Psychological responses to blood donated by men who have sex with men.

BACKGROUND: Restrictions previously limiting the ability of men who have sex with men to donate blood are being eased in a number of nations worldwide. In the context of these changes, it is important to determine public perceptions of receiving a transfusion of blood donated by men who have sex with men. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In online surveys, 510 (Study 1) and 1,062 (Study 2) heterosexual participants reported attitudes, anxiety, disgust, and gratitude towards potentially receiving a transfusion of blood donated by a homosexual male donor and a heterosexual male donor. In Study 2, half of the participants were reminded of the safety testing carried out on donated blood samples. Negative attitudes, anxiety, disgust, and gratitude were compared between the two donors using t-tests and within-participants indirect effects analysis. RESULTS: Stronger negative attitudes, higher anxiety and disgust, and lower gratitude were reported in relation to a potential transfusion of blood donated by the homosexual male donor relative to the heterosexual male donor (|d|=0.26-0.46). This was the case even when participants were reminded of the safety testing completed on donated blood samples in Study 2. In both studies, the effect of donor sexual orientation on attitudes was explained via heightened anxiety and disgust and attenuated gratitude (b=0.05-0.30). DISCUSSION: Considering receiving a transfusion of blood donated by a homosexual male donor elicits more negative attitudes, anxiety and disgust, and less positive emotion, relative to blood donated by a heterosexual male donor. These attitudes and emotional reactions are not shifted by a reminder of the safety testing carried out on donated blood samples. In the context of changing restrictions on blood donation by men who have sex with men, these findings highlight a challenge to shift public perception to embrace this cohort of donors.

A novel paradigm examining the remote induction of nocebo effects online.

OBJECTIVE: Side effect information is routinely communicated online. However, limited experimental evidence exists regarding the role of this information in generating maladaptive health outcomes (i.e., the nocebo effect). A novel paradigm was developed to remotely induce the nocebo effect via provision of online side effect information. METHOD: Participants were given information regarding the positive effects of low frequency noise (LFN). A proportion were additionally warned of LFN-induced side effects. Study 1 (N = 423) investigated the source of information (listed vs. socially communicated side effects), while Study 2 (N = 560) investigated the role of positive and negative affects on attenuating and exacerbating the nocebo effect. Pooled analysis (N = 983) explored the effect of negative and positive expectations on both the nocebo effect and positive outcomes. RESULTS: Across studies, a significant nocebo effect in the warned side effects occurred after LFN exposure. This did not vary by source of information (Study 1) nor was it attenuated via the induction of positive affect (Study 2). Both studies demonstrated a reduction in positive outcomes among those receiving side effect information. Pooled analysis revealed that negative, but not positive, expectations mediated the nocebo effect. Positive and negative expectations interacted to predict positive outcomes. Holding negative expectations appeared to block positive health outcomes. Specifically, when negative expectations were above average, there was no effect of positive expectations on positive outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Nocebo effects were remotely generated via minimal provision of side effect information. Pooled analysis revealed that future interventions should target positive and negative expectations to reduce side effects. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Thinking false and slow: Implausible beliefs and the Cognitive Reflection Test.

Why do people believe implausible claims like conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, and fake news? Past studies using the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) suggest that implausible beliefs may result from an unwillingness to effortfully process information (i.e., cognitive miserliness). Our analysis (N = 664) tests this account by comparing CRT performance (total score, number and proportion of incorrect intuitive responses, and completion time) for endorsers and non-endorsers of implausible claims. Our results show that endorsers performed worse than non-endorsers on the CRT, but they took significantly longer to answer the questions and did not make proportionally more intuitive mistakes. Endorsers therefore appear to process information effortfully but nonetheless score lower on the CRT. Poorer overall CRT performance may not necessarily indicate that those who endorse implausible beliefs have a more reflexive, intuitive, or non-analytical cognitive style than non-endorsers.

The influence of video-based social modelling on the nocebo effect.

