Self-reported Negative Affect Research Articles

Consistency Over Flattery

Negative social feedback is often a source of distress. However, self-verification theory provides the counterintuitive explanation that negative feedback leads to less distress when it is consistent with chronic self-views. Drawing from this work, the present study examined the impact of receiving self-verifying feedback on outcomes largely neglected in prior research: implicit responses (i.e., physiological reactivity, facial expressions) that are difficult to consciously regulate and downstream behavioral outcomes. In two experiments, participants received either positive or negative feedback from interviewers during a speech task. Regardless of self-views, positive compared to negative feedback elicited lower self-reported negative affect. Implicit responses to negative feedback, however, depended on chronic self-views with more negative self-views associated with lower blood pressure reactivity, lower facial negativity, and enhanced creativity. These findings point at the role self-verification may play in long-term coping and stress regulation.

2211 – Are lifetime self-reported health (SRH), sleep difficulties, and negative affect correlates of suicidal ideation in pregnancy and postpartum?

Background Suicidality has a multifactorial determination and is clinically under-diagnosed. Self-reported poor health, negative affect and sleep difficulties are associated with psychological distress, including suicidality. Aim To analyze the association between lifetime SRH, sleep difficulties, negative affect (NA) and suicidal ideation in pregnancy (T0) and post-partum (T1) and if they are predictors of suicidal ideation. Methods 397 pregnant women completed the Portuguese version of POMS, PDSS and a set of items evaluating SRH, and sleep difficulties in the last trimester of pregnancy an three months of post-partum. Findings In pregnancy, suicidal ideation was significantly associated with lifetime SRH (p Conclusion Difficulties of initiating sleep should be considered an indicator of suicidal ideation during the perinatal period. However NA might explain this association.

The Impact of Group Music Therapy on Negative Affect of People with Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorders and Mental Illnesses

In this study, we explored the impact of group music therapy on levels of self-reported negative affect among men and women in a residential, integrated dual diagnosis treatment program. Participants had co-occurring substance use disorders (SUDs) and mental illnesses (MIs), predomi- nantly mood and anxiety disorders.Approximately 8.9 million Americans aged 18 years and older are dually diagnosed with SUDs and MIs (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2010). The high prevalence of co-occurring SUDs and mood and anxiety disorders, specifically, has been clearly estab- lished in clinical investigations (Merikangas, Dierker, & Szamari, 1998). One recent publication asserts that people with addictions are twice as likely as those in the general population to be diagnosed with these particular affective psychopathologies (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2009). When compared with singular diagnoses, the combination of substance-related and mental health disorders appears to be correlated with higher frequencies of homelessness (Caton et al., 1994), incarceration (Abram & Teplin, 1991), hospitaliza- tion (Drake & Brunette, 1998), and relapse (Swofford, Kasckow, Scheller-Gilkey, & Inderbitzin, 1996), as well as poorer overall quality of life (Singh, Mattoo, Sharan, & Basu, 2005).Although the benefits of music therapy in the treatment of SUDs and various forms of MI have been singularly researched and reported, the role and efficacy of music therapy in the treatment of individuals with coexisting disorders remains comparatively under investigated-this in spite of the fact that nearly 20% of members of the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) reportedly work with clients with psychiatric disorders (AMTA, 2010), many of whom undoubt- edly have multiple mental health diagnoses, as indicated above.The research team for the present study was comprised of a university faculty MT-BC (principal investigator) with nearly 30 years of clinical experience with adolescents and adults with MIs and two junior-level student music therapists (SMTs) from an AMTA-approved undergraduate training program. We were not considered clinical staff at the facility; rather we were viewed as faculty and student visitors who provided voluntary music therapy sessions as a service to the residents. The fourth author, a statistician, conducted the analysis of data and assisted with interpretation of the findings.Negative AffectDefinition and PrevalenceThe term affect, while variously defined in the professional psychology literature can be understood as an umbrella term for subjective experiences of a feelingful nature. Cheetham, Allen, Yucel, and Lubman (2010) define affect as relatively brief feelings that are experienced in response to a particular stimulus or situation'' (p. 623). In the course of a typical day, healthy individuals experience a multiplicity of these brief feelings (sometimes called emotions) with varying frequency, intensity, and duration. One's perception of emotions as positive or negative is dependent on the context and his or her emotional competence, defined as the ability to interpret and respond to feelings in self and others (Gross & Munoz, 1994). In this report, we use the term negative affect (NA) to refer to any brief emotion characterized by distress or displeasure (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). Examples include anxiety, anger, sadness, shame, fear, and so forth.Researchers have confirmed that NA figures prominently in psychopathologies, including the three most commonly represented among participants in our study: anxiety, depres- sion, and SUDs. Low positive affect and high NA (both state and trait) are major distinguishing features of anxiety and depression (Tellegen, 1985). In fact, by definition, people with Generalized Anxiety Disorder experience greater frequency, intensity, and duration of negative emotions like restlessness, irritability, worry, and fear than those without this diagnosis (APA, 2013). …

