Psychological flexibility, birth satisfaction and postnatal trauma symptoms in women with abnormally invasive placenta.

BACKGROUND: Abnormally Invasive Placenta is an obstetric condition resulting in significant physical complications and shown to increase the likelihood of developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Dissatisfaction with the care experienced increases the likelihood of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Psychological flexibility has been shown to reduce the severity of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but there is no research regarding either of these in women with Abnormally Invasive Placenta. AIM: To investigate if there is a relationship between trauma experience in women with a diagnosis of Abnormally Invasive Placenta, psychological flexibility, and birth satisfaction. METHOD: Using a retrospective questionnaire, 126 participants age range 18-45, comprising the Birth Satisfaction Scale Revised Indicator (BSS-RI), Impact of Events Scale Revised (IES-R) and Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-2) was completed. A hierarchical regression assessed the predictive relationship of Psychological Flexibility and Birth Satisfaction on Trauma symptoms. RESULTS: The relationship between Birth Satisfaction measured using the BSS-RI and likelihood of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (IES-R) was not supported (r (124) = -.08, p = .36). Results did show that Psychological Flexibility (AAQ-2) correlated with Trauma Score (IES-R) (r (124) = .68, p < .001) in women who had experienced Abnormally Invasive Placenta and explained 45.3% of the variance. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in those with Abnormally Invasive Placenta is as high as 1 in 2 and can be mediated by psychological flexibility. In turn, this suggests that interventions to increase Psychological Flexibility in those with the diagnosis may reduce trauma symptom severity.Abbreviations: AAQ-2 - Acceptance and Action QuestionnaireAIP - Abnormally Invasive PlacentaBAME - Black Asian or other Minority EthnicitiesBSS-RI Birth Satisfaction Scale Revised IndicatorEPH - EPH Gestosis (Pre eclampsia/Eclampsia)DSM - Diagnostic Statical ManualIES-R - Impact of Events Scale RevisedPAS - Placenta Accreta SpectrumPTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Variability in anterior insula grey matter volume correlates with awareness for peri-threshold backward-masked fearful faces.

The threshold for conscious perception of stimuli within the environment varies from individual to individual. Functional neuroimaging studies have suggested that insular cortex activity is positively correlated with perceptual awareness. However, few studies have tested the relationship between awareness and structural variability in the insula. The purpose of this study was to examine structural differences in brain morphology related to perceptual awareness of fearful faces. This study hypothesized that there would be a positive correlation between insular grey matter volume and scores on the forced-choice awareness check task. The forced-choice awareness check task was designed to assess awareness for the presence and location of backward masked fearful and neutral faces, masked with neutral faces. The participants responded by indicating the side on which the masked fearful face appeared, or whether there were two neutral faces. The task included a total of 60 trials. T1-weighted magnetic resonance images were collected to measure grey matter volumes. Individuals that were more aware of backward masked fearful faces had greater grey matter volume in the insula, middle cingulate, anterior temporal pole, ventral striatum, and hippocampus.

Corrigendum: Cannabis use in the UK: a quantitative comparison of individual differences in medical and recreational cannabis users.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1279123.].

Cannabis use in the UK: a quantitative comparison of individual differences in medical and recreational cannabis users.

There is a paucity of research, especially in the UK, that investigates individual differences in both medical and recreational cannabis users. A cross-sectional survey study design was used to assess recreational cannabis users and medical cannabis users currently living in the UK. Recreational cannabis users were invited to take part via social media. Medical cannabis users were recruited from Sapphire Medical Clinics, London, UK, which provides treatment with prescribed cannabis-based medicinal products. Demographic data and cannabis use frequency, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms (PCL-5), depression symptoms (Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale), trait and state anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), and cannabis use motives [Comprehensive Marijuana Motives Questionnaire (CMMQ)] were collected. The Chi-square and independent-sample t-tests were used for the comparison of categorical variables and normally distributed continuous variables. Data were analyzed using analyses of variance (ANOVAs) and t-tests. Statistical significance was considered where the value of p was <0.05. The survey was completed by 161 participants. Medical cannabis users were older, consumed cannabis more often, had a higher "Sleep" motive on the CMMQ, and had a higher prevalence in self-reporting current diagnoses of neurological problems, mood disorders, and anxiety disorders (p < 0.05). Recreational cannabis users had higher scores on several motives for use (e.g., "Enjoyment," "Coping," "Experimentation," "Boredom," and "Celebration") and higher state anxiety scores (p < 0.05). The most common motives for cannabis use in both groups were "Enjoyment," "Low Risk," and "Sleep." There were no differences between groups in gender, "Low-Risk" motive, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, depression scores, trait anxiety scores, self-reported prevalence of substance use-related disorders, and past consumption of alcohol, tobacco, or caffeine (p > 0.05). The current study not only demonstrates a difference in age and motivations for cannabis consumption between recreational and medical cannabis users but also shows areas of potential overlap, including mental health outcomes, past substance use, and gender. These UK-specific findings indicate that recreational cannabis users experience higher state anxiety, highlighting the need for further evaluation of potential anxiogenic/anxiolytic properties of cannabis. These findings demonstrate the importance of researching individual differences in cannabis users and hold significant implications for future research, clinical practice, and legislation.

