Mental health in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal examination of the ameliorating effect of meaning salience.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, various restrictions forced people around the world to socially isolate. People were asked to stay at home and were largely unable to do many of the activities that they derived meaning from. Since meaning is often related to mental health, these restrictions were likely to decrease mental health. The current study aimed to examine these effects and additionally benefit individuals' mental health by making their meaning salient. Specifically, the goal of the research was to design an intervention that could counter the potential negative effects of social distancing. We recruited a total of 96 U.S.A. residents (M age = 34.45, 92.7% Female) and assigned them to either the control group or to a meaning salience intervention. That is, participants either focused on the meaning of their daily activities (n = 45) or did not participate in any study-related activities during the week (n = 51). They completed various measures of mental health before and after this experimental period. Results suggested that the control group reported significantly greater anxiety, depression, and stress at the end of the week. In contrast, the experimental group reported less anxiety and trended toward less depression and stress at the end of that same week. In all, results suggest that simply focusing on one's daily activities and the meaning found in them protected people from the otherwise detrimental effects of the restrictions. This provides a promising and simple intervention that may assist both individuals and practitioners aiming to improve mental health, especially in challenging times.

Meaning gained versus meaning lost: The effects of meaning salience on anxiety and depression during the coronavirus pandemic.

People who have meaningful lives generally experience less anxiety and depression. Meaning salience, or the awareness of the meaning in one's life, is believed to partially explain this relationship. However, in times of isolation, what might be most salient to people are the meaningful aspects of their lives that have disappeared. This study seeks to understand how making gained versus lost meaning salient affects anxiety and depression. Participants either wrote for 5 minutes about how their life gained meaning (n = 29) or lost meaning (n = 30) due to the coronavirus restrictions, or about music (i.e., the control condition; n = 32). Those who wrote about gained meaning experienced less momentary anxiety than those who wrote about lost meaning. In addition, meaning salience moderated the relationship between meaning and both anxiety and depression. Those who wrote about gained meaning appeared to exhibit a positive relationship between meaning in life (MIL) and both anxiety and depression, while those who wrote about lost meaning exhibited negative relationships. In all, this suggests that meaning salience is not always positive and that researchers and practitioners should consider how making positive meaning salient may be more beneficial than a general focus on MIL.

The Brief Aggression Questionnaire: Structure, Validity, Reliability, and Generalizability.

In contexts that increasingly demand brief self-report measures (e.g., experience sampling, longitudinal and field studies), researchers seek succinct surveys that maintain reliability and validity. One such measure is the 12-item Brief Aggression Questionnaire (BAQ; Webster et al., 2014), which uses 4 3-item subscales: Physical Aggression, Verbal Aggression, Anger, and Hostility. Although prior work suggests the BAQ's scores are reliable and valid, we addressed some lingering concerns. Across 3 studies (N = 1,279), we found that the BAQ had a 4-factor structure, possessed long-term test-retest reliability across 12 weeks, predicted differences in behavioral aggression over time in a laboratory experiment, generalized to a diverse nonstudent sample, and showed convergent validity with a displaced aggression measure. In addition, the BAQ's 3-item Anger subscale showed convergent validity with a trait anger measure. We discuss the BAQ's potential reliability, validity, limitations, and uses as an efficient measure of aggressive traits.

Establishing versus preserving impressions: Predicting success in the multiple audience problem.

People sometimes seek to convey discrepant impressions of themselves to different audiences simultaneously. Research suggests people are generally successful in this "multiple audience problem." Adding to previous research, the current research sought to examine factors that may limit this success by measuring social anxiety and placing participants into situations requiring them to either establish or preserve multiple impressions simultaneously. In general, participants were more successful when preserving previously conveyed impressions than when establishing impressions for the first time. In contrast, social anxiety did not affect multiple audience success. In all, this research offers valuable insight into potential challenges that people face in many social situations.

The brief aggression questionnaire: psychometric and behavioral evidence for an efficient measure of trait aggression.

A key problem facing aggression research is how to measure individual differences in aggression accurately and efficiently without sacrificing reliability or validity. Researchers are increasingly demanding brief measures of aggression for use in applied settings, field studies, pretest screening, longitudinal, and daily diary studies. The authors selected the three highest loading items from each of the Aggression Questionnaire's (Buss & Perry, 1992) four subscales--Physical Aggression, Verbal Aggression, anger, and hostility--and developed an efficient 12-item measure of aggression--the Brief Aggression Questionnaire (BAQ). Across five studies (N = 3,996), the BAQ showed theoretically consistent patterns of convergent and discriminant validity with other self-report measures, consistent four-factor structures using factor analyses, adequate recovery of information using item response theory methods, stable test-retest reliability, and convergent validity with behavioral measures of aggression. The authors discuss the reliability, validity, and efficiency of the BAQ, along with its many potential applications.

