Specific Negative Events Research Articles

The Protective Role of Perceived Control on Associations Between Job Loss, Financial Difficulties, and Substance Use Among Young Adults Early in the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Adverse life events that threaten normative transitions are associated with increased alcohol and cannabis use among young adults. However, few studies have tested the extent to which specific negative events impact substance use behaviors nor identified relevant risk or protective factors (e.g., perceived control). During the COVID-19 pandemic, young adults experienced economic adversities (i.e., job loss and financial strain) at disproportionally high rates. This provided a unique opportunity to test associations between job loss/financial difficulties and substance use outcomes and whether perceived control in work and finance domains moderated these associations. Young adults completed self-report surveys at two time points-prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (January 2020) and in the acute phase of the pandemic (April/May 2020). Participants (N = 519; Mage = 25.4years; 62.8% female) were recruited in and around Seattle, WA, as part of an ongoing longitudinal cohort study. Pandemic-related job loss (18.9%) and financial difficulty (49.7%) were relatively common in this sample. Job loss was associated with increased number of drinks on the heaviest past-month drinking occasion (from January 2020 to April/May 2020). Financial difficulty was associated with increased drinking frequency and number of drinks on the heaviest drinking occasion. The effect of job loss and financial difficulty on alcohol and cannabis use was generally moderated by participants' perceived control of these domains. For those with low perceived control, job loss/financial difficulty was associated with increased alcohol/cannabis use, but for those high in perceived control, job loss/financial difficulty was associated with decreased alcohol use frequency. Findings give advance understanding of how economic adversities relate to young adults' alcohol and cannabis use. Notably, perceived control over these domains may be modifiable through prevention efforts aiming to foster self-efficacy among young people and policy to provide available agency to those in need.

Development of the Japanese Version of the State Self-Compassion Scale (SSCS-J).

Research in the U.S. developed and validated the State Self-Compassion Scale (SSCS), which measures self-compassionate reactions toward a specific negative event. The current study is aimed at developing the Japanese version of the State Self-Compassion Scale (SSCS-J) and extending previous findings in the U.S. by showing measurement invariance across sexes and demonstrating the construct validity of this scale. Across two studies (n = 596 in Study 1, n = 474 in Study 2), the bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling representation of the SSCS-J showed excellent fit in which a single global factor (i.e., self-compassion) and most of the specific factors (six subscales) were well defined. Study 1 further provided evidence for the measurement invariance across sexes. The SSCS-J was related with higher trait self-compassion and lower fear of and negative beliefs about self-compassion. In Study 2, participants who were instructed to be self-compassionate reported higher scores in the SSCS-J relative to those in the control condition. These results attest to the replicability of the factor structure of the SSCS in Japan and provide further evidence for the construct validity of this scale.

Empirical analysis of dynamic spillovers between exchange rate return, return volatility and investor sentiment

PurposeThis paper aims to analyze the effects of investors’ sentiment, return and risk series on one to another of selected exchange rates. The empirical analysis consists of a time-varying inter-dependence between the observed variables, with the focus on spillovers between the variables.Design/methodology/approachMonthly data on the index Sentix, exchange rates EUR–USD, EUR–CHF and EUR–JPY are analyzed from February 2003 to December 2019. The applied methodology consists of vector autoregression models (VAR) with Diebold and Yilmaz (2009, 2011) spillover indices.FindingsThe results of the empirical research indicate that using static analysis could result in misleading conclusions, with dynamic analysis indicating that the financial of 2007-2008 and specific negative events increase the spillovers of shock between the observed variables for all three exchange rates. The sources of shocks in the model change over time because of variables changing their positions being net emitters and net receivers of shocks.Research limitations/implicationsThe shortfalls of this study include using the monthly data frequency, as this was available for the authors, namely, investors are interested to obtain new information on a weekly and daily basis, not only monthly. However, at the time of writing this research, we could obtain only monthly data.Practical implicationsAs the obtained results are in line with previous literature and were found to be robust, there exists the potential to use such analysis in the future when forecasting risk and return series for portfolio management purposes. Thus, a basic comparison was made regarding the investment strategies, which were based on the results from the estimation. It was shown that using information about shock spillovers could result in strategies that can obtain better portfolio value over time compared to basic benchmark strategies.Originality/valueFirst, this paper allows for the spillovers of shocks in variables within the VAR models in all directions. Second, a dynamic analysis is included in the study. Third, the mentioned spillover indices are included in the study as well.

Valence-related impairments in the retrieval of specific autobiographical memories amongst patients with schizophrenia.