Perceived Stigma of Patients Undergoing Treatment with Cannabis-Based Medicinal Products.

Cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) are prescribed with increasing frequency. This study aimed to investigate the perceived stigma attached to patients prescribed CBMPs in the UK to establish its prevalence. A qualitative survey was developed by an expert multidisciplinary group and data were collected via Qualtrics. In total, 2319 patients on CBMP therapy were invited to take part in this study. 450 (19.4%) participants completed the questionnaire. In total, 81.3% (n = 366), 76.9% (n = 346), and 61.3% (n = 276) of participants reported feeling very comfortable or comfortable telling friends, family, and medical professionals, respectively, about their treatment. Participants thought that friends (n = 372; 82.7%) and family (n = 339; 75.3%) were very approving or somewhat approving of their CBMP prescription. However, participants thought that only 37.8% (n = 170) of healthcare professionals and 32.9% (n = 148) of society in general were very approving or somewhat approving of their CBMP prescription. 57.1% (n = 257), 55.3% (n = 249), and 40.2% (n = 181) of participants were afraid of what the police or criminal justice system, other government agencies, and healthcare professionals might think about their treatment. This study highlights those patients treated with CBMPs experience a high prevalence of perceived stigma from many corners of society. Future work should be undertaken to explore strategies to reduce perceived stigma at an individual and community level to avoid discrimination of patients, likely increasing appropriate access.

Enhanced contralateral theta oscillations and N170 amplitudes in occipitotemporal scalp regions underlie attentional bias to fearful faces.

Attending toward fearful faces and other threatening stimuli increase the chance of survival. The dot-probe task is a commonly used measure of spatial attention. Event-related potentials (ERPs) have been found to be a reliable measure of attentional bias. The dot-probe literature suggests that posterior contralateral N170 amplitudes are more enhanced by fearful faces compared to ipsilateral amplitudes. However, ERP methods remove non-phase locked frequencies, which provides additional information about neural activity. Specifically, theta oscillations (5-7 Hz) have been linked to attentional processing. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between posterior contralateral theta oscillations and N170 amplitudes in the dot-probe task. A modified dot-probe task was used with fear and neutral facial expressions and EEG data was recorded from 33 electrodes. The ERP and time-frequency data were extracted from the P7 and P8 electrodes (left and right occipitotemporal regions). This study found enhanced N170 amplitude and theta oscillations in the electrodes posterior contralateral to the fearful face. Contralateral N170 amplitudes and theta oscillations were related such that greater N170 amplitudes were associated with greater theta oscillations. The results indicated that increased contralateral N170 and theta oscillations are related to each other and underlie attentional bias to fearful faces.

Anthropogenic Noise Source and Intensity Effects on Mood and Relaxation in Simulated Park Environments.

Research on human caused sound has shown a wide range of effects in outdoor environments as well as laboratory simulations of those environments. Aircraft noise, ground traffic, and human voices have all been shown to lower scenic evaluation ratings and influence individual reports of affective state. However, previous research has relied entirely on pre-post measures of affect and psychological state rather than more momentary assessments. The current project utilized a time series of 15 measurements of overall mood and relaxation collected during a 30-min period during which participants (N = 229) were exposed to randomized volume levels of natural sounds, natural sounds with aircraft noise, natural sounds with ground traffic, or natural sounds with human voices added. Results supported previous findings with significant sound type X volume interactions showing differing rates of decline for both outcomes. Natural sounds did not relate to the diminishing effects observed for the three anthropogenic sound conditions.

Awareness of Emotional Expressions in Cannabis Users: An Event-Related Potential Study.