The prevalence and prevention of crosstalk: a multi-institutional study.

It is a common problem in psychology subject pools for past study participants to inform future participants of key experimental details (also known as crosstalk). Previous research (Edlund, Sagarin, Skowronski, Johnson, & Kutter, 2009) demonstrated that a combined classroom and laboratory treatment could significantly reduce crosstalk. The present investigation tested a laboratory-only treatment for the prevention of crosstalk at five universities, along with institutional-level moderators of crosstalk. Results indicated the presence of crosstalk at all universities and that the laboratory-based treatment was effective in reducing crosstalk. Importantly, crosstalk rates were higher (but successfully neutralized) in research pools with higher research credit requirements. Therefore, this research provides valuable guidance regarding crosstalk prevalence and its minimization by researchers.

The Importance of Awareness, Acceptance, and Alignment With the Self: A Framework for Understanding Self-Connection.

We provide a theoretical framework for what it means to be self-connected and propose that self-connection is an important potential contributor to a person's well-being. We define self-connection as consisting of three components: 1) an awareness of oneself, 2) an acceptance of oneself based on this awareness, and 3) an alignment of one's behavior with this awareness. First, we position the concept within the broader self literature and provide the empirical context for our proposed definition of self-connection. We next compare and contrast self-connection to related constructs, including mindfulness and authenticity. Following, we discuss some of the potential relationships between self-connection and various aspects of mental health and well-being. Finally, we provide initial recommendations for future research, including potential ways to promote self-connection. In all, we present this theory to provide researchers with a framework for understanding self-connection so that they can utilize this concept to better support the efforts of researchers and practitioners alike to increase individuals' well-being in various contexts.

Fostering Stress Resilience Among Business Students: The Role of Stress Mindset and Self-Connection.

Educators are becoming increasingly concerned about the high rates of burnout among their students. Although the solution may appear to be reducing the stress their students experience, simply reducing stress is a temporary solution and does not help students when they enter the workforce and encounter increased stressors. A better option may be to consider the ways in which students can increase stress resilience in ways that will help them long after they leave the classroom. With this idea in mind, we tested for relationships between two individual difference variables, stress mindset and self-connection, and burnout and life satisfaction among business students. The results showed there was a positive relationship between viewing stress as debilitating and prevalence of both personal and school-related burnout. Additionally, self-connection was negatively related to personal burnout and greater life satisfaction. Stress mindset and self-connection also interacted to predict both personal and school burnout. The results suggest that promoting adaptive views of stress and becoming more self-connected may lead to a better student experience.

The Role of Self-Connection in the Relationship between Mindfulness and Meaning: A Longitudinal Examination.

BACKGROUND: Researchers have rarely examined mindfulness and meaning in a way that informs the causality and directionality of this relationship. The current research examines this relationship across time, further validates the Self-Connection Scale (SCS), and examines the role of self-connection in both moderating and mediating this relationship. This allows for researchers and practitioners alike to utilise self-connection to help increase their own and others' well-being. METHODS: One hundred and fifty-four participants completed measures of mindfulness, self-connection, and meaning over 4 weeks. We also included various measures related to well-being to further examine the nomological network of the SCS. RESULTS: Multi-level models examined a total of 432 observations across 108 participants. Mindfulness predicted an increase in the presence of but not search for meaning. Self-connection partially mediated the effect on the presence of meaning and moderated the effect on the search for meaning. Furthermore, the SCS demonstrated good validity and reliability across time. CONCLUSIONS: Self-connection, as measured by the SCS, has an important role in positive psychology, and those with a deficit are likely to benefit the most from increased mindfulness. Together, this provides several implications for using mindfulness and self-connection research in personal and professional practice.

When thinking back can hold us back: How being a follower can affect women's loss-aversion.

Despite the persistent gender gap in many organizational leadership positions, researchers have not yet examined objective predictors of this gap. A fully crossed 3 (Role Prime: leader, follower, control) × 2 (Gender Prime: present, absent) × 2 (Sex: male, female) experimental design examined the effect of group role (i.e., leader or follower) and gender on loss-aversion. Participants (192 total; 96 female) were asked to name either their former or current leader ("superior") or follower ("subordinate"), compared with a no prime condition. Results suggest that women primed with a follower role were more loss-averse than men primed with a follower role, and were more loss-averse than women primed with the leader role or in the control condition. However, the role prime did not affect men's loss-aversion. The current research suggests that researchers and practitioners should consider the effects of group role on loss-aversion, as this may contribute to gender gaps in the workplace. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The good-subject effect: investigating participant demand characteristics.

