Mediodorsal thalamus-projecting anterior cingulate cortex neurons modulate helping behavior in mice.

Many species living in groups can perform prosocial behaviors via voluntarily helping others with or without benefits for themselves. To provide a better understanding of the neural basis of such prosocial behaviors, we adapted a preference lever-switching task in which mice can prevent harm to others by switching from using a lever that causes shocks to a conspecific one that does not. We found the harm avoidance behavior was mediated by self-experience and visual and social contact but not by gender or familiarity. By combining single-unit recordings and analysis of neural trajectory decoding, we demonstrated the dynamics of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) neural activity changes synchronously with the harm avoidance performance of mice. In addition, ACC neurons projected to the mediodorsal thalamus (MDL) to modulate the harm avoidance behavior. Optogenetic activation of the ACC-MDL circuit during non-preferred lever pressing (nPLP) and inhibition of this circuit during preferred lever pressing (PLP) both resulted in the loss of harm avoidance ability. This study revealed the ACC-MDL circuit modulates prosocial behavior to avoid harm to conspecifics and may shed light on the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders with dysfunction of prosocial behavior.

Negative energy balance hinders prosocial helping behavior.

The internal state of an animal, including homeostatic requirements, modulates its behavior. Negative energy balance stimulates hunger, thus promoting a range of actions aimed at obtaining food. While these survival actions are well established, the influence of the energy status on prosocial behavior remains unexplored. We developed a paradigm to assess helping behavior in which a free mouse was faced with a conspecific trapped in a restrainer. We measured the willingness of the free mouse to liberate the confined mouse under diverse metabolic conditions. Around 42% of ad libitum-fed mice exhibited a helping behavior, as evidenced by the reduction in the latencies to release the trapped cagemate. This behavior was independent of subsequent social contact reward and was associated with changes in corticosterone indicative of emotional contagion. This decision-making process was coupled with reduced blood glucose excursions and higher Adenosine triphosphate (ATP):Adenosine diphosphate (ADP) ratios in the forebrain of helper mice, suggesting that it was a highly energy-demanding process. Interestingly, chronic (food restriction and type 2 diabetes) and acute (chemogenetic activation of hunger-promoting AgRP neurons) situations mimicking organismal negative energy balance and enhanced appetite attenuated helping behavior toward a distressed conspecific. To investigate similar effects in humans, we estimated the influence of glycated hemoglobin (a surrogate of long-term glycemic control) on prosocial behavior (namely charity donation) using the Understanding Society dataset. Our results evidenced that organismal energy status markedly influences helping behavior and that hypothalamic AgRP neurons are at the interface of metabolism and prosocial behavior.

Being present and thankful: A multi-study investigation of mindfulness, gratitude, and employee helping behavior.

Gratitude plays an integral role in promoting helping behavior at work. Thus, cultivating employees' experiences of gratitude represents an important imperative in modern organizations that rely on teamwork and collaboration to achieve organizational goals. Yet, today's workplace presents a complex array of demands that make it difficult for employees to fully attend to and appreciate the various benefits they receive at work. As such, gratitude is difficult for employers to promote and for employees to experience. Despite these observations, the role of attention and awareness in facilitating employees' feelings of gratitude is largely overlooked in the extant literature. In this study, we examined whether one notable form of present moment attention, mindfulness, may promote helping behavior by stimulating the positive, other-oriented emotion of gratitude. Across two experimental studies, a semiweekly, multisource diary study, and a 10-day experience sampling investigation, we found converging evidence for a serial mediation model in which state mindfulness, via positive affect and perspective taking, prompts greater levels of gratitude, prosocial motivation, and, in turn, helping behavior at work. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our investigation, as well as avenues for the future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

End-of-Life Childhood Cancer Research: A Systematic Review.

CONTEXT: Children with incurable cancer may participate in research studies at the end of life (EOL). These studies create knowledge that can improve the care of future patients. OBJECTIVE: To describe stakeholder perspectives regarding research studies involving children with cancer at the EOL by conduct of a systematic review. DATA SOURCES: We used the following data sources: Ovid Medline, Embase, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and ProQuest (inception until August 2020). STUDY SELECTION: We selected 24 articles published in English that examined perceptions or experiences of research participation for children with cancer at the EOL from the perspectives of children, parents, and health professionals (HPs). DATA EXTRACTION: Two authors independently extracted data, assessed study quality, and performed thematic analysis and synthesis. RESULTS: Eight themes were identified: (1) seeking control; (2) faith, hope, and uncertainty; (3) being a good parent; (4) helping others; (5) barriers and facilitators; (6) information and understanding; (7) the role of HPs in consent and beyond; and (8) involvement of the child in decision-making. LIMITATIONS: Study designs were heterogeneous. Only one study discussed palliative care research. CONCLUSIONS: Some families participate in EOL research seeking to gain control and sustain hope, despite uncertainty. Other families choose against research, prioritizing quality of life. Parents may perceive research participation as the role of a "good parent" and hope to help others. HPs have positive views of EOL research but fear that parents lack understanding of the purpose of studies and the likelihood of benefit. We identified barriers to research participation and informed consent.

