Impact of e-liquid warning labels on young adults' perception of e-cigarettes and intention to use them: an experimental online study.

INTRODUCTION: Flavoured e-liquids are especially appealing to young adults. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of text warning labels (WLs) on e-liquid vials used in flavoured electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) on e-cigarette non-users' perceptions of harm, addictiveness, emotional valence, interest in trying e-cigarettes and visual attention. METHODS: Young adults aged 18-25 years (n=313) who were non-e-cigarette users were recruited online and randomised to view images of one of two e-liquid vial conditions (with text WL or without text WL). Each participant was exposed to four images of e-liquid vials. After observing each image, participants reported interest in trying e-cigarettes, emotional valence, perceived harm and addictiveness. Additionally, participants completed an assessment of self-reported visual attention with a priori regions of interest (e-liquid branding and text WL). RESULTS: Separate two-way Analysis of Variance(ANOVA) that examined the main effects of sex and warning were used for each measure. Text WL on e-liquid vials decreased young adults' intention to use e-cigarettes (especially in men), increased harm perception and decreased appeal to the product. However, they did not influence the perceived addictiveness of e-cigarettes and rarely grabbed attention. Men perceived e-cigarettes as less harmful and less addictive. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that text WLs on e-liquid vials are moderately effective in preventing e-cigarette use in young adults. However, they capture less attention than the rest of the vial and fail to increase the perception of addictiveness. It is suggested to explore other types of design to increase the effectiveness of WLs.

Stop! Graphic Health Warnings Enhance Inhibitory Control in Adolescents: An Event-Related Potential Study.

INTRODUCTION: The majority of smokers begin consumption in adolescence and the earlier initiation of cigarette smoking is associated with a greater likelihood of cigarette dependence. Graphic health warnings (GHW) are one of the most used strategies to communicate the consequences of cigarette smoking, but little is known about their ability to increase inhibitory control and thus prevent consumption. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of different sizes of GHWs on inhibitory control in adolescents. We hypothesized that GHWs promote inhibitory control, and increasing GHW size, enhance inhibitory control. METHODS: Fifty-nine participants completed a Go/No-Go task during electroencephalographic recording. The No-Go stimuli were pictures of cigarette packs without GHWs, and cigarette packs with GHWs that covered 30% or 60% of the front (main side) of the pack. The event-related potential N200 component and behavioral measures in the Go/No-Go task were analyzed. RESULTS: Separate mixed-model analysis of variance (ANOVAs) were used for N200 component (amplitude and latency) and behavioral data. The GHWs increased the amplitude of the N200 potential, especially GHWs that covered 60% of the front of the pack. The behavioral data showed that GHWs that covered 60% of the front of the pack generated higher a percentage of accuracy in No-Go trials (ie, fewer commission errors). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that GHWs increase inhibitory control in adolescents, especially when the GHWs cover 60% of the front of the cigarette pack. IMPLICATIONS: GHWs with an increased size (60% of the front of the cigarette pack vs. 30%, the minimum size, proposed by the World Health Organization) recruit additional cognitive resources and thus can effectively increase inhibitory control both in adolescent smokers and nonsmokers. Accordingly, the use of larger GHW has the potential of becoming an effective public policy strategy to inhibit smoking in adolescents.

[Effectiveness of cigarette-pack warning labels in capturing the attention of smokers and nonsmokersEficácia das tarjas de advertência em maços de cigarro para atrair a atenção de fumantes e não fumantes]. / Eficacia de las etiquetas de advertencia en las cajetillas de cigarrillo.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the ability of cigarette-pack warning labels, of the minimum size required by the World Health Organization, to capture the attention of smokers and nonsmokers. METHODS: In this study, 30 smokers and 30 nonsmokers completed a dot-probe task in which they simultaneously observed images of cigarette packs split in two: the top contained the cigarette brand and the bottom contained the warning label. During the task, brain activity was recorded through two event-related potentials of the negative-polarity type--the potential that occurs in the posterior-contralateral zone approximately 200 ms after a stimulus (N2pc) and the sustained posterior contralateral negativity (SPCN) response--which are indicators of early and sustained attention. RESULTS: In both groups, a greater amplitude of N2pc and SPCN potentials was found for the part of the pack containing the cigarette brand. However, during the dot-probe task, reaction times were shorter for the warning label. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that, initially, attention is focused on the cigarette brand, and only then on the warning label. The inability of warning labels to capture early-phase attention decreases their effectiveness, especially in smokers. We suggest that warning labels be enlarged to facilitate increased attention response.