Cannabis use has been associated with anxiogenic effects when used in low frequency for a short duration, but cannabis can also have anxiogenic effects when used heavily for a long duration. Animal studies have indicated the neurobiological mechanisms related to cannabis and anxiety; however, research has been limited on the related neurocognitive mechanisms. Previous research has indicated that cannabis use is associated with alterations in event-related potentials (ERPs). The purpose of the current study was to examine anxiety related attentional processing of emotional expressions using ERP methods. We used a backward masking paradigm to restrict awareness of facial expressions (i.e., fearful, happy, and neutral). The results indicated that cannabis use was associated with differences in emotional processing. Specifically, the results suggested cannabis users had increased P1 amplitudes toward happy facial expressions compared to fearful and neutral. Additionally, cannabis users seemed to have reduced N170 hemisphere lateralization.

The effects of sex and residual cannabis use on emotion processing: An event-related potential study.

Cannabis use has been shown to affect processing of emotional facial expressions as measured by the P1 and P3 event-related potential (ERP) components. These components have been shown to be related to emotion processing in particular attention to emotion. Previous research also indicates that there are sex differences in how cannabis effects males and females as well as how they process emotion. This study examined the relationship between the effects of residual cannabis use and sex differences in 144 participants (F = 80) in a facial expression emotion processing task. Both the P1 and P3 ERP components were compared in male and female participants in noncannabis user, casual cannabis user, and heavy cannabis user groupings. The task involved implicitly, explicitly, and empathically identifying emotional expressions (angry, happy, neutral, and fearful) in male and females faces. There were differences between males and females in both the P1 and P3 ERP in relation to cannabis use. Males had a larger P1 than females with cannabis use and a smaller P3. Differences in the P1 were observed in both positive and negative emotion and between tasks in relation to cannabis use patterns. Differences in the P3 were seen in heavy male users for empathy happy and casual male users implicit angry when compared to females. These differences highlight the important of considering sex differences in regard to the effects of cannabis, in particular in emotion processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Event-related potentials of attentional bias toward faces in the dot-probe task: A systematic review.

The dot-probe task is a common task to assess attentional bias toward different stimuli and how groups differ (e.g., attentional bias in anxiety disorders). However, measuring reaction time has been suggested to be unreliable. Neuroimaging methods such as fMRI were shown to be more reliable in assessing attentional bias, but fMRI has poor temporal resolution and therefore cannot assess timing of attention. ERPs have been used to examine the time course of attentional bias. Although ERP research may be more reliable than reaction time, there have been inconsistencies in the literature. This review systematically searched for articles that used the dot-probe task with facial expressions and measured neural correlates with ERP. We found that some of the inconsistencies might be the cause of methodological differences (e.g., timing of stimuli), differences in emotional expression, and/or sample differences (e.g., sex, age, etc.). Suggestions on how future research could address the issues presented in this review were discussed.

Residual effects of cannabis use on attentional bias towards fearful faces.

Cannabis use has increased since legalization in various states within the United States of America. Although much of the research on the neurological and psychological effects of cannabis has been on non-human animals, the current research suggests that it can have anxiolytic effects and also decrease some cognitive functioning (e.g. memory, emotional processing, etc.). Individuals with high anxiety have been suggested to have increased attentional bias towards threat-related stimuli. The current study measured event-related potential (ERP) during a dot-probe task with fearful and neutral facial expression to examine the residual effects of cannabis use on attentional bias. The results indicated that there was reduced attentional bias, as measured by the P1 component in cannabis users, which is similar to low anxious individuals. Additionally, there was no difference between users and non-users in N170, indicating that the residual effects of cannabis did not interfere with face processing. However, an exploratory correlation indicated that higher cannabis use was associated with reduced N170 towards fearful faces. Cannabis use was associated with enhanced N2pc, which would indicate greater spatial orientation of attention. These results suggest that cannabis use did have an effect on attentional bias towards fearful faces.

Effects of cannabis use and subclinical depression on the P3 event-related potential in an emotion processing task.

The effects of residual cannabis use on emotional expression recognition and the P3 event-related potential in participants who scored highly for subclinical depression were investigated. Comparisons were made between participants who were classified as depressed or nondepressed cannabis users, depressed non-cannabis users and controls who neither used cannabis nor were characterized as being depressed. In an emotional expression recognition task, participants were asked to respond to faces depicting happy, angry, fearful, and neutral faces either implicitly, explicitly, or empathically. Residual cannabis use and mood was shown to modulate the P3 event related potential during the task. There was a significant reduction in the P3 amplitude between depressed and nondepressed participants. Residual cannabis use further reduced the P3 amplitude with the greatest deficits being associated with cannabis users who scored highly for subclinical depression. These effects were greatest for explicit and empathic processing of faces depicting negative emotions. We conclude from our study that cannabis and mood state interact to reduce the amplitude of the P3 which has been associated with attention to emotion.

