The Brief Solastalgia Scale: A Psychometric Evaluation and Revision.

Witnessing degradation and loss to one's home environment can cause the negative emotional experience of solastalgia. We review the psychometric properties of the 9-item Solastalgia subscale from the Environmental Distress Scale (Higginbotham et al. (EcoHealth 3:245-254, 2006)). Using data collected from three large, independent, adult samples (N = 4229), who were surveyed soon after the 2019/20 Australian bushfires, factor analyses confirmed the scale's unidimensionality, while analyses derived from Item Response Theory highlighted the poor psychometric performance and redundant content of specific items. Consequently, we recommend a short-form scale consisting of five items. This Brief Solastalgia Scale (BSS) yielded excellent model fit and internal consistency in both the initial and cross-validation samples. The BSS and its parent version provide very similar patterns of associations with demographic, health, life satisfaction, climate emotion, and nature connectedness variables. Finally, multi-group confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated comparable construct architecture (i.e. configural, metric, and scalar invariance) across validation samples, gender categories, and age. As individuals and communities increasingly confront and cope with climate change and its consequences, understanding related emotional impacts is crucial. The BSS promises to aid researchers, decision makers, and practitioners to understand and support those affected by negative environmental change.

Predictors of individual mental health and psychological resilience after Australia's 2019-2020 bushfires.

AIMS: We assessed the mental health effects of Australia's 2019-2020 bushfires 12-18 months later, predicting psychological distress and positive psychological outcomes from bushfire exposure and a range of demographic variables, and seeking insights to enhance disaster preparedness and resilience planning for different profiles of people. METHODS: We surveyed 3083 bushfire-affected and non-affected Australian residents about their experiences of bushfire, COVID-19, psychological distress (depression, anxiety, stress, post-traumatic stress disorder) and positive psychological outcomes (resilient coping, wellbeing). RESULTS: We found high rates of distress across all participants, exacerbated by severity of bushfire exposure. For people who were bushfire-affected, being older, having less financial stress, and having no or fewer pre-existing mental disorders predicted both lower distress and higher positive outcomes. Being male or having less income loss also predicted positive outcomes. Severity of exposure, higher education and higher COVID-19-related stressors predicted both higher distress and higher positive outcomes. Pre-existing physical health diagnosis and previous bushfire experience did not significantly predict distress or positive outcomes. RECOMMENDATIONS: To promote disaster resilience, we recommend investment in mental health, particularly for younger adults and for those in rural and remote areas. We also recommend investment in mechanisms to protect against financial distress and the development of a broader definition of bushfire-related impacts than is currently used to capture brushfires' far-reaching effects.

A Bayesian model of the jumping-to-conclusions bias and its relationship to psychopathology.

The mechanisms by which delusion and anxiety affect the tendency to make hasty decisions (Jumping-to-Conclusions bias) remain unclear. This paper proposes a Bayesian computational model that explores the assignment of evidence weights as a potential explanation of the Jumping-to-Conclusions bias using the Beads Task. We also investigate the Beads Task as a repeated measure by varying the key aspects of the paradigm. The Bayesian model estimations from two online studies showed that higher delusional ideation promoted reduced belief updating but the impact of general and social anxiety on evidence weighting was inconsistent. The altered evidence weighting as a result of a psychopathological trait appeared insufficient in contributing to the Jumping-to-Conclusions bias. Variations in Beads Task aspects significantly affected subjective certainty at the point of decisions but not the number of draws to decisions. Repetitions of the Beads Task are feasible if one assesses the Jumping-to-Conclusions bias using number of draws to decisions.

Characterising modulatory effects of high-intensity high frequency transcranial random noise stimulation using the perceptual template model.

Neural noise is an inherent property of all nervous systems. However, our understanding of the mechanisms by which noise influences perception is still limited. To elucidate this relationship, we require techniques that can safely modulate noise in humans. Transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) has been proposed to induce noise into cortical processing areas according to the principles of stochastic resonance (SR). Specifically, it has been demonstrated that small to moderate intensities of noise improve performance. To date, however, high intensity tRNS effects on neural noise levels have not been directly quantified, nor have the detrimental effects proposed by SR been demonstrated in early visual function. Here, we applied 3 mA high-frequency tRNS to primary visual cortex during an orientation-discrimination task across increasing external noise levels and used the Perceptual Template Model to quantify the mechanisms by which noise changes perceptual performance in healthy observers. Results show that, at a group level, high-intensity tRNS worsened perceptual performance. Our computational analysis reveals that this change in performance was underpinned by an increased amount of additive noise and a reduced ability to filter external noise compared to sham stimulation. Interestingly, while most observers experienced detrimental effects, a subset of participants demonstrated improved performance. Preliminary evidence suggests that differences in baseline internal noise levels might account for these individual differences. Together, these results refine our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the influence of neural noise on perception and have important implications for the application of tRNS as a research tool.