OBJETIVO: Determinar a capacidade das tarjas de advertência com o tamanho mínimo exigido pela Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS) de atrair a atenção de fumantes e não fumantes. MÉTODOS: A amostra do estudo consistiu de 30 fumantes e 30 não fumantes que foram testados com uma tarefa de sondagem (dot-probe task) em que tiveram de observar simultaneamente imagens de um maço de cigarro dividido ao meio: a parte superior continha a marca do cigarro e a parte inferior continha a tarja de advertência. Durante o teste, foi registrada a atividade cerebral com a análise de potenciais evocados relacionados a eventos do tipo potencial negativo que ocorre em cerca de 200 ms na área posterior contralateral ao estímulo (N2pc) e da ocorrência de negatividade contralateral posterior sustentada (SPCN, em inglês), que são indicadores de atenção mais rápida e sustentada. RESULTADOS: Em ambos os grupos de participantes foi observada maior amplitude dos potenciais N2pc e SPCN na parte do maço que continha a marca. Porém, o tempo de reação na tarefa de sondagem foi menor diante da tarja de advertência. CONCLUSÕES: Os resultados deste estudo sugerem que, ao início, a atenção é dirigida à marca do cigarro e depois à tarja de advertência. A incapacidade da tarja de advertência de atrair a atenção nas primeiras fases diminui sua eficácia, sobretudo entre os fumantes. Recomenda-se aumentar o tamanho das tarjas de advertência para estimular um incremento na resposta de atenção.

Influence of Cigarette Package Brand on the Emotional Impact of Tobacco-Warning Images That Cover 30% of Cigarette Packs in Smokers and Nonsmokers.

INTRODUCTION: Research on the emotional impact of tobacco-warning images (TWIs) has not evaluated the role of context (ie, cigarette packs) as a modulator of the emotional response to TWIs. The objective of the present study was to identify the influence of the cigarette package brand on the emotional impact of TWIs that cover 30% of cigarette packs in smokers and nonsmokers using a specific methodology for the study of emotion. METHODS: The participants included 95 smokers and 111 nonsmokers who observed three TWIs under two conditions: TWIs that covered 30% of cigarette packs and TWIs alone, without brands. Additionally, 18 pictures from the International Affective Picture System were presented as comparison stimuli and to reduce the effect of habituation. The Self-Assessment Manikin was used to assess valence, arousal, and dominance dimensions. RESULTS: TWIs that covered 30% of cigarette packs were evaluated as least aversive, with lower ratings of arousal and higher ratings of dominance in both groups. Differences in the valence, arousal, and dominance dimensions were found between groups. Smokers rated TWIs that covered 30% of cigarette packs as less aversive and more arousing and gave them lower dominance scores compared with nonsmokers. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that cigarette packages modulate the emotional impact of TWIs, especially in smokers, and the minimum size of TWIs (ie, 30% of the front and back of the package) is not sufficiently large to generate an emotional impact associated with avoidance behavior. IMPLICATIONS: Cigarette packages modulate the emotional impact of TWIs, especially in smokers. The cigarette package itself is an appetitive context that captures the attention of the observer and decreases the aversive emotional response to the TWIs. The minimum size of TWIs (ie, 30% of the front and back of the package) is not sufficiently large to generate an emotional impact associated with avoidance behavior.

