Volume of subcortical brain regions in social anxiety disorder: mega-analytic results from 37 samples in the ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group.

There is limited convergence in neuroimaging investigations into volumes of subcortical brain regions in social anxiety disorder (SAD). The inconsistent findings may arise from variations in methodological approaches across studies, including sample selection based on age and clinical characteristics. The ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group initiated a global mega-analysis to determine whether differences in subcortical volumes can be detected in adults and adolescents with SAD relative to healthy controls. Volumetric data from 37 international samples with 1115 SAD patients and 2775 controls were obtained from ENIGMA-standardized protocols for image segmentation and quality assurance. Linear mixed-effects analyses were adjusted for comparisons across seven subcortical regions in each hemisphere using family-wise error (FWE)-correction. Mixed-effects d effect sizes were calculated. In the full sample, SAD patients showed smaller bilateral putamen volume than controls (left: d = -0.077, pFWE = 0.037; right: d = -0.104, pFWE = 0.001), and a significant interaction between SAD and age was found for the left putamen (r = -0.034, pFWE = 0.045). Smaller bilateral putamen volumes (left: d = -0.141, pFWE < 0.001; right: d = -0.158, pFWE < 0.001) and larger bilateral pallidum volumes (left: d = 0.129, pFWE = 0.006; right: d = 0.099, pFWE = 0.046) were detected in adult SAD patients relative to controls, but no volumetric differences were apparent in adolescent SAD patients relative to controls. Comorbid anxiety disorders and age of SAD onset were additional determinants of SAD-related volumetric differences in subcortical regions. To conclude, subtle volumetric alterations in subcortical regions in SAD were detected. Heterogeneity in age and clinical characteristics may partly explain inconsistencies in previous findings. The association between alterations in subcortical volumes and SAD illness progression deserves further investigation, especially from adolescence into adulthood.

Auditing the research practices and statistical analyses of the group-level temporal network approach to psychological constructs: A systematic scoping review.

Network analyses have become increasingly common within the field of psychology, and temporal network analyses in particular are quickly gaining traction, with many of the initial articles earning substantial interest. However, substantial heterogeneity exists within the study designs and methodology, rendering it difficult to form a comprehensive view of its application in psychology research. Since the field is quickly growing and since there have been many study-to-study variations in terms of choices made by researchers when collecting, processing, and analyzing data, we saw the need to audit this field and formulate a comprehensive view of current temporal network analyses. To systematically chart researchers' practices when conducting temporal network analyses, we reviewed articles conducting temporal network analyses on psychological variables (published until March 2021) in the framework of a scoping review. We identified 43 articles and present the detailed results of how researchers are currently conducting temporal network analyses. A commonality across results concerns the wide variety of data collection and analytical practices, along with a lack of consistency between articles about what is reported. We use these results, along with relevant literature from the fields of ecological momentary assessment and network analysis, to formulate recommendations on what type of data is suited for temporal network analyses as well as optimal methods to preprocess and analyze data. As the field is new, we also discuss key future steps to help usher the field's progress forward and offer a reporting checklist to help researchers navigate conducting and reporting temporal network analyses.

The Role of Attentional Networks in Smoking Behavior Among Young Adults: Specific Contribution of Executive Control.

INTRODUCTION: The exploration of cognitive impairments associated with tobacco use disorder has expanded during the last decades, centrally showing working memory and executive deficits among smokers. Despite their critical role in everyday life and in the smoking cessation process, attentional abilities have seldom been explored. Previous studies yielded discordant results, and the involvement of attentional deficits in smoking habits remains unclear. AIMS AND METHODS: Capitalizing on the Attention Network Test, a theory-grounded task allowing the simultaneous but distinct evaluation of three attentional networks (alerting, orienting, executive control), we explored attentional abilities in three groups of 25 college students (nonsmokers, light smokers, heavy smokers), matched for demographic and psychopathological characteristics. RESULTS: While light smokers did not present any deficit compared with nonsmokers, heavy smokers showed a specific impairment of the executive control subcomponent of attention, contrasting with preserved alerting and orienting attentional abilities. The executive control deficit was not related to current craving or to smoking duration. CONCLUSIONS: Beyond the already explored memory and executive deficits, tobacco use disorder is associated with attentional impairments, characterized by a reduced ability to focus attentional resources on pertinent stimuli and resist to distractors interference. Given the assumed role of attentional impairments in smoking, our findings suggest that a critical step in future translational iterations is to develop neuropsychological rehabilitation programs tapping into the executive network of attention among smokers. IMPLICATIONS: This study clarifies the presence and extent of attentional impairments in tobacco use disorder. We measured three attention networks (alerting, orienting, executive control) in light smokers, heavy smokers and matched healthy controls through a theory-grounded task (Attention Network Test). Heavy smokers (but not light ones) present a specific deficit for the executive control of attention. This deficit, uncorrelated with psychopathological comorbidities or current craving, appears directly related to smoking. Given the currently scattered literature on this topic, attentional processes deserve a thorough audit in tobacco use disorder, notably to develop specific neurocognitive rehabilitation.