Assessment of self-reported negative affect in the NIH Toolbox

We report on the selection of self-report measures for inclusion in the NIH Toolbox that are suitable for assessing the full range of negative affect including sadness, fear, and anger. The Toolbox is intended to serve as a “core battery” of assessment tools for cognition, sensation, motor function, and emotional health that will help to overcome the lack of consistency in measures used across epidemiological, observational, and intervention studies. A secondary goal of the NIH Toolbox is the identification of measures that are flexible, efficient, and precise, an agenda best fulfilled by the use of item banks calibrated with models from item response theory (IRT) and suitable for adaptive testing. Results from a sample of 1763 respondents supported use of the adult and pediatric item banks for emotional distress from the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) as a starting point for capturing the full range of negative affect in healthy individuals. Content coverage for the adult Toolbox was also enhanced by the development of a scale for somatic arousal using items from the Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire (MASQ) and scales for hostility and physical aggression using items from the Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ).

Putting on a Happy Face: Emotional Expression in Parents of Children With Serious Illness

ContextCommunication is widely acknowledged as a crucial component of high-quality pediatric medical care, which is provided in situations in which parents typically experience strong emotions. ObjectivesTo explore emotion using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) and a self-report questionnaire to better understand the relationship between these two measures of emotion in a pediatric care context. MethodsSixty-nine parents of 47 children who were participants in the Decision Making in Pediatric Palliative Care Study at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia took part in this study. Parents completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and a semistructured interview about their children and experience with medical decision making. The transcribed interviews were analyzed with the LIWC program, which yields scores for positive and negative emotional expression. The association between LIWC and PANAS scores was evaluated using multivariate linear regression to adjust for potential confounders. ResultsParents who used more positive words when speaking about the illnesses of their children and the experience of medical decision making were more likely to report lower levels of positive affect on the PANAS: increase in the standard deviation of positive emotional expression was associated with an unadjusted 7.4% decrease in the self-reported positive affect (P = 0.015) and an adjusted 7.0% decrease in the self-reported positive affect (P = 0.057) after modeling for potential confounders. Increase in the standard deviation of negative emotional expression was associated with an adjusted 9.4% increase in the self-reported negative affect (P = 0.036). ConclusionThe inverse relationship between parents' positive emotional expression and their self-reported positive affect should remind both researchers and clinicians to be cognizant of the possibilities for emotional miscues, and consequent miscommunication, in the pediatric care setting.

Implicit and explicit emotional reactions to witnessing prejudice

The present study examined how individual differences in motivation to respond without prejudice predict self-reported negative affect and physiological responses to the prejudicial acts of others. One hundred and one White participants were paired with a Black “partner” and together they watched two White men on film having either a pro- or antidiversity discussion. The higher participants were on internal motivation to respond without prejudice, the greater their self-reported negative affect and the more they exhibited distress-related physiological responses during the antidiversity discussion. In contrast, during the prodiversity discussion participants lower in internal motivation to respond without prejudice showed greater physiological distress, but did not self-report more negative affect. These results suggest that only those who have internalized egalitarian goals exhibit the negative emotional responses likely to promote opposition to expressions of intergroup bias; those who lack these goals might instead react against efforts to promote diversity.