Systematic review of cognitive and behavioral strategies used in effective harm reduction interventions for people who use cocaine.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this systematic review is to identify cognitive and behavioral strategies that have been used in effective harm reduction interventions for people who use cocaine. METHOD: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed, and the search was performed on February 26, 2023 across databases including PsycInfo, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Studies were included if they (1) report the use of one cognitive or behavioral strategy, (2) have harm reduction as the objective, (3) involve participants who used cocaine as at least one of their substances, (4) be published within the last 10 years, and (5) have a randomized controlled trial design. The Cochrane RoB 2.0 Tool was used to assess risk of bias. The cognitive and behavioral strategies were extracted and organized based on their frequency of use in the studies and their corresponding outcomes. RESULTS: The final synthesis included k = 10 studies with N = 3,567 participants. Psychoeducation strategies, influence on social norms, personalized feedback, increased self-efficacy and motivational interviewing were the most frequently used promising strategies across studies. CONCLUSIONS: This review underscores the significance of incorporating cognitive and behavioral strategies within harm reduction interventions, as they represent a promising domain that could enhance the effectiveness of addressing cocaine use.

Health warning labels on cannabis products. What is the best design?

BACKGROUND: Health warning label on cannabis products has been recently studied, and with the latest trends of regulation around the world, there is a need to determine the most effective ways to apply this strategy. The current study aimed to examine the effects of different health warning label designs (pictorial vs text-only, background color, warning themes) on cannabis products. METHODS: An online experiment study (N=533) was carried out in Colombia with a between-subject design. Participants were randomly assigned to five package conditions: without warning, text-only white warning, text-only yellow warning, pictorial white warning, and pictorial yellow warning. Participants performed an attention task and rated each of the stimuli based on product appeal, perceived addictiveness, harm perception, and interest in trying cannabis products. RESULTS: Pictorial health warnings were generally the most effective. Especially, pictorial health warnings with a yellow background were found to decrease product appeal and interest in trying cannabis products, as well as increase harm perception compared to other designs. The most effective warning themes were mental health, smoke toxicity, aesthetic implications, and traffic accidents. CONCLUSION: The current study provides empirical evidence on the effectiveness of different designs of cannabis health warnings. Our results suggest that graphic yellow warnings are the most effective in communicating the risks of cannabis use.

The effect of information seeking behaviors in fear control.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Individuals experiencing conditioned fear reactions often resort to avoidance and escape behaviors as attempts to decrease fear. Nevertheless, these strategies are not always available. In such cases, people seek information to mitigate aversive events. This study aimed at evaluating the effect of information seeking behaviors on self-reported fear, predictability, and physiological responses. METHODS: Participants were randomly assigned to two groups. In group one, individuals were given the choice to perform an instrumental behavior which provided information about the occurrence of either an aversive or a neutral event (100% contingency). In group two, individuals were also allowed to perform an instrumental behavior. However, such behavior provided partial information (50% contingency). RESULTS: Individuals in group one presented lower levels of fear compared to individuals assigned to group two. LIMITATIONS: The generalizability of the results may be restricted to undergraduate students. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggests that when avoidance and escape are not available, individuals seek information that provides control over fear. Clinical implications are discussed.

Piloting a community-based psychosocial group intervention designed to reduce distress among conflict-affected adults in Colombia: a mixed-method study of remote, hybrid, and in-person modalities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Community members in Quibdó (Choco, Colombia) are highly vulnerable to psychosocial problems associated with the internal armed conflict, poverty, and insufficient public services, and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. A pilot study was conducted with conflict-affected adults in Quibdó to assess feasibility and outcomes of a community-based psychosocial support group intervention using three different intervention modalities: in-person, remote (conducted online), and hybrid (half of sessions in-person, half-remote). This group model integrated problem-solving and culturally based expressive activities and was facilitated by local community members with supervision by mental health professionals. METHODS: This study utilized a mixed-explanatory sequential design (a quantitative phase deriving in a qualitative phase) with 39 participants and 8 staff members. Participants completed quantitative interviews before and after an eight-week group intervention. A subset of 17 participants also completed in-depth qualitative interviews and a focus group discussion was conducted with staff at post-intervention. RESULTS: From pre- to post-intervention, participants in all modalities demonstrated improved wellbeing and reduced symptoms of generalized distress, anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress. Use of coping skills varied across modalities, with remote groups associated with a decrease in some forms of coping, including use of social support. In qualitative interviews and the focus group discussion, participants and staff described logistical challenges and successes, as well as facilitators of change such as problem resolution, emotional regulation and social support with variations across modalities, such that remote groups provided fewer opportunities for social support and cohesion. CONCLUSIONS: Results offer preliminary evidence that this model can address psychosocial difficulties across the three modalities, while also identifying potential risks and challenges, therefore providing useful guidance for service delivery in conflict-affected settings during the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenging contexts. Implications of this study for subsequent implementation of a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) are discussed.