People with schizophrenia have difficulty recalling specific autobiographical events from their past. However, the nature of this difficulty (e.g., whether these problems are only for memories that are negative or positive) and the mechanisms associated with it remain poorly understood. The present investigation asked patients with schizophrenia (n=91) and healthy controls (n=109) to recall memories related to several positive and negative cue words. Participants also completed self-report measures of rumination and depressive symptoms and a measure of verbal fluency to assess executive functioning. Participants' memories were coded for specificity (whether or not they referred to a specific event lasting <24hr) and valence (positive vs. negative). Patients recalled fewer specific memories than controls and they showed particular difficulty recalling specific negative memories cued by negative words. For healthy controls, impoverished verbal fluency was associated with recall of fewer specific memories and particularly recall of fewer positive specific memories. These variables were unrelated to specificity amongst patients. Rumination was not associated with specificity in either group. These findings are discussed with reference to other mechanisms that might contribute towards reduced specificity in schizophrenia, such as the tendency to avoid negative affect, and the implications of this for interventions for schizophrenia and memory specificity problems. The experience of schizophrenia is associated with problems recalling specific events from one's past. In particular, patients have difficulty recalling specific negative memories from their past. These memory problems are independent of executive functioning difficulties, ruminative tendencies, and also depression symptoms. Interventions for memory problems in schizophrenia must target the difficulty people have in recalling specific negative events.

The use of multisimulation in determining fire hazards in buildings covered by expertise

The variety of architectural solutions of buildings and the multitude of purposes to which they will be used enforces the use of solutions not directly provided for in the law. To ensure an adequate level of safety are used replacement and substitution conditions. The currently functioning system of expert opinions is based on expert knowledge, which is often difficult to assess and gives divergent solutions for similar cases. Development of an objective and repeatable method of matching optimal solutions to the threat of fire is an area of current research in the field of fire safety engineering. The subject of the work covered the process of determining the scenarios causing the greatest threat while estimating the probability of its appearance. Using the multisimulation method - multiple simulations for a given object with determine variables is established the probability distribution of specific negative events. Variables are drawn based on distributions developed with statistical methods from historical data. The method is based on the known input data - British Standards and with keeping a sufficiently large number of draws gives reproducible results - probability distributions. In addition, the model can be expanded with new variables and adapted to atypical issues.

Ethiopathogenesis of depressive disorders.

Etiology of depressive disorders is still unknown. Several factors are involved in its pathophysiology such as neurotransmitters and neuroendocrine alterations, genetics, life events and their appraisal. Some of these components are strictly linked. Subjects with a family member affected by mood disorders are more prone to suffer from depressive disorders. It is also true that receiving feedbacks of indifference or neglect during childhood from one parent who suffer from depression may represent a factor of vulnerability. Indeed, reaction to a specific negative event may determine an increased allostasis which lead to a depressive episode. Thus, a psychological cause does not exclude a neurobiological cascade. Whereas in other cases recurrent depressive episodes appear in absence of any negative life event. This review provides a set of data regarding the current etiopathogenesis models of depression, with a particular attention to the neurobiological correlates and vulnerability factors.

Negative events in childhood predict trajectories of internalizing symptoms up to young adulthood: an 18-year longitudinal study.

BackgroundCommon negative events can precipitate the onset of internalizing symptoms. We studied whether their occurrence in childhood is associated with mental health trajectories over the course of development.MethodsUsing data from the TEMPO study, a French community-based cohort study of youths, we studied the association between negative events in 1991 (when participants were aged 4–16 years) and internalizing symptoms, assessed by the ASEBA family of instruments in 1991, 1999, and 2009 (n = 1503). Participants' trajectories of internalizing symptoms were estimated with semi-parametric regression methods (PROC TRAJ). Data were analyzed using multinomial regression models controlled for participants' sex, age, parental family status, socio-economic position, and parental history of depression.ResultsNegative childhood events were associated with an increased likelihood of concurrent internalizing symptoms which sometimes persisted into adulthood (multivariate ORs associated with > = 3 negative events respectively: high and decreasing internalizing symptoms: 5.54, 95% CI: 3.20–9.58; persistently high internalizing symptoms: 8.94, 95% CI: 2.82–28.31). Specific negative events most strongly associated with youths' persistent internalizing symptoms included: school difficulties (multivariate OR: 5.31, 95% CI: 2.24–12.59), parental stress (multivariate OR: 4.69, 95% CI: 2.02–10.87), serious illness/health problems (multivariate OR: 4.13, 95% CI: 1.76–9.70), and social isolation (multivariate OR: 2.24, 95% CI: 1.00–5.08).ConclusionsCommon negative events can contribute to the onset of children's lasting psychological difficulties.

