Music and Lyric Characteristics of Popular Dutch Funeral Songs.

This study compared the characteristics of 150 songs (Dutch lyrics, N = 47, English lyrics, N = 103), popular at Dutch funerals, to an equal number of non-funeral songs. The variables explored included those linked with the music (valence, energy, danceability, acousticness, key, and tempo); and lyrics, namely: linguistics-related (first-person singular/plural, second-person pronouns; past, present, future tense; expressed emotion (positive, negative words, and the discrete emotional categories anger, anxiety, sadness); and category words (those relating to family, friends, death, religion). Funeral music was lower in valence, energy, and danceability and higher in acousticness than non-funeral music. Furthermore, English funeral music lyrics contained more second-person pronouns and were more future-focused than comparison songs. Funeral lyrics were not particularly negative, but English texts contained more words relating to sadness. In conclusion, funeral music differs in severable notable respects from general popular songs that may reflect the special purpose of this music.

The Association between Reward Sensitivity and Activity Engagement: the Influence of Delay Discounting and Anhedonia.

AIM: Reward sensitivity affects individuals' motivation to engage in goal-directed behavior. Other concepts, critical for reward appraisal, that potentially influence activity participation encompass delay discounting and anhedonia. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that anhedonia and delay discounting influence the relationship between reward sensitivity and activity engagement. METHODS: In total, 37 inpatient patients with an alcohol use disorder (AUD) and 37 matched healthy controls completed the behavioral activation system scale (BAS scale), the Pleasant Activities List (PAL), the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS) and the Delay Discounting Task (DDT). RESULTS: Patients differed from controls on SHAPS, DDT-k, PAL substance-related activities (SRA), but not BAS and PAL non-substance-related activities (non-SRA). Correlational analyses revealed a strong correlation between BAS and PAL non-SRA in both patients (r = 0.53) and controls (r = 0.47), but also with PAL-SRA in patients (r = 0.40), although not controls (r = 0.09). BAS was negatively correlated with SHAPS in both groups and with DDT in controls. SHAPS was negatively linked to PAL non-SRA in both groups. The BAS-PAL non-SRA relationship was influenced by discount rates in controls. CONCLUSION: A strong link exists between reward sensitivity and engagement in non-SRA in both groups. Delay discounting affects the reward sensitivity and non-SRA association in healthy controls, while anhedonia did not impact the association between reward sensitivity and engagement in (non-)SRA in both conditions.

Nostalgia proneness and empathy: Generality, underlying mechanism, and implications for prosocial behavior.

OBJECTIVE: Nostalgia is a sentimental longing for one's past. We examined the hypotheses (rooted in attachment theory and research) that nostalgia prone individuals, by virtue of their greater attachment security, are more empathic and enact more prosocial behavior. METHOD: In five studies, testing 1,923 participants (Nrange  = 132-823, 52.42% women, Agerange  = 8-90 years), we measured nostalgia proneness and affective empathy. Additionally, we measured cognitive empathy in Study 3, attachment security in Studies 4-5, and prosocial behavior in Study 5. RESULTS: Nostalgia proneness was positively related to affective empathy among younger and older adults (Studies 1, 3-5) and among children (Study 2). This association was stronger for affective empathy than cognitive empathy (Study 3). Also, attachment security mediated the relation between nostalgia proneness and affective empathy (Studies 4-5). Finally, nostalgia prone individuals were more likely to engage in prosocial behavior, and this relation was serially mediated by attachment security and affective empathy (Study 5). CONCLUSION: The findings establish the empathic and prosocial character of nostalgia prone individuals, and clarify their personality profile.

Factors associated with poor satisfaction with treatment and trial discontinuation in chronic schizophrenia.