Emotional Impact of Graphic Health Warnings on Tobacco Packaging: Analysis of Their Content.

The use of graphic health warnings (GHWs) on tobacco packaging is one of the most widely used public health strategies worldwide, but there is little evidence of the emotional impact of its content and craving they generate. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the emotional and craving responses to GHW content. The study included 300 men and women of different ages (adolescents, young adults, and adults), both smokers and non-smokers. We evaluated the participants' emotional and craving responses to 16 GHWs with different content (i.e., cancer, cardiovascular disease, abortion, and childhood illness). We analyzed the effects of sex, smoking status, and age. GHWs exhibited the capacity to elicit aversive emotional states, with low levels of arousal and high levels of dominance and did not produce craving. GHWs that showed images of cancer and abortion had the greatest emotional impact. Non-smoking adolescent females experienced the greatest emotional impact of GHWs. The results suggest that GHWs effectively reduce the attractiveness of cigarette packages and discourage consumption, and increasing the size of GHWs may favor avoidance of the package. GHWs that depicted explicit threats had a greater emotional impact, especially in women.

Emotional processing in bullying: an event-related potential study.

Bullying is a subtype of violence that leads to maladaptive behaviors and emotional responses, with implications for social competence, emotions, and empathy. The present study compared the time course of emotional processing in children who were involved in the dynamics of bullying (i.e., as victims, bullies, and observers) by evaluating event-related potentials [early posterior negativity and late positive potential (LPP)] in different brain regions during a passive visualization task that involved positive, neutral, and negative social pictures. High-density electroencephalograms were recorded in 45 children, 8-12 years old (M = 9.5 years, SD = 1.3), while they observed emotional and neutral social pictures that we selected from the International Affective Picture System. Late positive potential had higher amplitudes in the victim group, especially in posterior and anterior regions. In the central region, LPP was greater toward neutral social pictures in bullying victims. The greater amplitude of LPP in victims was observed during and after the stimulus. The results showed a consistent response with a higher intensity in response to emotional stimuli in the victim group, suggesting a tendency toward hypervigilance that could interfere with emotional regulation.

Is There Really a Relationship Between Empathy and Aggression? Evidence From Physiological and Self-Report Measures.

A strong relationship between empathy and aggression has traditionally been argued, but a recent meta-analysis showed that this relationship is surprisingly weak. However, none of the studies that were analyzed in the meta-analysis used physiological measures of empathy to assess differences between aggressive and nonaggressive subjects. The present study evaluated the activity of the corrugator and zygomatic muscles, galvanic skin response, and heart rate response to pictures with different social content in 30 aggressive and 30 nonaggressive subjects. Self-report measures of emotion and empathy were also evaluated. The results did not show significant differences in any of the physiological measures of affective empathy or subjective measures of emotion. Significant differences were found only in cognitive empathy, in which nonaggressive subjects had higher scores than aggressive subjects. These results suggest that intervention programs should focus on increasing cognitive empathy and exploring other variables, such as emotional self-regulation and callous-unemotional traits. We also suggest exploring other ways of understanding affective empathy.

Framing Messages to Deal With the COVID-19 Crisis: The Role of Loss/Gain Frames and Content.

The goal of this study was to test the role of message framing for effective communication of self-care behaviors in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, contrasting health and economic-focused messages. We presented 319 participants with an unforced choice task where they had to select the message that they believed was more effective to increase intentions toward self-care behaviors, motivate self-care behaviors in others, increase perceived risk and enhance perceived message strength. Results showed that gain-frame health messages increased intention to adopt self-care behaviors and were judged to be stronger. Loss-framed health messages increased risk perception. When judging effectiveness for others, participants believed other people would be more sensitive to messages with an economic focus. These results can be used by governments to guide communication for the prevention of COVID-19 contagion in the media and social networks, where time and space for communicating information are limited.

