Protective and Exacerbating Cognition and Attribution Factors From the Cognitive Discrepancy Theory of Loneliness

According to the cognitive discrepancy theory, although the discrepancy between actual and desired social resources may result in loneliness, Perlman and Peplau (1998) suggested that cognitive processing and attributional style also impact the interpretation of social information. Previous empirical research investigating predictors of loneliness have not assessed a wide range of cognition and attribution factors, so this study filled this gap by examining how protective (optimism, sense of mastery, and purpose in life) and exacerbating (depression, control constraints, negative self-perceptions of aging (SPA), and experiences of age-based discrimination) factors influence and moderate the experience of loneliness cross-sectionally and longitudinally using a sample of 3,345 Americans aged 50 years and older from the 2008 and 2012 waves of the Health and Retirement Study. Optimism (βs = -.15, -.13), mastery (βs = -.08, -.07), purpose in life (βs = -.19, -.18), depression (βs = .22,.14), control constraints (βs = .18, .17), negative SPA (βs = .13, .14), and experiences of ageism (βs = .07, .06) were significantly related to loneliness cross-sectionally and longitudinally, respectively. Optimism buffered the negative impact of poor functional social resources (e.g., low social support) on loneliness cross-sectionally while control constraints, negative SPA, and experiencing ageism exacerbated the relationship between low functional social resources and loneliness cross-sectionally. None of the protective or exacerbating factors modulated the relationship between functional social resources and loneliness longitudinally. These findings have important implications for the development of interventions that target loneliness. Targeting maladaptive cognitions may be particularly effective in reducing loneliness.

Are There Gender Differences in Social Cognition in First-Episode Psychosis?

The aim of this study was to explore gender differences in social cognition in a sample of first-episode psychosis (FEP). An observational descriptive study was performed with 191 individuals with FEP. Emotion perception was assessed using the Faces Test, theory of mind was assessed using the Hinting Task, and attributional style was assessed using the Internal, Personal and Situational Attributions Questionnaire. No gender differences were found in any of the social cognitive domains. Our results suggest that men and women with FEP achieve similar performances in social cognition. Therefore, targeting specific needs in social cognition regarding gender may not be required in early interventions for psychosis.

Child Anxiety Profiles in Chilean Elementary School Students and Academic Self-Attributions in Mathematics

The present study had a dual objective: to verify the existence of profiles of anxious students and to relate the possible profiles with causal self-attributions in the area of mathematics. The sample consisted of 1,730 Chilean children from 9 to 11 years old ( M = 10.05; SD = 1.03). The Visual Analog Scale for Anxiety-Revised and the Sydney Attribution Scale were administered. Four profiles were found by using the latent class analysis: Low Anxiety, Moderate Anxiety, Moderate Anxiety School-type and High Anxiety. The High Anxiety profile tended to attribute its failures more to ability and effort. However, the Moderate Anxiety School-type group showed a greater tendency to attribute its failures to external causes and its successes to effort. The practical implications of these findings for improving the attributional style and the anxiety levels of each profile are discussed.

A randomised controlled trial of a family-group cognitive-behavioural (FGCB) preventive intervention for the children of parents with depression: short-term effects on symptoms and possible mechanisms

Objective Parental depression is one of the biggest risk factors for youth depression. This parallel randomized controlled trial evaluates the effectiveness of the German version of the family-group-cognitive-behavioral (FGCB) preventive intervention for children of depressed parents. Methods Families with (i) a parent who has experienced depression and (ii) a healthy child aged 8–17 years (mean = 11.63; 53% female) were randomly allocated (blockwise; stratified by child age and parental depression) to the 12-session intervention (EG; n = 50) or no intervention (CG; usual care; n = 50). Self-reported (unblinded) outcomes were assessed immediately after the intervention (6 months). We hypothesized that CG children would show a greater increase in self-reported symptoms of depression (DIKJ) and internalising/externalising disorder (YSR/CBCL) over time compared to the EG. Intervention effects on secondary outcome variables emotion regulation (FEEL-KJ), attributional style (ASF-KJ), knowledge of depression and parenting style (ESI) were also expected. Study protocol (Belinda Platt, Pietsch, Krick, Oort, & Schulte-Körne, 2014) and trial registration (NCT02115880) reported elsewhere. Results We found significant intervention effects on self-reported internalising ($$\eta_{p}^{2}$$ η p 2 = 0.05) and externalising ($$\eta_{p}^{2}$$ η p 2 = 0.08) symptoms but did not detect depressive symptoms or parent-reported psychopathology. Parental depression severity did not modify these effects. Both groups showed equally improved knowledge of depression ($$\eta_{p}^{2}$$ η p 2 = 0.06). There were no intervention effects on emotion regulation, attributional style or parenting style. Conclusion The German version of the FGCB intervention is effective in reducing symptoms of general psychopathology. There was no evidence that the mechanisms targeted in the intervention changed within the intervention period.