IntroductionDespite consistently high discontinuation rates due to withdrawal of consent (WOC) and insufficient therapeutic effect (ITE) in schizophrenia trials, insight into the underlying factors contributing to poor satisfaction with treatment and dropout is limited. A better understanding of these factors could help to improve trial design and completion rates. METHODS: Using data from 1,136 trial participants with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, we explored associations between predictor variables with (1) dropout due to WOC and ITE and (2) satisfaction with treatment among patients and investigators by means of hierarchic multiple regression analyses. RESULTS: ITE was associated with poor clinical improvement, poor investigator satisfaction with treatment, and poor patient insight into their own disease, whereas WOC only showed a meaningful association with poor patient satisfaction with treatment. Investigator satisfaction with treatment appeared most strongly associated with Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) positive factor endpoint scores, whereas patient satisfaction with treatment was best predicted by the endpoint score on the PANSS emotional distress factor. The occurrence of severe side effects showed no meaningful association to satisfaction with treatment among investigators and patients, and neither did a patient's experienced psychopathology, nor their self-rating of functional impairment. CONCLUSIONS: Whereas trial discontinuation due to ITE is associated with poor treatment effectiveness, a patient's decision to withdraw from an antipsychotic trial remains unpredictable and may occur even when the investigator observes a global clinical improvement and is satisfied with the treatment.

The neurobiology of human crying.

The production of emotional tears appears to be uniquely present in Homo sapiens. Despite the ubiquity of this human behavior, research is only just beginning to uncover the neurobiologic underpinnings of human emotional crying. In this article, we review the current state of the literature investigating the neurobiologic aspects of this uniquely human behavior, including the neuroanatomical, neurochemical, and psychophysiologic findings. To set the context for this review, we first provide a brief overview of the evolutionary background and functions of tearful crying. Despite an accumulating understanding of the neurobiology of human emotional crying, the primary sources of information are currently from animal studies and observations in neurologic patients suffering from pathologic crying. Currently, most of the research on the neurobiology of crying in humans has focused on autonomic physiologic processes underlying tearful crying, which may yield essential clues regarding the neural substrates of the production of crying behavior and its effects on the crier. Further challenges in elucidating the neurobiology of crying involve the complexity of crying behavior, which includes vocalizations, tear production, the involvement of facial musculature, subjective emotional experience, emotion regulatory behaviors, and social behaviors. Future research is needed to comprehensively characterize the neurobiology of this intriguing and complex human behavior.

Attachment styles and secure base priming in relation to emotional reactivity after frustration induction.

In two experimental studies, we explored the role of attachment in predicting emotional reactivity after frustration induction. In the first study, using a cognitive frustration task, we examined in a college sample (N = 134) how attachment styles related to the experience and expression of emotions after frustration induction. In the second study, we investigated in college students (N = 198) the effect of conscious priming of the secure base schema on mood disturbance after the performance of a cognitive frustration task. Results showed that individuals experienced and expressed emotions after frustration induction independent of their attachment styles. Conscious priming of the secure base script attenuated self-reported emotional reactivity after frustration induction independent of individuals' attachment styles. These findings suggest that the mechanism of attachment-related emotional reactivity might not pertain to frustration during an unsolvable cognitive task, but that the activation of the sense of having a secure base is useful in reducing mood disturbance in the context of a frustrating performance task.

The Physician's Tears: Experiences and Attitudes of Crying Among Physicians and Medical Interns.

We examined several aspects of the crying experiences of physicians and medical interns, including the most common reasons to cry in the workplace, and their perceptions of and attitudes towards crying in the workplace and in the presence of a patient. A sample of Dutch physicians and medical interns (Nphysicians = 1068 and Nmedical interns = 302 and for the full version Nphysicians = 776 and Nmedical interns = 181) completed an especially designed anonymous online questionnaire about experiences with crying in the workplace, and perceptions of and attitudes towards crying in the workplace and in the presence of patients. Crying is a rather frequent behavior among physicians, in particular when they have to deal with the severe suffering of patients and their relatives. We found a considerable variety in the attitudes and perception of crying in the work setting, although there was also much agreement that crying in the presence of a patient is only appropriate if it is over the condition of the patient. Physicians reported a slightly more positive attitude and a stronger need for more attention to this topic in training and education than medical interns. Crying in the medical setting is a common, though understudied phenomenon. There is a strong need for further research on this topic in order to understand it better and how and when it might interfere with or facilitate with the therapeutic process. We strongly feel that currently the time is ripe for this topic because in particular the physicians expressed a greater need for more attention to this topic in training and the medical interns showed signs of, perhaps unhealthy, suppression of their emotions.