Physiological and affective responses to emoji faces: Effects on facial muscle activity, skin conductance, heart rate, and self-reported affect.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate emotional responses to emoji faces through physiological and self-report measures, and evaluate possible differences between men and women. One hundred participants (50 women) observed pictures of happy, neutral, and angry emoji faces, while activity of the zygomatic and corrugator muscles, skin conductance, and heart rate were measured. Self-report measures of emotional experience were also recorded. The results showed an increase in zygomatic muscle activity toward happy emoji faces. An increasing trend in corrugator muscle activity toward angry emoji faces was observed; however, this trend was only marginally significant. Happy emoji faces generated an increase in the skin conductance response. The emotional experience of the participants was also consistent with the emotions that were expressed by the emoji faces. No differences were found between sexes. Overall, the results suggest that emoji faces can especially induce pleasant affective states.

Explicit and implicit markers of fairness preeminence in criminal judges.

Achieving justice could be considered a complex social decision-making scenario. Despite the relevance of social decisions for legal contexts, these processes have still not been explored for individuals who work as criminal judges dispensing justice. To bridge the gap, we used a complex social decision-making task (Ultimatum game) and tracked a heart rate variability measurement: the square root of the mean squared differences of successive NN intervals (RMSSD) at their baseline (as an implicit measurement that tracks emotion regulation behavior) for criminal judges (n = 24) and a control group (n = 27). Our results revealed that, compared to controls, judges were slower and rejected a bigger proportion of unfair offers. Moreover, the rate of rejections and the reaction times were predicted by higher RMSSD scores for the judges. This study provides evidence about the impact of legal background and expertise in complex social decision-making. Our results contribute to understanding how expertise can shape criminal judges' social behaviors and pave the way for promising new research into the cognitive and physiological factors associated with social decision-making.

Size matters in the case of graphic health warnings: Evidence from physiological measures.

OBJECTIVES: >50 countries use graphic health warnings (GHWs) with the minimum size that is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of the size of GHWs on physiological responses that serve as indices of arousal and aversive motivation in nonsmokers, weekly smokers, and daily smokers. METHODS: The skin conductance response, corrugator muscle activity, and startle reflex were recorded in 35 nonsmokers, 35 weekly smokers, and 35 daily smokers while they observed pictures of cigarette packs without GHWs, cigarette packs with GHWs that covered 30% of the pack, and cigarette packs with GHWs that covered 60% of the pack. RESULTS: Cigarette packs with 30% GHWs did not generate significantly higher responses on any of the physiological measures compared with cigarette packs without GHWs. Conversely, cigarette packs with GHWs that covered 60% of the pack generated a greater skin conductance response, greater corrugator muscle activity, and an increase in the startle reflex compared with cigarette packs without GHWs. No significant differences were found between groups in any of the physiological measures. CONCLUSIONS: The minimum size of GHW that is recommended by the WHO is insufficient to generate an emotional response that favors avoidance of the cigarette pack. GHW that cover 60% of the cigarette pack significantly reduced the attractiveness of the tobacco packaging and generated greater arousal responses.

Effect of Congruence Between Sound and Video on Heart Rate and Self-Reported Measures of Emotion.

Most studies of emotional responses have used unimodal stimuli (e.g., pictures or sounds) or congruent bimodal stimuli (e.g., video clips with sound), but little is known about the emotional response to incongruent bimodal stimuli. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of congruence between auditory and visual bimodal stimuli on heart rate and self-reported measures of emotional dimension, valence and arousal. Subjects listened to pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant sounds, accompanied by videos with and without content congruence, and heart rate was recorded. Dimensions of valence and arousal of each bimodal stimulus were then self-reported. The results showed that heart rate depends of the valence of the sounds but not of the congruence of the bimodal stimuli. The valence and arousal scores changed depending on the congruence of the bimodal stimuli. These results suggest that the congruence of bimodal stimuli affects the subjective perception of emotion.