Compassion meditation increases optimism towards a transgressor.

Past research reveals important connections between meditative practices and compassion. Most studies, however, focus on the effects of one type of meditation (vs. a no-intervention control) on a single expression of compassion (e.g. offering a seat) towards a relatable target (e.g. a person on crutches), without exploring possible mechanisms. Hence, few studies include different types of meditation, active controls, multiple ways to express compassion, unrelatable targets, and potential mediators. To this end, the present study compared the effects of mindfulness meditation with those of compassion meditation on different expressions of compassion towards a convicted murderer. Seventy-four participants were randomly assigned to a mindfulness meditation, compassion meditation, or active control class, or a no-class control. After an 8-week programme, we assessed compassion by giving participants the option of fulfilling a murderer's request that they write him and then coding those letters for empathy, sympathy, forgiveness, and optimism. Participants in the compassion meditation class wrote more optimistic letters compared to participants in the other three conditions, in part because they valued positivity more. No statistically significant differences emerged for the other expressions of compassion. We discuss the implications of these findings for our understanding of how meditation increases compassion towards unrelatable targets.

O dom e a dádiva entre parteiras do Amapá: uma abordagem etnográfica / The dom and gift among midwives from Amapá: an ethnographic approach

Resumo Este artigo trata das visões de mundo e práticas das parteiras tradicionais que moram em Santana (AP, Brasil). Tendo como base pesquisa de campo de caráter etnográfico e entrevistas semiestruturadas, apresentamos o entendimento dessas mulheres acerca do seu ofício, destacando a centralidade desempenhada pelas noções nativas de dom e de divino nesse universo. Também apresentamos e interpretamos a dimensão simbólica das relações estabelecidas entre essas mulheres, as parturientes e a entidade nomeada por elas como Deus. Neste contexto, observamos que as obrigações relacionadas aos endividamentos não compulsórios no dar-receber-retribuir, apontado na maioria dos estudos sobre parteiras, não se restringem à relação entre família da parturiente e parteira. Na concepção local, as relações relevantes de obrigação concatenadas ao dom para o ofício se estabelecem entre humanos e Deus. Grosso modo, a contradádiva é efetivada no atendimento às gestantes, mas como uma espécie de obrigação diante de Deus. Assim, o atendimento às mulheres que procuram as parteiras é entendido como o meio adequado de saldar a dívida adquirida com o ser divino.

Abstract This article studies the world conceptions and practices of traditional midwives who live and work in Santana (Amapá, Brazil). Based on an ethnographic fieldwork including semi-structured interviews, we present how these women perceive their craft, highlighting the centrality of the category dom and the notion of divine in this universe. We also discuss the symbolic dimension of the relationships established between the midwives, the pregnant women and the entity known by them as God. In this regard, the obligations associated to the non-compulsory debts in the giving, receiving and returning cycle, pointed out by most studies on traditional midwives, are not restricted to the relation between the patient's family and the midwife. According to the local conception, the most relevant relations of obligation associated to the dom for their craft are those established between humans and God. The counter-gift is accomplished through patient care, but as a sort of obligation towards God. Assisting the women who seek midwives is, thus, understood as the adequate means to settle the debt with this divine entity.

Game Perspective-Taking Effects on Players' Behavioral Intention, Attitudes, Subjective Norms, and Self-Efficacy to Help Immigrants: The Case of "Papers, Please".

This study expands on game character perspective-taking effects on political opinions while controlling for players' social dominance orientation or inclination for inequality among social groups. Random assignment to play a game as an immigration inspector decreased intention, subjective norms, and self-efficacy to help immigrants relative to baseline scores. The scores of participants randomly assigned to play a game similar in style but instead featuring the role of a newspaper editor remained unchanged. Within-subjects effects implied that baseline reductions in intention, subjective norms, and self-efficacy to help immigrants were solely attributed to playing games as game immigration inspectors. The study provides initial evidence that taking on the perspective of game characters can influence players' opinions about political issues, such as immigration.