Attentional networks in co-occurring generalized anxiety disorder and major depression disorder: Towards a staging approach to the executive control deficits.

INTRODUCTION: Major Depression Disorder (MDD) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) often co-occur, but the neurocognitive mechanisms of this co-occurrence remain unknown. Prominent views have pointed to attentional processes as potent mechanisms at play in MDD and GAD, respectively. Yet uncertainty remains regarding the very nature of attentional impairments in patients with co-occurring MDD and GAD. METHODS: Inspired by contemporary models of attentional networks, we compared the three main attentional networks, namely the orienting, alerting, and executive networks of the Attention Network Task's model, in four groups of patients with, respectively, co-occurring DSM-5 MDD and GAD (n = 30), DSM-5 MDD only (n = 30), DSM-5 GAD only (n = 30), or free from any DSM-5 diagnosis (n = 30). To capture the multivariate nature of our data, we examined between-group differences in the attentional networks through a multivariate analysis of variance. RESULTS: Patients with co-occurring MDD and GAD exhibited more severe impairments in the executive control network than those with only one of the disorders. Although patients with MDD or GAD solely did not differ in terms of attentional impairments, both groups showed significantly more impairments in the executive control network than those free from any DSM-5 diagnosis (all Bonferonni-corrected post-hoc ps < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings align with a longstanding staging approach to comorbidity whereby, via synergistic effects, co-occurring disorders produce more damages than the sum of each disorder. Here, for the first time, we extended this approach to the executive network of attention in the context of the co-occurrence between MDD and GAD.

The impact of transcranial Direct Current stimulation on rumination: A systematic review of the sham-controlled studies in healthy and clinical samples.

INTRODUCTION: Broadly considered a transdiagnostic feature of psychological disorders, rumination is associated with lower treatment response, slower recovery rates, and higher relapse rates. Accordingly, research has focused on the development of interventions to alleviate rumination. Recently, transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) has emerged as a promising tool to do so. METHODS: We performed a systematic review of sham-controlled tDCS studies targeting rumination among healthy participants or patients with psychiatric disorders, investigating the effectiveness of tDCS in reducing rumination, and assessing the research quality of this nascent field. RESULTS: We identified nine studies, with five reporting a significant impact of tDCS on rumination. We also outlined a few tDCS parameters (e.g., stimulation duration, electrode size) and research methods' features (e.g., within- versus between-research designs) characterizing those positive-finding studies. However, these studies were characterized by substantial heterogeneity (e.g., methodological flaws, lack of open science practices), precluding any definite statement about the best way to target rumination via tDCS. Moreover, several strong methodological limitations were also present across those studies. DISCUSSION: Although our systematic review identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the available research about the impact of tDCS on rumination, it calls for strong efforts to improve this nascent field's current methodological caveats. We discuss how open science practices can help to usher this field forward.

Positive and negative urgency as a single coherent construct: Evidence from a large-scale network analysis in clinical and non-clinical samples.