Aggression: Risk Factors in the Person and the Situation

Aggressive behavior is defined as social behavior carried out with the intention to harm. Violence denotes those forms of aggression that are intended to cause severe physical harm. Aggressive behavior has severe negative consequences for individuals, social groups, and societies as a whole. Therefore, understanding why some individuals are more prone to engaging in aggressive behavior than others and some situational circumstances and social contexts are more likely to elicit aggressive behavior is a critical task. Influential psychological theories of aggression conceptualize aggression as the result of the interplay between variables in the person and the situation. To explain individual differences in aggressive behavior, one line of research has looked at broad personality dimensions, such as self-esteem and narcissism, lack of self-control, and the “Big-Five” personality factors. Evidence shows that high narcissism, low self-control, low openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness, and high neuroticism are linked to a higher propensity to engage in aggressive behavior. Another line of research has focused on more circumscribed, aggression-related personality constructs, demonstrating that individuals who are habitually anger-prone, have a tendency ruminate about anger-eliciting experiences, and show a hostile attributional style in terms of seeing other persons’ behavior as an expression of hostile intent are more likely to show aggressive behavior. On the side of the situation and social environment, several conditions have been identified under which the likelihood of aggressive behavior is increased. Individuals are more likely to show aggressive behavior when they have consumed alcohol, after they have experienced social rejection by others, when aggressive cues, such as weapons, are present in the situation, and when they have access to a firearm. Aggression is also more likely to be shown under conditions of anonymity and high temperature and as a result of regular exposure to depictions of violence in the media. In addition to such “main effects,” there is evidence of an interactive effect of individual and situational characteristics. For example, the impact of exposure to violent media is greater on individuals with a higher disposition to show aggressive behavior, and the effect of alcohol consumption on aggression is greater among people who are habitually prone to engage in angry rumination. Approaches to preventing aggression may build on the evidence on personal and situational differences. For example, anger management trainings may promote better control of angry impulses, focusing on the personal risk factors for aggression, whereas providing role models who show nonaggressive responses in anger-eliciting situations reflects a focus on situational interventions. In conclusion, personality and situational variables need to be considered in combination and interaction to predict when aggressive behavior is likely to occur. Gaining a better understanding of the factors promoting aggressive behavior needs to remain high on the agenda for theory building and empirical research in psychology.

When Alterations in Social Cognition Meet Subjective Complaints in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Evaluation With the “ClaCoS” Battery

Background: Deficit in social communication is a core feature in Autism Spectrum Disorder but remains poorly assessed in classical clinical practice, especially in adult populations. This gap between needs and practice is partly due to a lack of standardized evaluation tools. The multicentric Research group in psychiatry GDR3557 (Institut de Psychiatrie) developed a new battery for social cognitive evaluation named “ClaCoS,” which allows testing the main components of social cognition: Emotion Recognition, Theory of Mind, Attributional Style, and Social Perception and Knowledge. It further provides an assessment of subjective complaints in social cognition.Methods: We compared the social cognition abilities of 45 adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder without intellectual disability and 45 neurotypically developed volunteers using the “ClaCoS” battery, in order to determine its relevance in the evaluation of social cognition impairments in autism. A correlational approach allowed us to test the links between subjective complaints and objectively measured impairments for the different components of social cognition.Results: As expected, the Autism Spectrum Disorder group showed deficits in all four components of social cognition. Moreover, they reported greater subjective complaints than controls regarding their social abilities, correlated to the neuropsychological assessments.Conclusion: The “ClaCoS” battery is an interesting tool allowing to assess social impairments in autism and to specify the altered components, for a better adjustment of tailored social cognition training programs. Our results further suggest that people with Autism Spectrum Disorder have a good social cognitive insight, i.e., awareness into social cognitive functioning, and may thus benefit from social cognitive training tools.