The relationship between cannabis use and measures of anxiety and depression in a sample of college campus cannabis users and non-users post state legalization in Colorado.

As part of an ongoing research program into the relationship between cannabis use and emotion processing, participants were assessed on their level of cannabis exposure using the Recreational Cannabis Use Examination, a measure developed specifically to assess cannabis use in Colorado post state legalization. Three groups were created based on self-reported use: a control group who have never used, a casual user group and a chronic user group. Each participant also completed two measures of mood assessment, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Relationships between cannabis use groups and scores on these measures were then analyzed using both correlations and multivariate analysis of variance. Results indicate a relationship between casual cannabis use and scoring highly for depressive symptomatology on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. There were no significant relationships between cannabis use and scores on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.

An Event-Related Potential Study on the Effects of Cannabis on Emotion Processing.

The effect of cannabis on emotional processing was investigated using event-related potential paradigms (ERPs). ERPs associated with emotional processing of cannabis users, and non-using controls, were recorded and compared during an implicit and explicit emotional expression recognition and empathy task. Comparisons in P3 component mean amplitudes were made between cannabis users and controls. Results showed a significant decrease in the P3 amplitude in cannabis users compared to controls. Specifically, cannabis users showed reduced P3 amplitudes for implicit compared to explicit processing over centro-parietal sites which reversed, and was enhanced, at fronto-central sites. Cannabis users also showed a decreased P3 to happy faces, with an increase to angry faces, compared to controls. These effects appear to increase with those participants that self-reported the highest levels of cannabis consumption. Those cannabis users with the greatest consumption rates showed the largest P3 deficits for explicit processing and negative emotions. These data suggest that there is a complex relationship between cannabis consumption and emotion processing that appears to be modulated by attention.

Chromatic perceptive field sizes change with retinal illuminance.

The effect of retinal illuminance (0.3-3.3 log td) on chromatic perceptive field size was investigated at 10 degrees eccentricity along the horizontal meridian of the temporal retina. Using the 4+1 color-naming procedure, observers described the hue and saturation of a series of monochromatic stimuli (440-660 nm, in 10-nm steps) of various test sizes (.098-5 degrees) after 30-min dark adaptation. Perceptive field sizes of the four elemental hues and the saturation component were estimated for each wavelength at each retinal illuminance. Results indicate that perceptive field sizes for blue, green, yellow, and saturation all decrease with increasing retinal illuminance; the perceptive field size for red is the smallest and invariant with intensity. The influence of rods on perceptive field size may account for some of the results; other factors are also considered.

Interaction of threat expressions and eye gaze: an event-related potential study.

The current study examined the interaction of fearful, angry, happy, and neutral expressions with left, straight, and right eye gaze directions. Human participants viewed faces consisting of various expression and eye gaze combinations while event-related potential (ERP) data were collected. The results showed that angry expressions modulated the mean amplitude of the P1, whereas fearful and happy expressions modulated the mean amplitude of the N170. No influence of eye gaze on mean amplitudes for the P1 and N170 emerged. Fearful, angry, and happy expressions began to interact with eye gaze to influence mean amplitudes in the time window of 200-400 ms. The results suggest early processing of expression influence ERPs independent of eye gaze, whereas expression and gaze interact to influence later ERPs.

Effect of stimulus intensity on the sizes of chromatic perceptive fields.

The effects of intensity on chromatic perceptive field size were investigated along the horizontal meridian at 10 degrees temporal eccentricity by manipulating stimulus intensity from 0.3 to 3.3 log trolands. Following light adaptation, observers described the hue and saturation of monochromatic stimuli (440-660 nm, in 10 nm steps) for a series of test sizes (0.098-3 degrees) presented along the time period associated with the cone plateau of the dark-adaptation function. Perceptive field sizes of the four elemental hues (red, green, yellow, and blue) and the saturation component were estimated by three observers at each intensity level for each wavelength. In general, perceptive field sizes of blue and red are the smallest, and yellow and green are the largest. Furthermore, perceptive field sizes of all four hues decrease with increasing stimulus intensity, though the absolute change is largest for green and yellow. The decrease in size with increase in intensity cannot be completely explained in terms of saturation or rod signals and is likely, then, attributable to a cone-based mechanism.