Parasites differentially impact crayfish personality in different contexts

The expression of an individual animal’s behaviour can be placed along many different personality spectra. Parasite load can alter animal behaviour and, thus, fitness. The personality traits of rusty crayfish, Faxonius rusticus, were analysed in three different behavioural contexts: foraging, exploration, and threatened. Each crayfish was tested in each context 3 times, giving a total of 9 assays per crayfish. After assays were completed, crayfish were dissected, and the hepatopancreas of each crayfish was photo analysed to determine the parasite load of the trematode, Microphallus spp. A composite personality score for each assay and parasite load was loaded into a PCA. The PCA model showed that as parasite load increased, crayfish became bolder in threatening contexts and less exploratory in novel environments, whether or not a food stimulus was present. Thus, parasite load alters the placement of crayfish on different personality spectra, but this change is context specific.

The association of quality of life and personality characteristics with adolescent metabolic syndrome: a cohort study

Background An increased prevalence of adolescent metabolic syndrome (MS) is associated with adulthood cardiovascular diseases. This study aimed to explore the potential relationship of quality of life (QoL) and personality traits with adolescent MS. Methods A total of 1961 participants from Chongqing with an average age of 11.68 years old from a cohort study established in 2014 and followed up through 2019 were included. QoL information, Eysenck’s personality questionnaire and MS components were collected. Results A higher QoL domain score of physical activity ability (PAA) was a protective factor for both MS and MS score (all P < 0.01), which was mainly negatively correlated with the MS components of central obesity, diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and triglyceride levels, as well as positively correlated with high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level. The total QoL score was negatively correlated with triglyceride levels and positively correlated with DBP (all P < 0.01). High extraversion personality score was a protective factor against adolescent MS (P = 0.04) and MS score (P < 0.05), which were mainly negatively correlated with the MS components of waist circumference, systolic blood pressure and TGs, and positively correlated with HDL-C (all P ≤ 0.01). Conclusions QoL score and extraversion personality score were independent protective factors against both MS prevalence and MS score, suggesting that community intervention to improve the QoL and psychological health of children are essential.

Insomnia partially mediates the relationship between pathological personality traits and depression: a case-control study

Background and Objective Personality disorders are frequently associated with insomnia and depression, but little is known about the inter-relationships among these variables. Therefore, this study examined these inter-relationships and the possible mediating effect of insomnia on the association between specific personality pathologies and depression severity. Methods There were 138 study participants, including 69 individuals with depression and 69 healthy controls. The main variables were measured by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-24 (HAMD-24), Athens Sleep Insomnia Scale (AIS), and the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire (PDQ-4+). Multivariate linear regression and mediation analysis were conducted. Results With the exception of the antisocial personality score, all the PDQ-4+ scores and AIS scores were significantly higher in the depression group than in the healthy control group (p < 0.001). In the total sample, all personality pathology scores (p < 0.001), except the antisocial personality score, had significant positive correlations with the AIS scores and HAMD-24 scores, and the AIS scores and HAMD-24 scores were positively correlated (r = 0.620, p < 0.001). Regression analysis revealed that borderline personality, passive-aggressive personality, and insomnia positively predicted the severity of depression, after adjusting for sociodemographic covariates, and that insomnia partially mediated the associations of borderline personality and passive-aggressive personality with depression severity. Conclusions Borderline personality, passive-aggressive personality, and insomnia tend to increase the severity of depression, and the effect of borderline and passive-aggressive personality on depression severity may be partially mediated by insomnia. This is the first study to report these findings in a Chinese sample, and they may help researchers to understand the pathways from specific personality pathologies to the psychopathology of depression better, which should be useful for designing interventions to relieve depression severity, as the impact of specific personality pathology and insomnia should be considered.

Online Betting Intensity is Linked with Extraversion and Conscientiousness

INTRODUCTION. Extraversion and conscientiousness are well-studied personality traits associated with reward processing and goal prioritization, respectively, and bear on individual differences in financial risk-taking. Using unique large datasets, we investigated the link between these traits and male online gamblers’ actual betting participation and intensity. METHODS. We combined datasets containing online horse betting data (during 2015-2016) from the Finnish monopoly betting company; administrative registry data from Statistics Finland; and personality trait measures from the Finnish Defence Forces corresponding to extraversion and conscientiousness as defined in the five-factor model. We modelled associations between these traits and betting participation (n=471,968) and intensity (n=11,217) among male horse bettors (age=36–53). RESULTS. Controlling for demographics and IQ, individuals scoring high on conscientiousness (or extraversion) were less (or more) likely to bet, and less (or more) intensive bettors – even when personality was measured 16–34 years before betting occurred. One SD personality score increase represented an annual decrease (conscientiousness) or increase (extraversion) of €570-754 in spending. CONCLUSION. Extraversion and conscientiousness are implicated in real-life financial behavior with tangible consequences for individuals. These effects are stronger than for many known demographic variables used in gambling studies, and persist up to 34 years after personality has been measured.

The Association of Quality of Life and Personality Characteristics with Adolescent Metabolic Syndrome: a Cohort Study

Background: An increased prevalence of adolescent metabolic syndrome (MS) is associated with adulthood cardiovascular diseases. This study aimed to explore the potential relationship of quality of life (QoL) and personality traits with adolescent MS. Methods：A total of 1961 participants from Chongqing with an average age of 11.68 years from a cohort study established in 2014 and followed through 2019 were included. QoL information, Eysenck’s personality questionnaire and MS components were collected.Results: The prevalence of adolescent MS was 4.69% (95% confidence interval, 3.84%-5.72%). A higher QoL domain score of physical activity ability (PAA) was a protective factor for both MS and MS score (all P<0.01), which was mainly negatively correlated with central obesity, diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and triglycerides levels, as well as positively correlated with high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level. The total QoL score was negatively correlated with triglycerides level and positively correlated with DBP (all P<0.01). High extraversion personality score was a protective factor against adolescent MS (P=0.04) and MS score (P<0.05), which was mainly negatively correlated with waist circumference, systolic blood pressure and TGs, and positively correlated with HDL-C (all P≤0.01).Conclusions: QoL score and extraversion personality score were independent protective factors against both MS prevalence and MS score, suggesting that community intervention to improve the QoL and psychological health of children is essential.