Social and psychological consequences of not crying: possible associations with psychopathology and therapeutic relevance.

OBJECTIVE: Emotional crying is hypothesized to serve intra- and interpersonal functions. Intrapersonal functions are assumed to facilitate the capacity to recover from emotional distress, thus promoting well-being. Interpersonal functions are postulated to have a major impact on social functioning. We hypothesized that non-criers would have lower well-being and poorer social functioning than criers. METHODS: Study participants included 475 people who reportedly lost the capacity to cry and 179 "normal" control criers. Applied measures assessed crying, well-being, empathy, attachment, social support, and connection with others. Prevalence estimates of not crying by gender were obtained from a panel survey of 2,000 Dutch households. RESULTS: In the main survey, tearless cases had less connection with others, less empathy, and experienced less social support, but were equal in terms of well-being. They also reported being less moved by emotional stimuli and had a more avoidant and less anxious attachment style. In multivariate analyses, being male, having an avoidant attachment style, and lacking empathy were independent predictors of tearlessness. Some 46.1% felt that not being able to cry affected them negatively; however, despite these findings, only 2.9% had sought any kind of professional help. Loss of the capacity to cry occurred in 8.6% of the men and 6.5% of the women in the large panel survey. CONCLUSIONS: Despite reduced empathy, less connection with others, and a more avoidant/less anxious attachment type, well-being is maintained in tearless people. Additional clinical and therapeutic investigations of tearlessness may lead to clarification of bidirectional associations between psychiatric disorders (e.g., alexithymia, posttraumatic stress disorder, psychopathy) and tearlessness.

Different aspects of emotional intelligence of borderline personality disorder.

OBJECTIVES: The present study investigated deficiencies in different components of emotional intelligence in borderline personality disorder (BPD). METHOD: The Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) and the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) were used to assess EI dimensions. BPD patients (N = 85; 69 women; M = 33.6 years) were compared with Cluster C personality disorder (PD) patients (N = 39; 23 women; M = 36.6 years) and nonpatients (N = 69; 44 women; M = 35.6 years). RESULTS: Compared to the Cluster C PD patients and the nonpatient group, BPD patients displayed only deficits in their ability to understand emotions as measured with the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test. The Emotional Quotient Inventory only revealed deficits in stress management in BPD patients compared to Cluster C PD patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that BPD patients have the ability to regulate emotions effectively, but they subjectively experience deficits in emotion regulation and therefore may not use this ability when they need it.

Existential Well-Being: Spirituality or Well-Being?

Measures of spirituality often contain the dimension existential well-being (EWB). However, EWB has been found to overlap with emotional and psychological well-being. Using the Spiritual Attitude and Involvement List (SAIL), we have further investigated the overlap between aspects of spirituality and of well-being among patients with cancer, by determining a) the divergent validity of the subscales of the SAIL compared with a well-being questionnaire and b) the differences in their associations to changes in pain and fatigue, and the occurrence of negative life events. Our findings suggest that a sense of trust that one is able to cope with difficulties of life belongs to the realm of well-being, instead of spirituality. Other aspects, such as a sense of meaning in life, seem more similar to spirituality than to well-being. These results can bring researchers a step further toward constructing "pure" spirituality and well-being measures, which will allow them to investigate the (causal) relationship between these constructs.

Chemosignalling effects of human tears revisited: Does exposure to female tears decrease males' perception of female sexual attractiveness?