Dispositional mindfulness is associated with less cognitive fusion and better effortful control in young people: The mediating role of repetitive negative Thinking / Mindfulness disposicional se asocia con menor fusión cognitiva y mejor control del esfuerzo en personas jóvenes: El rol mediador del pensamiento negativo repetitivo

Abstract Introduction: The scientific community is taking an increasing interest in mindful ness due to its positive association with physical and psychological health indicators. However, there is still ongoing debate as to whether there could be other explanations for these effects. Aim: This study explores the relationships between dispositional mindfulness, cognitive fusion, effortful control and repetitive negative thinking (RNT). RNT was chosen as a potential me diating variable due to its presence in multiple psychological disorders. Method: A mediation analysis was performed using the bootstrap method with 5000 replications on data collected from a non-clinical sample of 415 young adults who completed a battery of online questionnai res. Results: Dispositional mindfulness is negatively associated with measures of RNT, effortful control and cognitive fusion. The analyses indicate that the effect that dispositional mindful ness has on cognitive fusion in young people can be partially mediated with medium effect size by RNT. Conclusion: RNT may play a central role as an underlying process in the link between mindfulness and different psychological aspects.

Resumen Introducción: Mindfulness ha ganado interés dentro de la comunidad científica dada su asociación con resultados positivos sobre indicadores de salud física y psicológica. Sin embargo, el debate sigue abierto sobre cuáles son los procesos que podrían mediar estas re laciones. Objetivo: Explorar en una muestra de 415 jóvenes, las relaciones entre mindfulness disposicional, fusión cognitiva, control del esfuerzo y pensamiento negativo repetitivo (PNR). El PNR se propone como potencial variable mediadora debido a que se es común en múltiples trastornos psicológicos. Método: Los análisis de mediación realizados a través de Bootstrap ping con 5000 replicaciones, indicaron que el efecto que genera el mindfulness disposicional sobre la fusión cognitiva puede estar mediado parcialmente por el PNR en personas jóvenes con un tamaño del efecto medio. Conclusiones: Mindfulness disposicional se relaciona de manera negativa con las medidas de PNR, control del esfuerzo y fusión cognitiva. Por tanto, el PNR podría desempeñar un papel importante como proceso subyacente entre mindfulness y diferentes aspectos psicológicos.

From appetitive to aversive: motivational interviewing reverses the modulation of the startle reflex by tobacco cues in smokers not ready to quit.

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a treatment method that has proven effective for increasing motivation to change and decreasing the consumption of different drugs. However, the results of studies examining the impact of MI on tobacco consumption are contradictory. Moreover, evidence of the effectiveness of MI for modifying well-validated psychophysiological indices of motivational change is still lacking. The aim of the present study was to use the startle probe paradigm and self-report measures of motivational change to assess the effectiveness of MI, compared to Prescriptive Advice (PA) and no treatment, in a sample of 53 smokers (28 male) who were not ready to quit smoking. After the intervention, the MI group reported increased motivation to change compared to both the PA and control groups. MI participants also had a potentiated startle reflex in response to tobacco-related pictures compared to the other two groups. These findings provide evidence that MI reverses the underlying motivational system activated by tobacco related cues.

Emotional reactions to alcohol-related words: Differences between low- and high-risk drinkers.

INTRODUCTION: Research that has examined responses to alcohol-related words in drinkers has mostly linked such responses to memory, attentional, and perceptual bias. However, studies of emotional processing in alcoholics have not received much attention. The main goal of the present study was to identify the features and differences of emotional responses to alcohol-related words in low- and high-risk drinkers. METHOD: A total of 149 low-risk drinkers and 125 high-risk drinkers evaluated five alcohol-related words and 15 words from the Affective Norms for English Words in the dimensions of valence, arousal, and dominance using the Self-Assessment Manikin. RESULTS: The results indicated that high-risk drinkers evaluated alcohol-related words as more appetitive and arousing. CONCLUSION: These results, together with findings in the attention and memory research literature, suggest that alcohol-related words can serve as conditioned cues in alcohol consumption.