Smoking abstinence and depressive symptoms modulate the executive control system during emotional information processing

Smoking abstinence disrupts affective and cognitive processes. In this study, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to investigate the effects of smoking abstinence on emotional information processing. Smokers (n = 17) and non-smokers (n = 18) underwent fMRI while performing an emotional distractor oddball task in which rare targets were presented following negative and neutral task-irrelevant distractors. Smokers completed two sessions: once following 24-hour abstinence and once while satiated. The abstinent versus satiated states were compared by evaluating responses to distractor images and to targets following each distractor valence within frontal executive and limbic brain regions. Regression analyses were done to investigate whether self-reported negative affect influences brain response to images and targets. Exploratory regression analyses examined relations between baseline depressive symptoms and smoking state on brain function. Smoking state affected response to target detection in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). During satiety, activation was greater in response to targets following negative versus neutral distractors; following abstinence, the reverse was observed. Withdrawal-related negative affect was associated with right insula activation to negative images. Finally, depression symptoms were associated with abstinence-induced hypoactive response to negative emotional distractors and task-relevant targets following negative distractors in frontal brain regions. Neural processes related to novelty detection/attention in the right IFG may be disrupted by smoking abstinence and negative stimuli. Reactivity to emotional stimuli and the interfering effects on cognition are moderated by the magnitude of smoking state-dependent negative affect and baseline depressive symptoms.

Acute Effects of Marijuana Smoking on Negative and Positive Affect

Human studies and animal experiments present a complex and often contradictory picture of the acute impact of marijuana on emotions. The few human studies specifically examining changes in negative affect find either increases or reductions following delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) administration. In a 2 × 2, instructional set (told THC vs. told no THC) by drug administration (smoked marijuana with 2.8% THC vs. placebo) between-subjects design, we examined the pharmacologic effect of marijuana on physiological and subjective stimulation, subjective intoxication, and self-reported negative and positive affect with 114 weekly marijuana smokers. Individuals were first tested under a baseline/no smoking condition and again under experimental condition. Relative to placebo, THC significantly increased arousal and confusion/bewilderment. However, the direction of effect on anxiety varied depending on instructional set: Anxiety increased after THC for those told placebo but decreased among other participants. Furthermore, marijuana users who expected more impairment from marijuana displayed more anxiety after smoking active marijuana, whereas those who did not expect the impairment became less anxious after marijuana. Both pharmacologic and stimulus expectancy main effects significantly increased positive affect. Frequent marijuana users were less anxious after smoking as compared to less frequent smokers. These findings show that expectancy instructions and pharmacology play independent roles in effects of marijuana on negative affect. Further studies examining how other individual difference factors impact marijuana's effects on mood are needed.

Alexithymia in schizophrenia

Changes in emotional and social behavior are considered to be amongst the most common and debilitating consequences of schizophrenia. However, little is known of the effects of schizophrenia on alexithymia, which refers to impairment in aspects of understanding emotions. In the current study, participants with schizophrenia (n = 29) and nonclinical controls (n = 30) completed self-report and performance-based measures of this construct, in addition to measures of cognitive functioning, clinical symptomatology, and negative affect. The results indicated that individuals with schizophrenia showed increased alexithymia as indexed by the performance task, with these difficulties related to cognitive functioning, and the specific clinical symptom of alogia. However, although the correlation between self-reported alexithymia and negative affect in the schizophrenia group was congruent with prior empirical research and theory, there were no group differences in perceived levels of alexithymia. It is suggested that alexithymia may not be affected per se in schizophrenia (as indicated by the lack of group differences on the self-report measure of this construct), but that schizophrenia-related difficulties do emerge in contexts where cognitive demands are incremented.