AIMS: Negative and positive urgency are emotion-related impulsivity traits that are thought to be transdiagnostic factors in psychopathology. However, it has recently been claimed that these two traits are closely related to each other and that considering them separately might have limited conceptual and methodological value. The present study aimed to examine whether positive and negative urgency constructs constitute separate impulsivity traits. METHODS: In contrast to previous studies that have used latent variable approaches, this study employed an item-based network analysis conducted in two different samples: a large sample of non-clinical participants (N = 18,568) and a sample of clinical participants with psychiatric disorders (N = 385). RESULTS: The network analysis demonstrated that items denoting both positive and negative urgency cohere as a single cluster of items termed "general urgency" in both clinical and non-clinical samples, thereby suggesting that differentiating positive and negative urgency as separate constructs is not necessary. CONCLUSION: These findings have important implications for the conceptualization and assessment of urgency and, more broadly, for future research on impulsivity, personality, and psychopathology.

Attentional biases in depression: Relation to disorder severity, rumination, and anhedonia.

INTRODUCTION: According to cognitive models of depression, selective attentional biases (ABs) for mood-congruent information are core vulnerability factors of depression maintenance. However, findings concerning the presence of these biases in depression are mixed. This study aims to clarify the presence of these ABs among individuals with clinical and subclinical depression. METHOD: We compared three groups based on a semi-structured diagnostic interview and a depressive symptoms scale (BDI-II): 34 individuals with major depressive disorder (clinically depressed); 35 with a dysphoric mood but without the criteria of major depressive disorder (i.e., subclinically depressed), and 26 never been depressed individuals. We examined AB for sad and happy materials in three modified versions of the exogenous cueing task using scenes, facial expressions, and words. Brooding, anhedonia, and anxiety were also evaluated. RESULTS: In contrast to our hypotheses, there were no ABs for negative or positive information, regardless of the task and the groups. Neither the association between AB toward negative information and brooding nor the one between AB away from positive stimuli and anhedonia was significant. Bayes factors analyses revealed that the present pattern of findings does not result from a lack of statistical power. DISCUSSION: Our results raise questions about how common AB is in depression. From a theoretical point of view, because individuals with depression did not exhibit AB, our results also seemingly challenge the claim that AB figures prominently in the maintenance of depression. We believe the present null results to be particularly useful for future meta-research in the field.

Why we should move from reductionism and embrace a network approach to parental burnout.

Network science has allowed varied scientific fields to investigate and visualize complex relations between many variables, and psychology research has begun to adopt a network perspective. In this paper, we consider how leaving behind reductionist approaches and instead embracing a network perspective can advance the field of parental burnout. Although research into parental burnout is in its early stages, we argue that a network approach to parental burnout could set the scene for radically new vistas in parental burnout research. We claim that such an approach can allow simultaneous investigations (and clear visualizations) of many variables related to parental burnout and their interactions, integrates smoothly with prior family systems theories, and prioritizes dynamic research questions. We likewise discuss potential future clinical applications, such as interventions targeting central nodes and treatment personalized to a specific family's network system. We also review practical considerations, limitations, and future directions for researchers interested in applying a network approach to parental burnout research.

Let's Open the Decision-Making Umbrella: A Framework for Conceptualizing and Assessing Features of Impaired Decision Making in Addiction.

Decision-making impairments play a pivotal role in the emergence and maintenance of addictive disorders. However, a sound conceptualization of decision making as an umbrella construct, encompassing its cognitive, affective, motivational, and physiological subcomponents, is still lacking. This prevents an efficient evaluation of the heterogeneity of decision-making impairments and the development of tailored treatment. This paper thus unfolds the various processes involved in decision making by adopting a critical approach of prominent dual- or triadic-process models, which postulate that decision making is influenced by the interplay of impulsive-automatic, reflective-controlled, and interoceptive processes. Our approach also focuses on social cognition processes, which play a crucial role in decision making and addictive disorders but were largely ignored in previous dual- or triadic-process models. We propose here a theoretical framework in which a range of coordinated processes are first identified on the basis of their theoretical and clinical relevance. Each selected process is then defined before reviewing available results underlining its role in addictive disorders (i.e., substance use, gambling, and gaming disorders). Laboratory tasks for measuring each process are also proposed, initiating a preliminary process-based decision-making assessment battery. This original approach may offer an especially informative view of the constitutive features of decision-making impairments in addiction. As prior research has implicated these features as risk factors for the development and maintenance of addictive disorders, our processual approach sets the scene for novel and transdiagnostic experimental and applied research avenues.