Heatwaves and wildfires suffocate our healthy start to life: time to assess impact and take action.

Adverse environmental exposures in utero and early childhood are known to programme long-term health. Climate change, by contributing to severe heatwaves, wildfires, and other natural disasters, is plausibly associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes and an increase in the future burden of chronic diseases in both mothers and their babies. In this Personal View, we highlight the limitations of existing evidence, specifically on the effects of severe heatwave and wildfire events, and compounding syndemic events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, on the short-term and long-term physical and mental health of pregnant women and their babies, taking into account the interactions with individual and community vulnerabilities. We highlight a need for an international, interdisciplinary collaborative effort to systematically study the effects of severe climate-related environmental crises on maternal and child health. This will enable informed changes to public health policy and clinical practice necessary to safeguard the health and wellbeing of current and future generations.

Exploring the internal forward model: action-effect prediction and attention in sensorimotor processing.

Action-effect predictions are believed to facilitate movement based on its association with sensory objectives and suppress the neurophysiological response to self- versus externally generated stimuli (i.e. sensory attenuation). However, research is needed to explore theorized differences in the use of action-effect prediction based on whether movement is uncued (i.e. volitional) or in response to external cues (i.e. stimulus-driven). While much of the sensory attenuation literature has examined effects involving the auditory N1, evidence is also conflicted regarding this component's sensitivity to action-effect prediction. In this study (n = 64), we explored the influence of action-effect contingency on event-related potentials associated with visually cued and uncued movement, as well as resultant stimuli. Our findings replicate recent evidence demonstrating reduced N1 amplitude for tones produced by stimulus-driven movement. Despite influencing motor preparation, action-effect contingency was not found to affect N1 amplitudes. Instead, we explore electrophysiological markers suggesting that attentional mechanisms may suppress the neurophysiological response to sound produced by stimulus-driven movement. Our findings demonstrate lateralized parieto-occipital activity that coincides with the auditory N1, corresponds to a reduction in its amplitude, and is topographically consistent with documented effects of attentional suppression. These results provide new insights into sensorimotor coordination and potential mechanisms underlying sensory attenuation.

Strategic regulation of memory in dsyphoria: a quantity-accuracy profile analysis.

The mechanisms underlying a tendency among individuals with depression to report personal episodic memories with low specificity remain to be understood. We assessed a sample of undergraduate students with dysphoria to determine whether depression relates to a broader dysregulation of balancing accuracy and informativeness during memory reports. Specifically, we investigated metamnemonic processes using a quantity-accuracy profile approach. Recall involved three phases with increasing allowance for more general, or coarse-grained, responses: (a) forced-precise responding, requiring high precision; (b) free-choice report with high and low penalty incentives on accuracy; (c) a lexical description phase. Individuals with and without dysphoria were largely indistinguishable across indices of retrieval, monitoring, and control aspects of metamemory. The results indicate intact metacognitive processing in young individuals with dysphoria and provide no support for the view that impaired metacognitive control underlies either memory deficits or bias in memory reports that accompany dysphoria.

Lower memory specificity in individuals with dysphoria is not specific to autobiographical memory.

BACKGROUND: A core cognitive attribute of depression is lower specificity in the expression of autobiographical memories. Despite interventions targeting memory specificity in depression, its underlying mechanisms are not yet fully understood. Depression also relates to poorer memory for episodic details; here we examine whether reduced specificity might simply reflect broader episodic memory deficits and weakened memory traces with the passage of time. METHODS: Undergraduate students with and without symptoms of depression completed the Autobiographical Interview and prose-reading episodic memory tasks to assess both same-day and delayed memory. RESULTS: Dysphoria and nondysphoria groups performed similarly on the tasks of immediate episodic and autobiographical memory; notably, the dysphoria group did not display evidence of lower specificity at this time point. After a delay, however, both groups demonstrated less specific memory responses on both memory tasks, and these declines were more pronounced in the group with dysphoria. That is, after a delay, individuals high in dysphoria showed a greater decrease in the quantity of specific event details reported on both the episodic and the autobiographical memory task. Additional analyses incorporating other clinical and cognitive measures indicated that these relations are largely unique to symptoms of depression. LIMITATIONS: The sample comprised mostly female students; the study should be replicated with more diverse samples. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the claim that lower memory specificity is not peculiar to autobiographical memory, but rather, reflects impoverished memory more generally. This is an important consideration for theories and remedial strategies targeting memory specificity.

Bushfires and Mothers' Mental Health in Pregnancy and Recent Post-Partum.