Gelstein et al. reported the results of three experiments suggesting a dampening influence of inhalation of female emotional tears on males' arousal and perception of female sexual attractiveness, specifically in non-sexual situations. This prompted the hypothesis that crying exerts its influence on others not only via the auditory and visual mode but also via chemosignals. In three studies, we attempted to replicate and extend Gelstein et al.'s findings by including an additional condition with irritant tears, by using pictures of sexually attractive women, and by testing related hypotheses on the pro-social effects of exposure to tears. All three studies, separately or combined in a meta-analysis, failed to replicate the original inhibitory effects of tears. In addition, sniffing tears did not affect measures of connectedness, aggression and pro-social behaviour. It is concluded that the effects of female tears on male arousal and perception of female sexual attractiveness, if any, are very weak at best. Rather, it seems that crying exerts its strong inter-personal effects through the visual and auditory sensory channels.

Parenting in Complex Conditions: Does Preterm Birth Provide a Context for the Development of Less Optimal Parental Behavior?

OBJECTIVE: To examine the predictive value of parent, infant, and contextual factors related to preterm childbirth for later parenting behaviors. METHODS: Mothers (n = 217) and fathers (n = 204) of term, moderately preterm, and very preterm infants were interviewed 1 month postpartum using the Clinical Interview for Parents of high-risk infants (CLIP), to assess their experiences and perceptions related to the pregnancy, delivery, infant, hospitalization, support system, and their narratives. Their responses were factor analyzed and entered into prediction models of parental behaviors (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development observations) 6 months postpartum. RESULTS: Preterm birth was associated with negative experiences and concerns in parents. Regression analyses revealed, however, that irrespective of preterm birth, negative and unrealistic parental perceptions predicted less sensitive, more intrusive, and more withdrawn behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Not prematurity per se, but particularly the presence of negative perceptions in parents, is predictive of difficulties in parent-infant interaction. The CLIP is a potentially useful instrument to identify families at risk.

Treatment of severe fear of childbirth with haptotherapy: design of a multicenter randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: About six percent of pregnant women suffer from severe fear of childbirth. These women are at increased risk of obstetric labour and delivery interventions and pre- and postpartum complications, e.g., preterm delivery, emergency caesarean section, caesarean section at maternal request, severe postpartum fear of childbirth and trauma anxiety. During the last decade, there is increasing clinical evidence suggesting that haptotherapy might be an effective intervention to reduce fear of childbirth in pregnant women. The present study has been designed to evaluate the effects of such intervention. METHODS/DESIGN: Included are singleton pregnant women with severe fear of childbirth, age ≥ 18 year, randomised into three arms: (1) treatment with haptotherapy, (2) internet psycho-education or (3) care as usual. The main study outcome is fear of childbirth. Measurements are taken at baseline in gestation week 20-24, directly after the intervention is completed in gestation week 36, six weeks postpartum and six months postpartum. Secondary study outcomes are distress, general anxiety, depression, somatization, social support, mother-child bonding, pregnancy and delivery complications, traumatic anxiety symptoms, duration of delivery, birth weight, and care satisfaction. DISCUSSION: The treatment, a standard haptotherapeutical treatment for pregnant women with severe fear of childbirth, implies teaching a combination of skills in eight one hour sessions. The internet group follows an eight-week internet course containing information about pregnancy and childbirth comparable to childbirth classes. The control group has care as usual according to the standards of the Royal Dutch Organisation of Midwives and the Dutch Organization of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial was entered in the Dutch Trial Register and registered under number NTR3339 on March 4th, 2012.

Engagement of pleasant activities in patients with substance use disorders: a correlational study.

BACKGROUND: There is a growing awareness that the treatment of patients with substance use disorders (SUDs) should target increasing patients' involvement in alternative pleasant reinforcers that compete with the reinforcing effects of substance use. The present cross-sectional study sought to identify factors that promote or impede engaging in pleasant activities. METHODS: Patients with SUDs (N = 265) were assessed at treatment entry on sociodemographic characteristics, primary type of substance (ie, alcohol or illicit drugs), addiction severity, craving, personality factors, and psychiatric distress. RESULTS: Regression analyses identified dissimilar predictor sets underlying frequency, enjoyability, and cross-product ratings, highlighting the multifaceted behavioral nature of activity engagement. Personality measures showed the strongest associations with patients' activity engagement, with extraversion as the key predictor. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings emphasize the complexity of patients' involvement in pleasant non-substance-related activities and further investigation is necessary to gain more insight into the underlying mechanisms of activity engagement.