Unfolding the Complex Dynamic Interplay Between Attentional Processes and Anxiety: A Commentary on Ghassemzadeh, Rothbart, and Posner.

Theories about the involvement of attention in feelings of fear and anxiety have been debated in philosophical circles since long before the foundation of experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience. In this issue, Ghassemzadeh, Rothbart, and Posner (2019) provide a much-needed historical and conceptual review of the relations between attention and anxiety disorders. Throughout their paper, they argue that insights from the study of brain networks of attention offer a particularly viable prospect for best clarifying the complex relations between attentional processes and anxiety. We fully share this view. Moreover, we believe that the computational and conceptual tools of network analysis (also known as graph theory) can enable researchers to move even closer to elucidating the complex dynamic interplay between those phenomena. In this commentary, we explain why and how to use network analysis for this purpose.

Time perception is not for the faint-hearted? Physiological arousal does not influence duration categorisation.

Distortions of duration perception provoked by emotion-induced arousal changes are explained by modifications of an internal clock pace. Yet, uncertainty still abounds regarding whether changes of arousal induced by physical exercise yield such temporal distortions. Here, we report two experiments aiming to test separately the impact of, on the one hand, a physical induction of arousal and, on the other hand, a task delay on duration categorisation. In Experiment 1, participants performed a duration categorisation task before and after heart-rate manipulation (increase, decrease, or no change). Duration overestimation was observed after HR manipulation, irrespective of the condition, implying that changes of physiological arousal alone cannot explain the temporal bias observed. In Experiment 2, participants performed the duration task twice without delay or arousal manipulation, and no overestimation was observed. Together, these results suggest that the overestimation observed in the context of a delayed duration categorisation task is related to a distortion of memorised standard durations caused by time lag rather than by a physiological arousal effect.

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Trichotillomania: A Bayesian Case-Control Study.

Over the last years, mindfulness-based interventions combined with habit reversal training have been demonstrated to be particularly suitable for addressing trichotillomania. However, because these studies always combined mindfulness training to habit reversal without including either a mindfulness or habit reversal condition alone, it is still unclear whether clinical benefits are the consequences of mindfulness or merely result from habit reversal training. The primary purpose of the present study was thus to examine whether a mindfulness training procedure without habit reversal could alleviate trichotillomania. Using a Bayesian probabilistic approach for single-case design, client's hair loss severity and level of mindfulness were compared to a normative sample (n = 15) before treatment, after treatment, and at six-month follow-up. Improvement in mindfulness first occurred, and that beneficial effect then transferred to hair-pulling. Indeed, as compared to the normative sample, the client exhibited, from baseline to post-treatment, an improvement in mindfulness. Although a marginal trend to improvement was already evidenced at post-treatment, the mindfulness program only had a significant beneficial effect transferred to hair-loss severity at six-month follow-up. Although it remains particularly difficult to infer generalization from one client, the data from the present case study are the first to suggest that mindfulness training per se might be a suitable clinical intervention for trichotillomania.

Attentional alterations in alcohol dependence are underpinned by specific executive control deficits.

BACKGROUND: Attentional biases and deficits play a central role in the development and maintenance of alcohol dependence, but the underlying attentional processes accounting for these deficits have been very little explored. Importantly, the differential alterations across the 3 attentional networks (alerting, orienting, and executive control) remain unclear in this pathology. METHODS: Thirty recently detoxified alcohol-dependent individuals and 30 paired controls completed the Attention Network Test, which allow exploring the attentional alterations specifically related to the 3 attentional networks. RESULTS: Alcohol-dependent individuals presented globally delayed reaction times compared to controls. More centrally, they showed a differential deficit across attention networks, with a preserved performance for alerting and orienting networks but impaired executive control (p < 0.001). This deficit was not related to psychopathological comorbidities but was positively correlated with the duration of alcohol-dependence habits, the number of previous detoxification treatments and the mean alcohol consumption before detoxification. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that attentional alterations in alcohol dependence are centrally due to a specific alteration of executive control. Intervention programs focusing on executive components of attention should be promoted, and these results support the frontal lobe hypothesis.