Extending schizophrenia diagnostic model to predict schizotypy in first-degree relatives

Recently, we developed a machine-learning algorithm “EMPaSchiz” that learns, from a training set of schizophrenia patients and healthy individuals, a model that predicts if a novel individual has schizophrenia, based on features extracted from his/her resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. In this study, we apply this learned model to first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients, who were found to not have active psychosis or schizophrenia. We observe that the participants that this model classified as schizophrenia patients had significantly higher “schizotypal personality scores” than those who were not. Further, the “EMPaSchiz probability score” for schizophrenia status was significantly correlated with schizotypal personality score. This demonstrates the potential of machine-learned diagnostic models to predict state-independent vulnerability, even when symptoms do not meet the full criteria for clinical diagnosis.

The Association of Quality of Life and Personality Characteristics with Adolescent Metabolic Syndrome: A Cohort Study

Background: Increased prevalence of adolescent metabolic syndrome (MS) is a tracking factor for adulthood cardiovascular diseases. This study aimed to explore the potential relationship of quality of life (QoL) and personality traits with adolescent MS. Methods：1961 participants aged 11.68 years from a cohort study established in 2014 and followed in 2019 was included in Chongqing. Quality of life (QoL) and Eysenck’s personality questionnaire and MS components were collected.Results：The prevalence of adolescent MS is 4.69% (95% confidence interval, 3.84%-5.72%). Higher QoL domain score of physical activity ability (PAA) was a protective factor for both MS and MS score (all P<0.01), which was mainly negatively correlated with central obesity, diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and triglycerides levels, and positively correlated with high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level. Total score of QoL was negatively correlated with triglycerides level and positively correlated with DBP (all P<0.01). High extraversion personality score was a protective factor of adolescent MS (P=0.04) and MS score (P=0.06), which was mainly negatively correlated WC systolic blood pressure and TGs, and positively correlated with HDL-C (all P≤0.01).Conclusions：QoL score and extraversion personality score were independent protective factors for both MS prevalence and MS score, suggesting the community intervention to improve the QoL and psychological health of children is essential.

Inter-rater Reliability in Clinical Assessments: Do Examiner Pairings Influence Candidate Ratings?

Background: The reliability of clinical assessments is known to vary considerably with inter-rater reliability a key contributor. Many of the mechanisms that contribute to inter-rater reliability however remain largely unexplained and unclear. While research in other fields suggests personality of raters can impact ratings, studies looking at personality factors in clinical assessments are few. Many schools use the approach of pairing examiners in clinical assessments and asking them to come to an agreed score. Little is known however, about what occurs when these paired examiners interact to generate a score. Could personality factors have an impact? Methods: A fully-crossed design was employed with each participant examiner observing and scoring. A quasi-experimental research design used candidate’s observed scores in a mock clinical assessment as the dependent variable. The independent variables were examiner numbers, demographics and personality with data collected by questionnaire. A purposeful sample of doctors who examine in the Final Medical examination at our institution was recruited. Results: Variability between scores given by examiner pairs (N=6) was less than the variability with individual examiners (N=12). 75% of examiners (N=9) scored below average for neuroticism and 75% also scored high or very high for extroversion. Two-thirds scored high or very high for conscientiousness. The higher an examiner’s personality score for extroversion, the lower the amount of change in his/her score when paired up with a co-examiner; reflecting possibly a more dominant role in the process of reaching a consensus score. Conclusions: The reliability of clinical assessments using paired examiners is comparable to assessments with single examiners. Personality factors, such as extroversion, may influence the magnitude of change in score an individual examiner agrees to when paired up with another examiner. Further studies on personality factors and examiner behaviour are needed to test associations and determine if personality testing has a role in reducing examiner variability.

Perceived Usefulness of Multimodal Voice Assistant Technology

Smart speaker devices are appealing to consumers, but the perceived usefulness of the multimodal voice experience is not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which cognitive load, the relevance of visual information, and personality influence the perceived usefulness of multimodal voice assistant technology in a within-subjects repeated measures design. A multimodal voice prototype was created to answer the question, “What are some extreme weather conditions?” Nine variants, including 3, 5 and 7 system responses with relevant, irrelevant or no information presented on a screen were included. Three tasks were embedded within each condition (Stroop task, sort M&Ms and no task). Perceived usefulness score, recall, personality score, and fluctuations in galvanic skin response (GSR) values were the subjective and objective measures. The findings suggest that when there’s a smaller number of responses/words for the participant to attend to, and subsequently recall, in addition to relevant visual feedback to aid in that recall, they perceive the voice assistant experience to be more useful, while task conducted exhibits marginal significance in determining PU. Scores of conscientiousness, openness to experience, agreeableness, and neuroticism were successful in predicting some variation in the PU responses, while GSR data was not. It is highly recommended that UX designers of the multimodal interface create succinct voice responses with relevant visual feedback to accompany it, and to keep the main use cases of these products in mind to increase the experience’s PU and subsequent behavioral intention to use the product.