School Refusal Behaviour Profiles and Academic Self-Attributions in Language and Literature

School refusal behaviour has a major impact on the lives of children and adolescents, seriously affecting their personal, academic and social adjustment. The objectives of this research were: (1) to identify, using latent profile analysis, school refusal behaviour profiles based on the functional model and (2) to analyse the relationship between the identified school refusal behaviour profiles and academic self-attributions in language and literature. The School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised (SRAS-R) and the Sydney Attribution Scale (SAS) were administered to 926 Spanish students (51% boys) aged 8 to 11 (M = 9.57; SD = 1.07). Four school refusal behaviour profiles were obtained: low school refusal behaviour, school refusal behaviour by positive reinforcement, mixed school refusal behaviour and high mixed school refusal behaviour. School refuser profiles, characterised by high scores on the first three factors of the SRAS-R (high mixed and mixed school refusal behaviour profiles), reported higher scores on an academic self-attributional style, in which they associate their failures with a lack of ability and effort. Results are discussed, considering the relationship between school refusal behaviour and unsuitable attributional styles in language and literature. Promoting effective coping skills to deal with school failure situations will seek to improve, as far as possible, the needs of all students contributing to a healthy learning environment.

Self-Directed Passive Aggressive Behaviour as an Essential Component of Depression: Findings from two observational studies

Background Self-directed passive aggressive behaviour is defined as self-harm by inactivity or omission. Based on the self-control model of depression suggesting depressive symptoms to derive from distorted self-monitoring, self-evaluation and reduced self-reward as well as increased self-punishment and reduced self-reward, a relationship between self-directed passive aggressive behaviour and depression had been assumed. First evidence for this notion derives form a recent study, demonstrating a correlation between self-directed passive aggressive behaviour and depressive symptoms. However, it remains unclear if patients with depressive disorders report more self-directed passive aggressive behaviour than patients without depressive disorders and if self-directed passive aggression mediates the associations between distorted self-monitoring and self-evaluation with depressive symptoms.Methods Study 1 compared self-directed passive aggressive behaviour levels between 220 psychotherapy outpatients with (n = 140; 67.9% female; Mage = 40.0) and without (n = 80; 65.0% female; Mage = 36.2) depressive disorders. Diagnoses were made based on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM IV. Study 2 examined self-directed passive aggressive behaviour as mediator of the relationship between distorted self-monitoring and self-evaluation and depressive symptoms in 200 Psychology students.Results Compared to outpatients without depressive disorders, outpatients with depressive disorder reported significantly more self-directed passive aggression (d = 0.51). Furthermore, Study 2 verified self-directed passive aggressive behaviour as partial mediator of the relationship between dysfunctional attitudes (abcs = .22, 95%-CI = .14 − .31), attributional style (abcs = .20, 95%-CI = .13 − .27), ruminative response style (abcs = .15, 95%-CI = .09 − .21) and depressive symptoms.Conclusion Self-directed passive aggressive behaviour partially mediates the association between distorted self-monitoring and self-evaluation with depressive symptoms and might represent a core component of depressive disorders.Trial registration: Both studies were preregistered at the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS000140051 and DRKS000190201).

Usability of a Psychotherapeutic Interactive Gaming Tool Used in Facial Emotion Recognition for People with Schizophrenia

The objective of the study was to test the usability of ‘Feeling Master’ as a psychotherapeutic interactive gaming tool with LEGO cartoon faces showing the five basic emotions, for the assessment of emotional recognition in people with schizophrenia in comparison with healthy controls, and the relationship between face affect recognition (FER), attributional style, and theory of mind (ToM), which is the ability to understand the potential mental states and intentions of others. Nineteen individuals with schizophrenia (SZ) and 17 healthy control (HC) subjects completed the ‘Feeling Master’ that includes five basic emotions. To assess social cognition, the group with schizophrenia was evaluated with the Personal and Situational Attribution Questionnaire (IPSAQ) for the assessment of attributional style and the Hinting Task (ToM). Patients with SZ showed significant impairments in emotion recognition and their response time appeared to be slower than the HC in the recognition of each emotion. Taking into account the impairment in the recognition of each emotion, we only found a trend toward significance in error rates on fear recognition. The correlations between correct response on the ‘Feeling Master’ and the hinting task appeared to be significant in the correlation of surprise and theory of mind. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that the ‘Feeling Master’ could be useful for the evaluation of FER in people with schizophrenia. These results sustain the notion that impairments in emotion recognition are more prevalent in people with schizophrenia and that these are related with impairment in ToM.