Development of an Acceptance-Based Coping Intervention for Alcohol Dependence Relapse Prevention

ABSTRACT Both psychological and neurobiological findings lend support to the long-standing clinical observation that negative affect is involved in the development and maintenance of alcohol dependence, and difficulty coping with negative affect is a common precipitant of relapse after treatment. Although many current approaches to relapse prevention emphasize change-based strategies for managing negative cognitions and affect, acceptance-based strategies for preventing relapse to alcohol use are intended to provide methods for coping with distress that are fundamentally different from, though in theory complementary to, approaches that emphasize control and change. This paper describes the development of Acceptance-Based Coping for Relapse Prevention (ABCRP), a new intervention for alcohol-dependent individuals who are within 6 months of having quit drinking. Results of preliminary testing indicate that the intervention is feasible with this population; and a small uncontrolled pilot study (N = 23) showed significant (P < .01) improvements in self-reported negative affect, emotional reactivity, perceived stress, positive affect, psychological well-being, and mindfulness level, as well as a trend (P = .06) toward reduction in craving severity between pre- and postintervention assessments. The authors conclude that this acceptance-based intervention seems feasible and holds promise for improving affect and reducing relapse in alcohol-dependent individuals, warranting further research.

Cognitive reappraisal of negative affect: converging evidence from EMG and self-report.

Prior psychophysiological studies of cognitive reappraisal have generally focused on the down-regulation of negative affect, and have demonstrated either changes in self-reports of affective experience, or changes in facial electromyography, but not both. Unfortunately, when taken separately, these measures are vulnerable to different sources of bias, and alternative explanations might account for changes in these indicators of negative affect. What is needed is a study that (a) obtains measures of self-reported affect together with facial electromyography, and (b) examines the use of reappraisal to regulate externally and internally generated affective responses. In the present study, participants up- or down-regulated negative affect in the context of both negative and neutral pictures. Up-regulation led to greater self reports of negative affect, as well as greater corrugator and startle responses to both negative and neutral stimuli. Down-regulation led to lesser reports of negative affect, and lesser corrugator responses to negative and neutral stimuli. These results extend prior research by (a) showing simultaneous effects on multiple measures of affect, and (b) demonstrating that cognitive reappraisal may be used both to regulate responses to negative stimuli and to manufacture a negative response to neutral stimuli.

Emotional, cognitive and physiological correlates of abuse-related stress in borderline and antisocial personality disorder

Childhood abuse is an important precursor of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). The current study compared the emotional reactivity to abuse-related stress of these patients on a direct and an indirect level. Changes in self-reported affect and schema modes, psychophysiology and reaction time based cognitive associations were assessed following confrontation with an abuse-related film fragment in patients with BPD ( n = 45), ASPD ( n = 21), Cluster C personality disorder ( n = 46) and non-patient controls ( n = 36). Results indicated a hyperresponsivity of BPD-patients on self-reported negative affect and schema modes, on some psychophysiological indices and on implicit cognitive associations. The ASPD-group was comparable to the BPD group on implicit cognitions but did not show self-reported and physiological hyper-reactivity. These findings suggest that BPD and ASPD-patients are alike in their implicit cognitive abuse-related stress reactivity, but can be differentiated in their self-reported and physiological response patterns.

Associations Between Mindfulness and Implicit Cognition and Self-Reported Affect

ABSTRACT Theory suggests that mindful individuals exhibit enhanced attentional processing (e.g., attentional control) and that they maintain a detached perspective to problematic stimuli. For smokers, smoking and affective stimuli are problematic stimuli when they try to quit. In this cross-sectional study, smokers (n = 158) completed 3 modified Stroop tasks (to assess attentional control), 3 Implicit Association Tests (IATs; to assess detached perspective), and a battery of self-report assessments. Degree of mindfulness was negatively associated (P < .05) with self-reported negative affect, perceived stress, and depressive symptom severity, and positively associated (P < .05) with positive affect. Degree of mindfulness was not associated with the ability to disengage attention from smoking or affective stimuli. On the depression IAT, more mindful participants exhibited a more negative IAT effect, suggesting that they may have developed a detached perspective to depression-related stimuli. Theoretical and clinical implications of the data are discussed.