Reducing Health Disparities: Understanding the Unintended Effects of Health Care Professional and Patient Characteristics on Treatment.

CONTEXT: The responsibility-affect-helping model proposes that helping behavior is a function of perceived responsibility and affect. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of medical students' degree (DO or MD) and gender on attitudes toward patients and how these factors could act as moderators in the responsibility-affect-helping model. METHODS: This 2×3 experimental study included third- and fourth-year osteopathic (ie, DO) and allopathic (ie, MD) medical students. Students were given a survey that included the medical record and photograph of a fictitious male patient with diabetes and a message from the patient regarding his diet nonadherence. The patients differed in race (black or white) and the cause of diet nonadherence (healthy foods don't taste good, no reason given, or inability to access healthy foods). Survey items measured students' perception of the patient's responsibility for his nonadherence, level of anger, intention to help, level of sympathy, and ethnocentrism. Data were analyzed using a multivariate analysis of covariance with ethnocentrism as a covariate. RESULTS: Of 1520 potential students, 231 were included in the study. Mean (SD) responsibility scale scores showed that DO students viewed the patient who gave dislike of healthy food or no reason for their diet nonadherence as more responsible for his nonadherence than did MD students (4.69 [0.99] vs 3.93 [1.00] and 4.35 [0.88] vs 3.65 [1.01], respectively). Conversely, mean (SD) responsibility scores showed that DO students viewed patients who indicated lack of access to healthy food as his reason for diet nonadherence as less responsible for his nonadherence than did MD students (2.45 [0.94] vs 2.59 [1.08]) (F2,228=3.21, P<.05, η2=.03). Furthermore, female students perceived patients to be less responsible for their diet nonadherence than did male students (3.28 [1.22] vs 3.88 [1.22]) (F2,228=8.87, P<.01, η2=.04). Ethnocentrism was consistently a significant covariate for students' perception of patient characteristics, predicted patient behaviors, perception of the patient's responsibility for his nonadherence, students' level of anger, students' intention to help, and students' level of sympathy. CONCLUSION: Survey results showed that DO students perceived patients who reported dislike of healthy food or no reason for diet nonadherence as more responsible for their health issue and patients who indicated lack of access to healthy food as less responsible for their nonadherence than did MD students. Additionally, female students perceived patients to be less responsible for their health issue than did male students. Results of the current study indicate that physician demographic factors could be taken into account as proxy variables when using the responsibility-affect-helping model in the health care field.

Mindfulness increases prosocial responses toward ostracized strangers through empathic concern.

Four studies tested the proposition that mindfulness and its training fostered prosociality toward ostracized strangers. In discovery Study 1, dispositional mindfulness predicted greater empathic concern for, and more helping behavior toward, an ostracized stranger. Using an experimental design, Study 2 revealed that very briefly instructed mindfulness, relative to active control instructions, also promoted prosocial responsiveness to an ostracized stranger. Study 3 ruled out alternative explanations for this effect of mindfulness, showing that it did not promote empathic anger or perpetrator punishment, nor that the control training reduced prosocial responsiveness toward an ostracized stranger rather than mindfulness increasing it. Study 4 further ruled out the alternative explanation of relaxation in the experimental effects of mindfulness. In all studies, empathic concern mediated the relation between mindfulness and one or both of the helping behavior outcomes. Meta-analyses of the four studies revealed stable, medium sized effects of mindfulness instruction on prosocial emotions and prosocial behavior. Together these findings inform about circumstances in which mindfulness may increase prosocial responsiveness, and deepen our understanding of the motivational bases of prosociality. (PsycINFO Database Record

Mindfulness and Compliance: The Way We Make Requests Influences Compliance With the Foot-in-the-Door Strategy.

The foot-in-the-door effect is considered more effective when a time lapse occurs between performing an initial, smaller request and being asked a second request. It has been hypothesized that mindfulness moderates the effectiveness of two versions of the strategy - time-delay and no-delay foot-in-the-door. The greater magnitude of time-delay foot-in-the-door is considered to be connected with increased mindfulness. The aim of this study was to verify the assumption concerning mindfulness as a state triggering time-delay foot-in-the-door. In a field experiment ( N = 249), we manipulated the time lapse and kind of reason (real, placebic, and no reason) accompanying a difficult or less difficult target request. This extended Langer et al. replication indicates that time-delay foot-in-the-door is indeed greater after mindfulness activation.