OBJECTIVE: Seeing someone else experience side effects (i.e., social modelling) can increase negative expectations and subsequent nocebo effects. In face-to-face contexts, this effect appears stronger in female participants. Less is known about the influence of gender on negative expectations and nocebo effects generated via video-based social modelling. METHODS: One hundred and seven undergraduate participants recruited from a participant pool at an Australian university took part in a study ostensibly investigating the influence of beta-blocker medications (actually a sham treatment) on physiological and psychological aspects of anxiety. Participants were randomly assigned to either a no-treatment control group, a standard treatment group, or a video modelling group, in which participants viewed video-recorded confederates (one male, one female) report experiencing four side effects (two each) after taking the study treatment. Symptoms were assessed 15-min following pill ingestion, and at follow-up 24 h later. RESULTS: Video modelling of side effects, compared to standard treatment, interacted with gender and was associated with increased reporting of modelled symptoms in female compared to male participants, p = .01, ηp2=0.06. Video modelling also increased negative expectations in female compared to male participants, p = .03, ηp2=0.07, and expectations mediated the influence of modelling on modelled symptoms in female participants. CONCLUSIONS: Social modelling of side effects via video increased negative expectations, and nocebo symptoms, to a greater extent in female participants. These findings suggest that males and females are differentially impacted by video-based side effect modelling. Results have implications for social modelling of side effects via social media and patient-support websites.

Choice and the nocebo effect: If a little is good, more is better?

OBJECTIVE: Lack of choice over treatment may increase the nocebo effect, whereby unpleasant side effects can be triggered by the treatment context, beyond any inherent physiological effects of the treatment itself. Excessive choice may also increase the nocebo effect. The current studies tested these possibilities. METHOD: Participants took part in studies ostensibly investigating the influence of beta-blockers (Study 1, n = 71) and benzodiazepines (Study 2, n = 120) on anxiety. All treatments were placebos. In Study 1, participants were randomly allocated to three groups: no-treatment control, no-choice, and choice between two treatments. In Study 2, a ten-choice group was added. Participants were warned about possible treatment side effects. These warned symptoms were assessed, and scores summed. Nocebo effects were evidenced by significantly higher warned symptoms scores in any placebo-treated group compared to the control group. RESULTS: In both studies, the no-choice groups experienced a nocebo effect (S1: p = .003, ηp2= 0.121; S2: p = .022, ηp2= 0.045). A significant nocebo effect was not present in groups who chose between two treatments (S1: p = .424, ηp2= 0.009; S2: p = .49, ηp2= 0.004). In Study 2, choosing between ten treatments resulted in a nocebo effect (p = .006, ηp2= 0.065). CONCLUSION: Lack of choice resulted in the development of nocebo effects, while having a limited choice between two placebos did not generate significant nocebo effects. However, a larger choice between ten placebos generated a nocebo effect of similar magnitude to lack of choice. Facilitating (some) choice in medical care may reduce the development of nocebo effects, but more extensive choice options may not offer similar benefits.

Testing the Identity Disruption Model among Adolescents: Pathways Connecting Adverse Childhood Experiences to Body Dissatisfaction.

The Identity Disruption Model posits that early adversity is associated with lower self-concept clarity, which in turn increases vulnerability to sociocultural appearance factors and body dissatisfaction, but this model has not previously been tested among adolescents. Testing the model during adolescence is critical because this is a key point of development of both identity and body dissatisfaction. This paper presents two studies with adolescents recruited through social media (Study 1: n = 213; 78% female; mean age = 15.7 years, SD = 1.14) and from high schools (Study 2; n = 228; 43% female; mean age = 13.8 years, SD = 1.15). In both studies, self-reported early adversity was associated with lower self-concept clarity; lower self-concept clarity was associated with greater internalization of appearance ideals and more frequent appearance comparisons; and internalization and appearance comparisons were associated with greater body dissatisfaction. This research builds on previous sociocultural models of body dissatisfaction by pointing to processes that occur early in life that could be potential targets of intervention and prevention efforts.

"They Don't Think Like Us": Exploring Attitudes of Non-Transgender Students Toward Transgender People Using Discourse Analysis.