Development of the Crying Proneness Scale: associations among crying proneness, empathy, attachment, and age.

Crying is a unique form of human emotional expression that is associated with both positive and negative evocative antecedents. This article investigates the psychometric properties of a newly developed Crying Proneness Scale by examining the factor structure, test-retest reliability, and theoretically hypothesized relationships with empathy, attachment, age, and gender. Based on an analysis of data provided by a Dutch panel (Time 1: N = 4,916, Time 2: N = 4,874), exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggest that crying proneness is a multidimensional construct best characterized by four factors called attachment tears, societal tears, sentimental/moral tears, and compassionate tears. Test-retest reliability of the scale was adequate and associations with age, gender, empathy, and attachment demonstrated expected relations. Results suggest that this scale can be used to measure crying proneness, and that it will be useful in future studies that aim to gain a better understanding of normal and pathological socioemotional development.

Pancultural nostalgia in action: Prevalence, triggers, and psychological functions of nostalgia across cultures.

Nostalgia is a social, self-relevant, and bittersweet (although mostly positive) emotion that arises when reflecting on fond past memories and serves key psychological functions. The majority of evidence concerning the prevalence, triggers, and functions of nostalgia has been amassed in samples from a handful of largely Western cultures. If nostalgia is a fundamental psychological resource, it should perform similar functions across cultures, although its operational dynamics may be shaped by culture. This study (N = 2,606) examined dispositional nostalgia, self-reported triggers of nostalgia, and functions of experimentally induced nostalgia in young adults across 28 countries and a special administrative region of China (i.e., Hong Kong). Results indicated that nostalgia is frequently experienced across cultures, albeit better valued in more-developed countries (i.e., higher national wealth and life-expectancy). Nostalgia is triggered by psychological threats (especially in warmer countries), sensory stimuli (especially in more-developed countries), and social gatherings (especially in less-developed countries). The positive or negative affect prompted by experimentally induced nostalgia varied by country, but was mild overall. More importantly, recalling a nostalgic (vs. ordinary) memory increased social connectedness, self-continuity, and meaning in life across cultures. In less-developed countries, recalling an ordinary memory also conferred some of these functions, reducing the effect size of nostalgia. Finally, recalling a nostalgic (vs. ordinary) memory augmented state satisfaction with life in countries with lower quality of living (i.e., lower life-expectancy and life-satisfaction). Overall, findings confirm the relevance of nostalgia across a wide range of cultures and indicate cultural nuances in its functioning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Pictorial representation of attachment: measuring the parent-fetus relationship in expectant mothers and fathers.

BACKGROUND: Over the past decades, attachment research has predominantly focused on the attachment relationship that infants develop with their parents or that adults had with their own parents. Far less is known about the development of feelings of attachment in parents towards their children. The present study examined a) whether a simple non-verbal (i.e., pictorial) measure of attachment (Pictorial Representation of Attachment Measure: PRAM) is a valid instrument to assess parental representations of the antenatal relationship with the fetus in expectant women and men and b) whether factors such as gender of the parent, parity, and age are systematically related to parental bonding during pregnancy. METHODS: At 26 weeks gestational age, 352 primi- or multiparous pregnant women and 268 partners from a community based sample filled in the PRAM and the M/PAAS (Maternal/Paternal Antenatal Attachment Scale, Condon, 1985/1993). RESULTS: Results show that the PRAM was significantly positively associated to a self-report questionnaire of antenatal attachment in both expectant mothers and fathers. Age and parity were both found significantly related to M/PAAS and PRAM scores. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings provide support that the PRAM is as a valid, quick, and easy-to-administer instrument of parent-infant bonding. However, further research focusing on its capacity as a screening instrument (to identify parents with serious bonding problems) and its sensitivity to change (necessary for the use in evaluation of intervention studies) is needed, in order to prove its clinical value.