Structural Relations among Negative Affect, Mate Value, and Mating Effort

We compared the ability of models based on evolutionary economic theory and Life History (LH) Theory to explain relations among self-reported negative affect, mate value, and mating effort. Method: Two hundred thirty-eight undergraduates provided multiple measures of these latent constructs, permitting us to test a priori predictions based on Kirsner, Figueredo, and Jacobs (2003) . We compared the fit of the initial model to the fit of five alternative theory-driven models using nested model comparisons of Structural Equations Models. Rejecting less parsimonious and explanatory models eliminated the original model. Two equally parsimonious models explained the data pattern well. The first, based on evolutionary economic theory, specified that Negative Affect increases both Personal Mate Value and Mating Effort via the direct effects specified in the original model. The second, based on LH Theory, specified that Negative Affect, Personal Mate Value, and Mating Effort relate spuriously through a common latent construct, the LH Factor. The primary limitation of the present study is generalizability. We used self-reports taken from a young, university-based sample that included a spectrum of affective states. We cannot know how well these models generalize to an older population or to actual behavior. Both models predict the presence of a rich pattern of mate acquisition and retention behaviors, including an alarming set of behavioral tactics often not considered or targeted during treatment. Moreover, each model suggests a unique set of problems may arise after an effective intervention. We describe several ways to distinguish these models empirically.

Coping with Emotions Past: The Neural Bases of Regulating Affect Associated with Negative Autobiographical Memories

Although the ability to adaptively reflect on negative autobiographical experiences without ruminating is critical to mental health, to our knowledge no research has directly examined the neural systems underlying this process. Sixteen participants were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as they focused on negative autobiographical memories using cognitive strategies designed to facilitate (feel strategy) versus undermine (analyze and accept strategies) rumination. Two key findings were obtained. First, consistent with prior emotion regulation research using image-based stimuli, left prefrontal activity was observed during the implementation of all three strategies. Second, activity in a network of regions involved in self-referential processing and emotion, including subgenual anterior cingulate cortex and medial prefrontal cortex, was highest in response to the feel strategy and lowest for the accept strategy. This pattern of activation mirrored participants' self-reports of negative affect when engaging in each strategy. These findings shed light on the brain regions that distinguish adaptive versus maladaptive forms of reflecting on negative autobiographical memories and offer a novel, ecologically valid route to exploring the neural bases of emotion regulation using fMRI.

Treating Depression in the Prison Nursing Home

We describe a theoretically grounded and empirically developed intervention for depression with older men in a state reformatory nursing home. As the number of prisoners “aging in place” rises, there is a critical need for research on mental health interventions in prison nursing homes where inmates may be at high risk for depression and suicide. The participants in this project were four male residents in the Kentucky state prison system nursing home; all four had diagnoses of major depressive episodes. BE-ACTIV, a behavioral treatment for depression, is a hybrid approach that combines one-to-one sessions with the depressed resident and work with staff. One-to-one sessions motivate the resident to engage in new activities, while meetings with nursing home staff break down barriers to completion of pleasant events. Over the 10-week treatment, depressive symptoms declined, and global functioning increased an average of 13 points per participant. Two of the participants showed improved self-reported negative affect. Study results suggest that BE-ACTIV is feasible in the prison nursing home and has the potential to improve the quality of life for medically frail prisoners by helping them to identify meaningful or pleasant activities. The cases illustrate importance of therapeutic relationships in the context of improving depressive symptoms, and the possibility of building effective relationships in a setting with multiple barriers to effective treatment.

