Longitudinal assessment of COVID-19 fear and psychological wellbeing in the United Kingdom.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact global psychological wellbeing. To investigate the sustained impact of COVID-19 on wellbeing, the current study longitudinally assessed fear of COVID-19, anxiety, depression, intolerance of uncertainty, worry, sleep quality, loneliness and alcohol use during the pandemic in the United Kingdom. Timepoint 1 (T1; N = 445) took place in February 2021 following the highest number of pandemic-related deaths in the UK. Timepoint 2 (T2, N = 198) took place in June 2021 when pandemic-related deaths had declined considerably, and many had been vaccinated. At T1, COVID-19 fear predicted elevated levels of anxiety, depression, intolerance of uncertainty, worry, sleep quality and loneliness. At T2, we observed that levels of COVID-19 fear, depression, loneliness and sleep quality decreased. However, COVID-19 fear continued to predict elevated intolerance of uncertainty, worry and impaired sleep quality. These findings demonstrate the longitudinal impact of COVID-19 fear on psychological wellbeing.

Living in fear: Low-cost avoidance maintains low-level threat.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Excessive avoidance of potential threat is a hallmark of anxiety and is thought to maintain fear by preserving the perceived high-threat value of avoided situations. Previous research has shown that the availability of avoidance maintains low-level threat. Here, we investigated whether an opportunity to engage in avoidance in the presence of a low-threat value safety cue would maintain its perceived threat value when avoidance was unavailable. METHODS: In a threat conditioning procedure, one conditional danger stimulus (CS+; A+) was followed by an aversive unconditioned stimulus (US; electric shock), and two safety stimuli (CS-; B- and C-) were never followed by the US. Next, clicking a button present during A+ avoided the scheduled US. Avoidance was then made available during C- for participants in the Experimental group but not in the Control group. In the test, all stimuli were presented without the opportunity to avoid. Threat expectancy, eyeblink startle electromyography (EMG), and skin conductance responses (SCRs) were measured. RESULTS: Findings showed an increase in threat expectancy for only C- in the Experimental group during the test phase following avoidance learning to similar levels as during threat conditioning. Compared to the Control group, threat expectancy for both B- and C- remained higher in Experimental group. SCR and startle EMG data did not corroborate these findings. LIMITATIONS: Further research is needed to test the commonly held clinical assumption that avoidance can increase threat value. CONCLUSIONS: Low-cost avoidance maintains low-threat value of safety cues.

Validating the gambling functional assessment--revised in a United kingdom sample.

The gambling functional assessment-revised (GFA-R) was designed to assess whether the respondent's gambling was maintained by positive reinforcement or escape. The present study attempted to validate the GFA-R's psychometric properties using United Kingdom (UK) university students and to compare the results to those from a sample of American university students. Two hundred seventy four UK students completed the GFA-R, and 153 also completed the South Oaks gambling screen (SOGS). Two hundred one United States (US) university students completed both measures. A confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the original model of the GFA-R provided an excellent fit for the UK data and internal consistency was high. These outcomes were similar, if not superior, to those from the US sample. SOGS scores strongly correlated with GFA-R escape subscale scores in both samples, replicating previous results. These findings indicate that the GFA-R is a valid measure for use in the UK, which is potentially useful to both practitioners and researchers. They also suggest that the strong relationship between endorsing gambling as an escape and measures of disordered gambling may be ubiquitous.

Cognitive decision modelling of emotion-based learning impairment in schizophrenia: the role of awareness.

Individuals with schizophrenia often lack insight or awareness. Resulting impairment has been observed in various cognitive domains and, recently, linked to problems in emotion-based learning. The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) has been used to assess emotion-based decision-making in patients with schizophrenia, but results have been inconclusive. The current study further investigates emotion-based decision-making in schizophrenia by elucidating the unique contribution of awareness. Twenty-five patients with schizophrenia and 24 healthy controls were assessed with a modified version of the IGT recording awareness at regular intervals. Symptom assessment, medication and medical history were recorded for the clinical group. Patients with schizophrenia underperformed on the IGT compared to controls. Subjective awareness levels were significantly lower in the schizophrenia group and were associated with hallucination severity. Cognitive decision modelling further indicated that patients with schizophrenia had impaired attention to losses, compared to controls. This parameter was positively correlated with awareness. We also found that positive symptoms altered awareness levels and suggest that this disruption may contribute to sub-optimal decision-making. Overall, a lack of awareness may be an important aspect in understanding impaired social cognitive functioning and emotion-based learning observed in schizophrenia.