The consequences of perceived discrimination for psychological well-being: A meta-analytic review.

In 2 meta-analyses, we examined the relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological well-being and tested a number of moderators of that relationship. In Meta-Analysis 1 (328 independent effect sizes, N = 144,246), we examined correlational data measuring both perceived discrimination and psychological well-being (e.g., self-esteem, depression, anxiety, psychological distress, life satisfaction). Using a random-effects model, the mean weighted effect size was significantly negative, indicating harm (r = -.23). Effect sizes were larger for disadvantaged groups (r = -.24) compared to advantaged groups (r = -.10), larger for children compared to adults, larger for perceptions of personal discrimination compared to group discrimination, and weaker for racism and sexism compared to other stigmas. The negative relationship was significant across different operationalizations of well-being but was somewhat weaker for positive outcomes (e.g., self-esteem, positive affect) than for negative outcomes (e.g., depression, anxiety, negative affect). Importantly, the effect size was significantly negative even in longitudinal studies that controlled for prior levels of well-being (r = -.15). In Meta-Analysis 2 (54 independent effect sizes, N = 2,640), we examined experimental data from studies manipulating perceptions of discrimination and measuring well-being. We found that the effect of discrimination on well-being was significantly negative for studies that manipulated general perceptions of discrimination (d = -.25), but effects did not differ from 0 when attributions to discrimination for a specific negative event were compared to personal attributions (d = .06). Overall, results support the idea that the pervasiveness of perceived discrimination is fundamental to its harmful effects on psychological well-being.

Guilt by Design: Structuring Organizations to Elicit Guilt as an Affective Reaction to Failure

In this article, we outline a model of how organizations can effectively shape employees’ affective reactions to failure. We do not suggest that organizations eliminate the experience of negative affect following performance failures—instead, we propose that they encourage a more constructive form of negative affect (guilt) instead of a destructive one (shame). We argue that guilt responses prompt employees to take corrective action in response to mistakes, whereas shame responses are likely to elicit more detrimental effects of negative affect. Furthermore, we suggest that organizations can play a role in influencing employees’ discrete emotional reactions to the benefit of both employees and the organization. We describe the necessary antecedents for encouraging guilt responses without simultaneously eliciting shame. In essence, employees are more likely to experience guilt (but not shame) if they feel they had control over a specific negative event and the event resulted in a negative outcome for others. Given these necessary preconditions, we identify a set of organizational characteristics—autonomy, specificity of performance feedback, and outcome interdependence—that can be modified to make the experience of guilt more likely than that of shame in the workplace. The ethical and practical limits of shaping employees’ emotional experiences within a negative affective domain are also addressed.

Calling All Arachnophobic Entomologists: A Request for Information

199 e.g., having to approach one in a behavioral avoidance test (Vasey et al. 2012). Development of arachnophobia may be influenced by a specific negative event (which could range from merely being frightened by the unexpected appearance of a spider during a sensitive moment to having a strong reaction to a toxic bite); however, spider-phobes often report that they have always been phobic (Jones and Menzies 1995). In something of a paradoxical situation, a survey of members of the American Tarantula Society showed that 51% of the respondents at one point had a fear of spiders, but used exposure and education to lessen their anxieties (Kleinknecht 1982). A blatantly obvious statement is that entomologists work with insects. Intriguingly, over the decades of research involving spiders, I have encountered a number of entomological colleagues who are arachnophobic, ranging from mild dislike to extreme repellent reactions. Considering the great variety of morphologies that insects display, it seems paradoxical that an entomologist would have a different reaction to spiders than to other arthropods. Two mild examples known to me include entomology faculty: one professor admitted that spiders “creeped him out” and another warned his staff during field research to avoid specific areas because of spider presence. In an example of an extreme case, a former entomology colleague, who grew up in endemic brown recluse spider territory, was so successfully indoctrinated to fear spiders by her parents that she could not photocopy a spider-related chapter from her medical entomology textbook, and she nervously asked whether tarantulas might be active during her weekend entomology field trips to the desert. On another occasion, I opened a package mailed to me Calling All Arachnophobic Entomologists: A Request for Information

Cognitive processes involved in the evaluation of life satisfaction: Implications for well-being