Literature concerned with attitudes toward transgender (TG) individuals has been found to be lacking. Predominant research is quantitative and the few qualitative studies either investigated TG experience or attitudes of those with personal experience of TG people.This study investigated this topic using a qualitative approach employing semi-structured interviews exploring beliefs, understanding, and experience of TG people. Foucauldian Discourse Analysis was used to analyze the language used to construct a "transgender" discourse. Participants were cisgender, heterosexual, female participants from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds (n = 6).Prevalent discourses were; "Heteronormativity as a Benchmark," "The Ease of Disclosure'" and "Actualising the Other." Participants consistently drew on discourse that constructed TG as "other." Findings indicate a need to attend to context, as well as content, when exploring attitudes and that covert forms of prejudice need to be addressed and could inform anti-prejudice interventions and the creation of future transphobia measurements.

A seven-year retrospective review of colonoscopy records from a single centre in Zambia.

Introduction: Colorectal disease is common throughout the world, but the spectrum of diagnoses across Africa remains largely unexplored. There is anecdotal evidence of changing colorectal disease but this has not been systematically investigated. The aim of this study was to enhance our insight into the spectrum of colonoscopic diagnoses in Zambia. Methods: We retrieved written colonoscopy reports from January 2008 to December 2015. Collected data were coded by experienced endoscopists and analysed by age, sex, referral source, indication and diagnosis. Results: Included in this analysis were 573 colonoscopy reports. The most common diagnosis was haemorrhoids (n=151, 26%), followed by tumours (n=96,17%). Over this time period, the proportion of normal colonoscopies decreased by 32% (P<0.001), presumably due to introduction of screening of all requests, while the rate of polyp detection increased from 5% to 10% (P=0.006). The detection of polyps was highest in patients less than 16 years (OR 8.4; 95% CI 2.4-26.2, P<0.001). Of those with colorectal tumours, 33/96 (35%) were less than 45 years although the occurrence was higher with advancing age (P=0.02). Diverticular disease was more common in older age groups (median (IQR) age 70 (60-75) years, versus 47 (34-62) years for those without the disease; P=0.0001). Conclusion: This audit has shown that more than a third of colorectal tumours seen during colonoscopy are in patients below the age of 45 years, with the occurrence of polyps being highest in those below 16 years. Diverticular disease is most common in older age groups.

Assessing for Unilateral Spatial Neglect Using Eye-Tracking Glasses: A Feasibility Study.

The aim of this feasibility study was to identify whether eye-tracking glasses could sensitively differentiate unilateral spatial neglect (USN) among a sample of participants who had a stroke, and to determine whether a larger study was viable. A sample of 13 inpatients (N = 7 with neglect, N = 6 without neglect) aged 50-78 years undertook a task while wearing Tobii eye-tracking glasses. The kitchen environment and the task of making a cup of coffee were standardized. Two commonly reported tests for USN, the Bells Test and the Line Crossing Test, were also used as a reference standard for the eye-tracking data. Participants with USN spent significantly more time searching on the right-hand side (p = .006) for items during the task than those without neglect. There was a moderate correlation between eye-tracking data and the Bells Test (r = .622, p = .04). Overall, this study supported the feasibility of using a real-life task with eye-tracking to detect neglect.

Pregnancy complicated by haemorrhagic ascites in a woman with newly diagnosed HIV.

A young pregnant Zambian woman was referred from a district hospital in South Zambia to the university teaching hospital, Lusaka with severe anaemia and ascites. The ascites had developed over a month and the woman was currently 15 weeks pregnant. Further workup revealed that the patient was HIV-positive and the ascitic tap showed haemorrhagic fluid. After being reviewed by multiple doctors, the cause of the haemorrhagic ascites remained unclear; therefore, the decision was made to do a laparotomy. The laparotomy revealed haemoperitoneum and a large cyst attached to the liver containing 5 L of bloodstained fluid. The histopathology report revealed features consistent with a giant haemangioma. There were many barriers to accessing optimum healthcare in this case. These included limited access to blood, poor communication resulting in the patient being unaware of her HIV status and lack of patient education about HIV.