Parental perceptions and experiences after childbirth: a comparison between mothers and fathers of term and preterm infants.

BACKGROUND: Parents experience a lot of positive and negative feelings and emotions after birth. The main purpose of this study was to compare perceptions and experiences of mothers and fathers with term, moderately and very preterm infants. METHODS: We included 202 infants with both parents, divided into three groups: 1) term infants (≥ 37 weeks' gestation), 2) moderately preterm infants (≥32-<37 weeks' gestation) and 3) very preterm infants (< 32 weeks' gestation). The Clinical Interview for Parents of High-risk Infants (CLIP) was used to examine parental perceptions and experiences in eight areas: 1) Infant's current condition, 2) Course of the pregnancy, 3) Labor and delivery, 4) Relationship with infant and feelings as a parent, 5) Reactions to hospital and staff, 6) Support system, 7) Discharge and beyond, and 8) Quality of narratives during the interview. RESULTS: The lower the gestational age of the infant, the more negative parental experiences and perceptions were on the following five areas: infant's current condition, pregnancy course, labor and delivery, relationship with the infant, and discharge and beyond. No differences were found between maternal and paternal perceptions on any of the eight CLIP areas. CONCLUSIONS: Negative parental perceptions and experiences were mainly associated with the gestational age of the infant and not at all with the gender of the parent. These findings resulted in several recommendations to optimize care for parents after preterm birth.

Borderline personality disorder and emotional intelligence.

The present study investigated emotional intelligence (EI) in borderline personality disorder (BPD). It was hypothesized that patients with BPD (n = 61) compared with patients with other personality disorders (PDs; n = 69) and nonpatients (n = 248) would show higher scores on the ability to perceive emotions and impairments in the ability to regulate emotions. EI was assessed with the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso [New York: MHS, 2002]). As compared with the PD group and the nonpatient group, the patients with BPD displayed the anticipated deficits in their ability to understand, whereas no differences emerged with respect to their ability to perceive, use, and regulate emotions. In addition, a negative relationship was found between the severity of BPD and total EI score. However, this relationship disappeared when intelligence quotient was partialled out. These results suggest that BPD is associated with emotion understanding deficits, whereas temporary severity of BPD is associated with emotion regulation deficits.

Influence of religiosity on the quality of life and on pain intensity in chronic pancreatitis patients after neurolytic celiac plexus block: case-controlled study.

The quality of life in patients with chronic pancreatitis (CP) is reduced due to their suffering of high levels of pain. It has been presented that quality of life can also be linked to religiosity and/or spirituality. The aim of this study is to assess the influence of religious practices on the quality of life and on the subjective level of pain in CP patients. Ninety-two patients (37 women and 55 men) with chronic pancreatitis were treated invasively for pain with neurolytic celiac plexus block (NCPB). The religiosity of the patients was recorded and served as a dichotomizer. Group 1 was for patients who claimed to have no contact with the church or to have very sporadic contact (N = 35 patients). Group 2 was for patients who claimed to have deep faith and were regular participants at church activities (N = 57 patients). Visual analogue scale was used to assess pain, while the quality of life was measured by using QLQ C-30 questionnaire adapted for chronic pancreatitis patients in Polish population. The patients were assessed prior to the pain-relieving intervention and subsequently 2 and 8 weeks after it. The intensity of pain was reduced in both groups significantly after performing the NCPB. Patients who declared a deep faith reported higher level of pain on the VAS scale prior to intervention than non-religious patients. Quality of life in both groups of patients significantly improved after NCPB. Following NCPB, global quality of life in patients who declared higher religiosity/church attendance was significantly higher (79.88) than for those patients who have no contact or sporadic contact with the church (44.21, P < 0.05). NCPB resulted in significant reduction of pain and increase in quality of life in both groups of patients with CP. Nevertheless, in the group declaring higher religiosity/church attendance, reported pain was higher, but, despite that, quality of life better. It may be concluded that religious practices might serve as an additional factor improving quality of life and coping in patients suffering from chronic pancreatitis.