Although researchers are often concerned with the presence of participant demand, few have directly examined effects of demand on participant behavior. Before beginning the present study, a confederate informed participants (N = 100) of the study's purported hypothesis. Participants then performed a laboratory task designed to evaluate the extent to which they would respond in ways that may confirm or disconfirm the hypothesis of the study. The authors found that participants tended to respond in ways that confirmed the hypothesis, yet this tendency depended on attitudes toward the experiment or experimenter and other individual differences. In addition, results suggested that suspicion probes may be ineffective in measuring participants' previous knowledge and suspicion. Findings indicate the need for more research and consideration of demand in the design of studies and analysis of data.

Sex differences in jealousy: the (lack of) influence of researcher theoretical perspective.

The sex difference in jealousy is an effect that has generated significant controversy in the academic literature (resulting in two meta-analyses that reached different conclusions on the presence or absence of the effect). In this study, we had a team of researchers from different theoretical perspectives use identical protocols to test whether the sex difference in jealousy would occur across many different samples (while testing whether mate value would moderate the effect). In our samples, we found the sex difference in jealousy to occur using both forced choice and continuous measures, this effect appeared in several different settings, and, we found that mate value moderated participant responses. The results are discussed in light of the controversy surrounding the presence of the effect.

Does personality predict driving performance in middle and older age? An evidence-based literature review.

OBJECTIVE: To conduct a literature review of the relationship between personality and driving performance among middle-aged and older adults. METHODS: We searched for relevant literature using Web of Science, PsycInfo, and PubMed and consulted with experts for recently published literature not yet catalogued in those databases. Using the American Academy of Neurology's classification criteria, we extracted data from 13 studies and assigned a class (I-IV) to each study. We grouped primary studies into 3 main categories of driving assessment (behavioral assessment: comprehensive driving evaluations, alternative on-road driving evaluations, driving simulations; automobile crashes: state-recorded crashes, self-reported crashes; self-report measures: self-reported driving behaviors). In all, we synthesized the relationship between personality and driving performance for middle-aged and older adults. RESULTS: To assist clinicians and researchers in future considerations of the relationship between personality and driving performance, we provide specific evidence-based recommendations for several driving assessments: on-road driving evaluations (Level B), driving simulations (Level U), state-recorded crashes (Level C), self-reported crashes (Level C), and self-reported driving behaviors (Level C). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, we found evidence for personality as a reliable predictor of driving performance among older drivers. However, 2 caveats qualify our conclusions: the research considered only a limited number of personality variables and largely consisted of less valid tests of driving performance. Therefore, to truly understand the relationship between personality and driving performance, future research must consider a wider range of individual differences and employ more stringent tests and methodological designs to measure driving performance.

The relationship between pain and functional disability in Black and White older adults.

In this study we examined pain and disability in 115 community-dwelling, urban, older adults (mean age = 74 years; 52% Black, 48% White). Participants completed a survey of pain (pain presence, intensity, locations, and duration) and disability (Sickness Impact Profile). Sixty percent of the sample reported pain; Black and White adults did not differ on any pain variable. In structural equation models controlling for socioeconomic factors and health, pain did not mediate the relationship between race and disability. Race moderated the pain-disability relationship; pain was more associated with disability among Whites than Blacks. This study highlights the need for greater understanding of health disparities between Black and White older adults as they relate to pain and disability.

Assessing pain in persons with dementia: relationships among the non-communicative patient's pain assessment instrument, self-report, and behavioral observations.

Pain is a common problem for many older adults, with up to 50% of community-dwelling and 70% to 80% of nursing home residents experiencing pain regularly. Effective pain management requires thorough assessment, appropriate intervention, and systematic reassessment. Pain assessment, however, is complicated by dementia, which impairs memory, reasoning, recognition, and communication, and affects elders' ability to verbally report pain. As such, observational measures are needed to assess pain in this vulnerable population. The Non-communicative Patient's Pain Assessment Instrument (NOPPAIN) was developed for this purpose, but more validation of this measure is needed. Thus, the purpose of this study was to (1) evaluate reliability of the NOPPAIN tool when used by nurses and to (2) compare NOPPAIN ratings with self-report and other well-established behavioral rating procedures. Forty participants (20 cognitively intact and 20 impaired) were randomly selected for this study from a larger sample. In the parent study, participants were asked to perform everyday activities (i.e., sit, stand, walk in place, transfer in and out of bed) while being videotaped. The tapes, all previously scored using microanalytic observational coding, were rated again by naïve raters using the NOPPAIN measure. Results indicated (1) high inter- and intrarater reliability of the NOPPAIN and (2) significant correlations of the NOPPAIN with self-reported pain and detailed behavioral coding. Findings support the reliability and validity of the NOPPAIN measurement tool and suggest this easy-to-use tool may be adequate for measuring pain indicators in older adults.