How interpersonal synchrony facilitates early prosocial behavior.

When infants and children affiliate with others, certain cues may direct their social efforts to 'better' social partners. Interpersonal synchrony, or when two or more people move together in time, can be one such cue. In adults, experiencing interpersonal synchrony encourages affiliative behaviors. Recent studies have found that these effects also influence early prosociality-for example, 14-month-olds help a synchronous partner more than an asynchronous partner. These effects on helping are specifically directed to the synchronous movement partner and members of that person's social group. In older children, the prosocial effects of interpersonal synchrony may even cross group divides. How synchrony and other cues for group membership influence early prosociality is a promising avenue for future research.

Comparison Between Quality of Care Provided by Trained Feeding Assistants and Certified Nursing Assistants During Between-Meal Supplementation in Long-Term Care Settings.

The purpose of this study was to compare the quality of feeding assistance provided by trained non-nursing staff with care provided by certified nursing assistants (CNAs). Research staff provided an 8-hr training course that met federal and state requirements to non-nursing staff in five community long-term care facilities. Trained staff were assigned to between-meal supplement and/or snack delivery for 24 weeks. Using standardized observations, research staff measured feeding assistance care processes between meals across all study weeks. Trained staff, nurse aides, and upper level staff were interviewed at 24 weeks to assess staff perceptions of program impact. Trained staff performed significantly better than CNAs for 12 of 13 care process measures. Residents also consumed significantly more calories per snack offer from trained staff ( M = 130 ± 126 [ SD] kcal) compared with CNAs ( M = 77 ± 94 [ SD] kcal). The majority of staff reported a positive impact of the training program.

Human Energy Field: A Concept Analysis.

The human energy field (HEF) as a phenomenon of interest across disciplines has gained increased attention over the 20th and 21st centuries. However, a concern has arisen that there is a lack of evidence to support the concept of the HEF as a phenomenon of interest to professional nurses and nursing practice. Using Chinn and Kramer's method of creating conceptual meaning, a concept analysis was conducted for the purpose of developing a conceptual definition of HEF. A systematic review of the literature using the CINAHL database yielded a total of 81 articles and text sources that were determined to be relevant to the concept analysis. The HEF is defined as a luminous field of energy that comprises a person, extends beyond the physical body, and is in a continuous mutual process with the environmental energy field. It is a vital energy that is a continuous whole and is recognized by its unique pattern; it is dynamic, creative, nonlinear, unpredictable, and flows in lower and higher frequencies. The balanced HEF is characterized by flow, rhythm, symmetry, and gentle vibration.

Effects of compassion meditation on a psychological model of charitable donation.

Compassion is critical for societal wellbeing. Yet, it remains unclear how specific thoughts and feelings motivate compassionate behavior, and we lack a scientific understanding of how to effectively cultivate compassion. Here, we conducted 2 studies designed to a) develop a psychological model predicting compassionate behavior, and b) test this model as a mediator of a Compassion Meditation (CM) intervention and identify the "active ingredients" of CM. In Study 1, we developed a model predicting compassionate behavior, operationalized as real-money charitable donation, from a linear combination of self-reported tenderness, personal distress, perceived blamelessness, and perceived instrumental value of helping with high cross-validated accuracy, r = .67, p < .0001. Perceived similarity to suffering others did not predict charitable donation when controlling for other feelings and attributions. In Study 2, a randomized controlled trial, we tested the Study 1 model as a mediator of CM and investigated active ingredients. We compared a smartphone-based CM program to 2 conditions-placebo oxytocin and a Familiarity intervention-to control for expectancy effects, demand characteristics, and familiarity effects. Relative to control conditions, CM increased charitable donations, and changes in the Study 1 model of feelings and attributions mediated this effect (pab = .002). The Familiarity intervention led to decreases in primary outcomes, while placebo oxytocin had no significant effects on primary outcomes. Overall, this work contributes a quantitative model of compassionate behavior, and informs our understanding of the change processes and intervention components of CM. (PsycINFO Database Record

A Systematic Literature Review Toward the Characterization of Comfort.

Comfort integrates the taxonomies and the classifications of nursing knowledge. Its meaning is not yet clear, although it is an important construct from which theories are developed. This article aims to analyze comfort in nursing scientific literature. The results highlight a particular interest in comfort at crisis situations such as illness, palliative care, or intensive care. Comforting seems to be a complex intervention. More studies are needed to achieve its operational assimilation and implementation in clinical practice, as well as the evaluation of its efficiency and effectiveness.