliability of the measure has been documented in a homogenous group of undergraduates. However, this measure has not yet been validated in an online, community-based sample. The present study therefore aimed to evaluate the validity of the Chrononutrition Profile – Questionnaire in a web-based community sample. Analyses suggested that the Chrononutrition Profile – Questionnaire displays acceptable validity for use in diverse community samples of adults, with moderate to strong correlations (r = 0.39–0.91) between the Chrononutrition Profile – Questionnaire and measures of dietary intake and sleep. This measure is suitable for use in a variety of settings, by stakeholders and scientists, and may contribute to future development of health behavior interventions and research programs centered around chrononutrition.