Extensive research has been conducted on the level and the predictors of well-being in old age, but less is known about the cognitive processes used by the aging individual to evaluate life satisfaction. To investigate the relationship between well-being in the present and in previous decades in life and explore the cognitive processes involved in these evaluations, 203 old participants aged 70–85 years were interviewed and their level of present life satisfaction and depressive symptoms was measured. One year later, depressive symptoms were recorded for a follow-up sample of 65 participants. The results showed that evaluating old age as the best part of life was related to increased well-being. Evaluations of positive periods in life were based on general positive qualities, whereas specific negative events were given as reasons for nominations of negative periods in life. Deviations from this general pattern were related to lower levels of well-being. Use of comparison strategies to evaluate present life satisfaction was frequently reported, and the use of temporal comparisons was predictive of changes in depression over a one-year period. The present study indicates that the cognitive processes used in the evaluation of life satisfaction are related to present and future well-being.

Roles of the Availability of Explanations, Feelings of Ease, and Dysphoria In Judgments about the Future

This study investigated the process by which individuals with and without dysphoria judge the likelihood that specific negative events will happen to them. More specifically, it examined whether the positive relationship usually found between dysphoria and pessimism is mediated by how easy it feels to imagine reasons why such events would happen to the self. We manipulated the number of reasons that participants imagined (two vs. five) as an additional predictor of ease. Regression analysis indicated that both the number of reasons imagined and dysphoria predicted feelings of ease. Moreover, dysphoria and feelings of ease predicted likelihood judgments. Finally, feelings of ease partially mediated the relationship between dysphoria and likelihood judgments. We discuss the results in terms of the availability heuristic, the simulation heuristic, and ease of recall (e.g., Schwarz et al., 1991), as well as possible moderators of depressed individuals' judgments of future events.

Optimism, hostility, and adjustment in the first year of high school.

The period of transition to high school is marked by large variations in student adjustment patterns. Many students make successful adjustments but others do not and are at risk of developing hostile attitudes towards their school environment. This study sought to investigate the role of optimism and pessimism in predicting the extent of hostility students express towards school. The sample consisted of 102 students who completed questionnaires at the beginning of the school year, and also in the last term of their first year at high school. Students responded to questionnaires assessing their levels of (a) dispositional optimism and pessimism, (b) personal expectancies for the occurrence of specific negative events, and (c) depression and anxiety. Additional data concerning hostility to school, perceived classroom involvement, and student adjustment (self-reported and teacher-reported) to school measures were collected at the end of the year. In general, the girls reported greater levels of positive adjustment than boys. It was found that optimism together with expectations of negative events accounted for 21% of the variance in school hostility. In addition, optimism was significantly related to classroom involvement and to students' self-reported adjustment. Teachers' ratings of student adjustment were related only to gender. Only 15 (12 male, 3 female) of the 102 students were clearly hostile towards the school. We conclude that young people are vulnerable to adjustment problems when levels of dispositional optimism are not sufficiently strong to counteract high expectations about the possibility of specific negative events occurring.

Cognitive distortions: thought-action fusion

Thought–action fusion (TAF) is a cognitive distortion with two forms: ‘probability TAF’ in which the intrusive thought is believed to increase the probability that a specific negative event will occur and ‘morality TAF’ in which experiencing the intrusive thoughts is morally equivalent to carrying out a prohibited action. This distortion is especially prominent in obsessions, is closely related to guilt and is associated with subsequent attempts at neutralization. A comparable cognitive distortion termed ‘thought–shape fusion’ has been found in a minority of people with eating problems and occurs when the thought of eating is sufficient to induce feelings of fatness, moral unacceptability and weight gain. These cognitive distortions can be manipulated experimentally and have clinical implications that include improvement in understanding the nature of the disorder and its treatment. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Worry and the prediction of future threatening events : Association with gender and trait anxiety

Worry and generalized anxiety have been conceptualized as being determined by beliefs that in the future, threatening events are likely to occur. This study was designed to test the hypothesis that gender differences in anxiety might be associated with this type of cognitive bias. Gender, trait anxiety, and personal control over event outcomes were treated as predictor variables for ratings of the predicted probability of threatening events. Subjects were presented a variety of ambiguous situations differing in level of personal control of outcomes and were asked to predict the probability of specific negative event outcomes for each of these situations. The results supported the hypothesis that a lower level of personal control was associated with higher probability ratings of future adverse events regardless of gender or level of trait anxiety. An interaction of level of anxiety and gender upon probability ratings was also found. Highly anxious female participants were found to respond with the highest probability ratings of threatening events. The findings were discussed in terms of their implications for cognitive theories of anxiety and the etiology and maintenance of anxiety in the different genders.