Neural Substrates of Implicit and Explicit Emotional Processes: A Unifying Framework for Psychosomatic Medicine

There are two broad themes in psychosomatic medicine research that relate emotions to physical disease outcomes. Theme 1 holds that self-reported negative affect has deleterious effects and self-reported positive affect has salubrious effects on health. Theme 2 holds that interference with the experience or expression of negative affect has adverse health consequences. From the perspective of self-report these two traditions appear contradictory. A key thesis of this paper is that the foundational distinction in cognitive neuroscience between explicit (conscious) and implicit (unconscious) processes, corresponding to Themes 1 and 2, respectively, provides a unifying framework that makes empirical research on unconscious emotional processes more tractable. A psychological model called "levels of emotional awareness" is presented first that places implicit and explicit emotional processes on a cognitive-developmental continuum. This model holds that the ability to become consciously aware of one's own feelings is a cognitive skill that goes through a developmental process similar to that which Piaget described for other cognitive functions. Empirical findings using the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale are presented. A parallel hierarchical model of the neural substrates of emotional awareness is presented next supported by recent neuroimaging and lesion work. The evidence presented in this review suggests that the neural substrates of implicit and explicit emotional processes are distinct, that the latter have a modulatory effect on the former, and that at the neural level Theme 1 and Theme 2 phenomena share critical similarities. The implications of this psychobiological model for research in psychosomatic medicine are discussed.

Hope, Locus of Control, and Quality of Health Among Elder Latina Cancer Survivors

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of hope and internal locus of control on the health and well-being of older women of Mexican origin who have been diagnosed with cancer. The study was conducted using data from Wave 2 of the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiological Study for the Elderly (H-EPESE), a survey of 3050 Mexican American elders living in five southwestern states. To examine the effects of locus of conttol and hope on self-reported health, somatization, negative affect, and resttiction of activity as dependent variables, we applied multiple regression (OLS) analysis to a sub sample of 109 women who reported having a diagnosis of cancer. We used four models to sequentially assess the effects of conttol variables, locus of conttol plus conttol variables, hope plus conttol variables, and both locus of conttol and hope plus conttol variables on each of the four dependent variables. The results indicated that locus of conttol was significantly associated only with three of the four dependent variables and hope was significantly associated with more favorable outcomes for each of the dependent variables. Implications for practice and further research are discussed.

Effects of experimentally manipulated peer rejection on children's negative affect, self-esteem, and maladaptive social behavior

Children (n = 88) aged 8 and 10 years participated in a minimal group study in which their rejection versus acceptance, by one other person versus a group of three people, was experimentally manipulated. Analysis of their self-reported negative affect, self-esteem, and maladaptive social behavior, revealed that, regardless of the source of the rejection (i.e., an individual versus a group), peer rejection caused a significant increase in the children's negative affect, but had no effect on their self-esteem. The findings also indicated that peer rejection instigated an increased tendency towards maladaptive social behavior, and that the latter effect was fully mediated by the children's negative affect. The implications of the findings for peer-rejection research are discussed.

Strategies actually employed during response-focused emotion regulation research: Affective and physiological consequences

Addressing internal validity concerns in emotion regulation research, the present experiment was primarily designed to determine whether research participants are compliant when asked to use a response-focused strategy during emotional film viewing or whether these individuals incorporate the use of antecedent strategies. The influence of antecedent vs. response-focused strategy use on self-reported affect, physiological, and behavioural data were additionally investigated. A total of 82 healthy undergraduate participants were asked to use one of two response-focused emotion regulation techniques—suppression or exaggeration—while watching a 2 minute positive or negative movie. Following the movie, participants self-reported their affective response to the film, described how they tried to suppress or exaggerate their reaction (i.e., strategies used to regulate their response), and estimated the percentage of time they used each strategy. Representing “antecedent” and “response-focused” techniques, the strategies reported by participants were coded as “cognitive” or “muscular” in nature. Relative to exaggerators, participants in the suppression condition were significantly more likely to self-report using an antecedent (cognitive) strategy for at least some portion of the film (65% vs. 38%). During the suppression condition, greater use of antecedent strategies did not influence sympathetic reactivity to either movie but did result in significantly less self-reported negative affect to the negative movie.