Is there an all-embracing construct of emotion reactivity? Adaptation and validation of the emotion reactivity scale among a French-speaking community sample.

BACKGROUND: Emotion reactivity is defined as the extent to which an individual experiences emotions in response to a wide array of stimuli, intensely, and for a prolonged period. This construct is a key psychological factor in the development and maintenance of psychopathological disorders. The aim of the current study was to develop and validate a French version of the Emotion Reactivity Scale (ERS), which gauges three aspects of emotion reactivity: (1) emotional sensitivity, (2) emotional intensity, and (3) emotional persistence. METHOD: The French ERS and both concurrent and divergent validated scales were administered to 258 participants from the community. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analyses revealed good fit indices for: (1) a single-factor model, (2) a three-factor model, and (3) a hierarchical three-factor solution with a single-factor solution as a second-order latent variable for a generic construct of emotion reactivity. The French version of the Emotion Reactivity Scale also exhibits acceptable internal scale score reliability (total scale and subscales). Eventually, meaningful relationships were found between factors of emotion reactivity and depression, distinct aspects of impulsive behaviors, and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. CONCLUSION: Findings of the confirmatory factor analyses are consistent with previous studies suggesting that the ERS is mainly captured by a single major construct of emotion reactivity.

No Impact of Tdcs on Stress-Induced State Rumination and no Influence of Executive Control and Trait Rumination: A Double-Blind Sham-Controlled Within-Subjects Study.

Objective: Rumination is conceptualized as a critical transdiagnostic vulnerability and maintenance factor for affective dysregulation and related emotional disorders. Recent research has pointed to transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as a novel therapeutic tool for alleviating rumination, especially stress-induced rumination. However, the mechanisms of action underlying this effect remain unclear, particularly regarding the potential moderating role of executive control and trait-like rumination. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the impact of anodal tDCS on stress-induced rumination and the potential moderating influence of executive control and trait-like rumination on this efect. Method: Forty participants from the general community (i.e., unselected sample) took part in a double-blind within-subjects design study wherein we compared anodal stimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex(dlPFC) with a sham-stimulation procedure. Participants completed an N-back task, reflecting executive control, during tDCS stimulation, followed by a stress-induction protocol wherein we assessed stress-induced state rumination. Results: We found no significant effect of tDCS on stress-induced state rumination and no modulation by executive control or trait rumination. Post-hoc Bayesian analyses corroborated these results and even supported the hypothesis that anodal tDCS does not impact stress-induced rumination. Conclusions: From a clinical perspective, our results are at odds with the current outlook that tDCS is a viable tool for reducing rumination, particularly stress-induced rumination. However, we firmly believe that the results of null-finding studies, such as those from this study, are particularly valuable for future iterations and meta-researchon tDCS as a potential tool for targeting transdiagnostic processes, such as rumination. We also addressed methodological limitations and directions for future research in this area.

When eco-anger (but not eco-anxiety nor eco-sadness) makes you change! A temporal network approach to the emotional experience of climate change.

Research on the emotional experience of climate change has become a hot topic. Yet uncertainties remain regarding the interplay between climate change-related emotions (i.e., eco-anxiety, eco-anger, eco-sadness), general emotions (i.e., regardless of climate change), and pro-environmental behaviors. Most previous research has focused on cross-sectional studies, and eco-emotions in everyday life have seldom been considered. In this preregistered study, 102 participants from the general population rated their eco-emotions (i.e., eco-anxiety, eco-anger, eco-sadness), general emotions (i.e., anxiety, anger, sadness), and pro-environmental intentions and behaviors daily over a 60-day period. Using a multilevel vector autoregressive approach, we computed three network models representing temporal (i.e., from one time-point to the next), contemporaneous (i.e., during the same time-frame), and between-subject (i.e., similar to cross-sectional approach) associations between variables. Results show that eco-anger was the only predictor of pro-environmental intentions and behaviors over time. At the contemporaneous level, the momentary experience of each eco-emotion was associated with the momentary emotional experience of the corresponding general emotion, indicating the distinctiveness of each eco-emotion and the correspondence between its experience and that of its general, non-climate-related emotion. Overall, our findings 1) emphasize the driving role of eco-anger in prompting pro-environmental behaviors over time, 2) suggest a functional and experiential distinction between eco-emotions, and 3) provide data-driven clues for the field's larger quest to establish the scientific foundations of eco-emotions.