Reacciones musculares faciales ante imágenes con diferente contenido social. Un índice fisiológico de empatía afectiva / Facial muscle reactions to pictures with different social content. A physiological index of affective empathy

Resumen La empatía tiene dos componentes, el afectivo y el cognitivo. La empatía afectiva es la capacidad para sintonizarse afectivamente con las emociones que experimentan otras personas. Su medición se ha hecho, tradicionalmente, a través de medidas de auto-reporte, sin embargo, algunos estudios de población latinoamericana han utilizado medidas fisiológicas de la empatía afectiva. Adicionalmente, se ha planteado la hipótesis de que las personas expuestas a contenido gráfico violento (ej., conflicto armado) pueden estar desensibilizadas hacia este tipo de estímulos. Por ello, el objetivo del presente estudio fue evaluar la actividad de los músculos cigomático y corrugador ante imágenes con diferente contenido social, con el fin de establecer la validez de estas medidas fisiológicas como indicadores objetivos de empatía afectiva. Se registró la actividad electromiográfica de estos músculos faciales en 60 sujetos (30 con alta y 30 con baja empatía afectiva), mientras observaban imágenes con contenido social positivo, neutral y negativo. Los resultados mostraron que los participantes con alta empatía afectiva respondieron con mayor actividad del músculo cigomático ante imágenes sociales positivas y con mayor actividad del músculo corrugador ante imágenes sociales negativas, en comparación con los participantes con baja empatía afectiva. También se encontró una relación positiva y significativa entre los puntajes en la escala de preocupación empática y la actividad de los músculos cigomático y corrugador ante imágenes positivas y negativas, respectivamente. Los resultados sugieren que la actividad electromiográfica de los músculos faciales es un indicador objetivo de empatía afectiva y se recomienda utilizarlo para aumentar la validez de los estudios en este campo. No se encontró evidencia de desensibilización ante estímulos sociales aversivos en esta muestra.

Abstract Empathy has two components, the affective and the cognitive component. Affective empathy is the ability to emotionally tune into the emotions that other people experience. Its measurement has been done, traditionally, through self-report measures, however, there are some studies in Latin American population that have used physiological measures of affective empathy. Additionally, it has been hypothesized that people exposed to violent graphic content (e.g., armed conflict) may be desensitized to this type of stimulus. In this context, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the activity of the zygomatic and corrugator muscles to pictures with different social content, in order to establish the validity of these physiological measures as objective indicators of affective empathy. The electromyographic activity of these facial muscles was recorded in 60 subjects (30 with high affective empathy and 30 with low affective empathy), while observing pictures with positive, neutral and negative social content of the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). The results showed that the participants with high affective empathy responded with greater zygomatic muscle activity to positive social pictures (.2,96= 5.93, . = .01, η.. = .11) and with greater corrugator muscle activity to negative social pictures (.2,96 = 4.85, . = .02, η.. = .09), in comparison with participants with low affective empathy. The correlation and regression analyzes show a positive and significant relationship between the scores in the empathic concern scale of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and the activity of the zygomatic muscle to positive social pictures (β = .39, R. = .15, . = 3.00, . = .004), and the corrugator muscle activity to negative social pictures (β = .27, R.= .07, . = 1.99, . = .05). The results suggest that the electromyographic activity of the facial muscles is an objective indicator of affective empathy. The increase in the activity of the zygomatic and corrugator muscles in people with high affective empathy, when they observe stimuli with different social content, can be supported by the mirror neuron system and the theory of simulation as an explanatory mechanism of empathy. The mirror neuron system is composed of a complex network of visual areas in the occipital, parietal and temporal regions and two predominantly motor regions, which interact to generate movements similar to those observed, in this case the facial expressions of the stimuli. This response in facial mimicry induces affective states similar to those observed, which leads to a response of affective empathy. Finally, the results of the present study do not support the hypothesis of a desensitization in the participants to negative social stimuli due to the fact of being Colombian, because independently of the level of affective empathy, all of them responded with greater activity of the corrugator muscle to negative social pictures in comparison with neutral and positive pictures. However, as shown in the results, this response was significantly higher in participants with high affective empathy. This result cannot be generalized to the entire Colombian population, given the small size of the sample and its origin. Overall, the results suggest that responses of the zygomatic and corrugator muscles to stimuli with different social content are reliable indicators of affective empathy, and can be used as physiological markers of this kind of empathy in neuroscience and psychophysiology research. No evidence of desensitization was found toward aversive social stimuli in this sample.