Does chocolate consumption really boost Nobel Award chances? The peril of over-interpreting correlations in health studies.

A correlation observed between chocolate consumption and the number of Nobel laureates has recently led to the suggestion that consuming more chocolate would increase the number of laureates due to the beneficial effects of cocoa-flavanols on cognitive functioning. We demonstrate that this interpretation is disproved when other flavanol-rich nutriment consumption is considered. We also show the peril of over-interpreting correlations in nutrition and health research by reporting high correlations between the number of Nobel laureates and various other measures, whether cogently related or not. We end by discussing statistical alternatives that may overcome correlation shortcomings.

Is There an All-Embracing "Intolerance to Uncertainty" Construct? French Adaptation and Validation of the Intolerance to Uncertainty Scale-Revised.

Objective: Intolerance to uncertainty is a trait-like disposition largely studied in psychopathology and known to be involved in many psychological disorders. Yet, the very operationalization of this construct has prompted debate in the literature. Three different models have regularly been discussed: a correlated two-factor solution, a bifactorial solution, and a single-factor structure. A growing body of evidence suggests that the bifactorial model represents the adequate factorial solution; however, its validity has never been tested in a large French-speaking sample. Moreover, uncertainty remains regarding the associations between IUS-R and other psychological constructs, especially stress and depression. This project was designed to overcome these limitations. Method: To do so, we translated the scale into French and tested (n = 728) via confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) whether the French version would better fit with a bifactorial-, correlated, or single-factor structure, as implied by previous works. We also examined the internal reliability of the IUS-R, as well as its associations with concurrent measures of stress, depression, anxiety, and worry. Results: The results pointed to a bifactorial structure as the best-fitting model and provided evidence for a strong general intolerance of uncertainty factor that was more reliable and accounted for significantly more common variance than each subscale factor individually. Conclusions: We discuss how this bifactorial structure impacts the conceptualization of IU.

Parental burnout features and the family context: A temporal network approach in mothers.

Many parents have days where they encounter emotional exhaustion, emotional distance from their children, and feeling fed up with being a parent. Some parents experience these characteristics to a severe extent-a clinical phenomenon termed parental burnout. Parental burnout arises when parents chronically endure severe stress without sufficient resources to cope, which may lead to detrimental consequences not only for the parent but also for their partner (e.g., marital conflict) and children (i.e., neglect and violence). However, uncertainty remains regarding how these features interact and trigger one another over time (potentially becoming increasingly severe), nor how the daily variations of the family context influence these features. Therefore, in this study, we recruited 50 parents (with main analyses focusing on 43 mothers with a co-parent, and sensitivity analyses with the full sample) from the general population to rate the core features of parental burnout and the family context daily over 56 days. We used multilevel vector autoregressive models to generate network models. Results suggest that exhaustion contributes to parental burnout: It self-predicts and is closely associated with feeling fed up and finding children difficult to manage. Distance, by contrast, is mainly negatively connected to sharing positive moments with children. Contextual variables also interact with parental burnout features, illustrating the relevance of examining parenting within the family system context. If future research confirms a central role of exhaustion in parental burnout development, prevention efforts can focus on decreasing parental exhaustion. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

A network approach to climate change anxiety and its key related features.

Research has pointed to startling worldwide rates of people reporting considerable anxiety vis-à-vis climate change. Yet, uncertainties remain regarding how climate anxiety's cognitive-emotional features and daily life functional impairments interact with one another and with climate change experience, pro-environmental behaviors, and general worry. In this study, we apply network analyses to examine the associations among these variables in an international community sample (n = 874). We computed two network models, a graphical Gaussian model to explore network structure, potential communities, and influential nodes, and a directed acyclic graph to examine the probabilistic dependencies among the variables. Both network models pointed to the cognitive-emotional features of climate anxiety as a potential hub bridging general worry, the experience of climate change, pro-environmental behaviors, and the functional impairments associated with climate anxiety. Our findings offer data-driven clues for the field's larger quest to establish the foundations of climate anxiety.