BACKGROUND: The compounding effects of climate change catastrophes such as bushfires and pandemics impose significant burden on individuals, societies, and their economies. The enduring effects of such syndemics on mental health remain poorly understood, particularly for at-risk populations (e.g., pregnant women and newborns). The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of direct and indirect exposure to the 2019/20 Australian Capital Territory and South-Eastern New South Wales bushfires followed by COVID-19 on the mental health and wellbeing of pregnant women and mothers with newborn babies. METHODS: All women who were pregnant, had given birth, or were within three months of conceiving during the 2019/2020 bushfires, lived within the catchment area, and provided consent were invited to participate. Those who consented were asked to complete three online surveys. Mental health was assessed with the DASS-21 and the WHO-5. Bushfire, smoke, and COVID-19 exposures were assessed by self-report. Cross-sectional associations between exposures and mental health measures were tested with hierarchical regression models. RESULTS: Of the women who participated, and had minimum data (n = 919), most (>75%) reported at least one acute bushfire exposure and 63% reported severe smoke exposure. Compared to Australian norms, participants had higher depression (+12%), anxiety (+35%), and stress (+43%) scores. Women with greater exposure to bushfires/smoke but not COVID-19 had poorer scores on all mental health measures. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide novel evidence that the mental health of pregnant women and mothers of newborn babies is vulnerable to major climate catastrophes such as bushfires.

Prejudice towards people with mental illness, schizophrenia, and depression among mental health professionals and the general population.

The aim of the study was to measure and compare prejudice towards people with specific mental illnesses between mental health professionals and the general population, and examine personality, ideological, and attitudinal antecedents of prejudice. To do so, we also aimed to validate three shortened scales of prejudice. A sample of mental health professionals (N = 299) and a sample from the general population (N = 427) completed shortened versions of the Prejudice towards People with Mental Illness, Prejudice towards People with Schizophrenia, and Prejudice towards People with Depression scales. They also completed measures of validity criteria and demographics. The scales demonstrated construct validity in both samples. Although prejudice was highest towards people with schizophrenia and lowest towards people with depression, mental health professionals demonstrated significantly less prejudice overall than the general population. Prejudice was associated with higher social dominance orientation, right wing authoritarianism, ethnocentrism, conservatism, and generalized prejudice, and lower agreeableness, openness to experience, and contact. These antecedents of prejudice were better predictors than any demographic or profession-related variables examined. This study contributes increased knowledge of the structure and correlates of prejudice towards people with mental disorders. This knowledge should inform more nuanced and effective interventions, therapy, and training.

Shifting threat criterion for morphed facial expressions reduces negative affect.

It is well-established that anxiety and/or depression are associated with a negative bias when interpreting ambiguous information. This study tested the novel hypothesis that the criterion one sets for judging a stimulus as threatening is a core aspect of this bias. A sample of 174 participants were divided into neutral (n = 87) and threatening (n = 87) training conditions. Participants performed a facial expression detection task, in which criterion was shifted in the liberal (threatening condition) or conservative (neutral condition) direction via differential reward contingencies. Training conditions were successful in inducing large shifts in criterion as intended. There was also a small change in sensitivity in the neutral condition, however, the manipulation is still considered successful given the substantive effect size for change in criterion compared to change in sensitivity. As predicted, conservative criterion-training resulted in significantly lower levels of negative affect post-training. No significant change was found for liberal criterion-training on negative affect. Positive affect also decreased across time regardless of condition. Overall, the reduction in negative affect following conservative criterion-training demonstrates that modifying criterion impacts affect and identifies criterion setting as a potential target in the treatment of mental health disorders with prominent negative affect.

The effect of social anxiety on top-down attentional orienting to emotional faces.

One of the fundamental factors maintaining social anxiety is biased attention toward threatening facial expressions. Typically, this bias has been conceptualized as driven by an overactive bottom-up attentional system; however, this potentially overlooks the role of top-down attention in being able to modulate this bottom-up bias. Here, the role of top-down mechanisms in directing attention toward emotional faces was assessed with a modified dot-probe task, in which participants were given a top-down cue ("happy" or "angry") to attend to a happy or angry face on each trial, and the cued face was either presented with a face of the other emotion (angry, happy) or a neutral face. This study found that social anxiety was not associated with differences in shifting attention toward cued angry faces. However, participants with higher levels of social anxiety were selectively impaired in attentional shifting toward a cued happy face when it was paired with an angry face, but not when paired with a neutral face. The results indicate that top-down attention can be used to orient attention to emotional faces, but that higher levels of social anxiety are associated with selective deficits in top-down control of attention in the presence of threat. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Physical and Mental Health Effects of Bushfire and Smoke in the Australian Capital Territory 2019-20.

The 2019-20 bushfire season in south-eastern Australia was one of the most severe in recorded history. Bushfire smoke-related air pollution reached hazardous levels in major metropolitan areas, including the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), for prolonged periods of time. Bushfire smoke directly challenges human health through effects on respiratory and cardiac function, but can also indirectly affect health, wellbeing and quality of life. Few studies have examined the specific health effects of bushfire smoke, separate from direct effects of fire, and looked beyond physical health symptoms to consider effects on mental health and lifestyle in Australian communities. This paper describes an assessment of the health impacts of this prolonged exposure to hazardous levels of bushfire smoke in the ACT and surrounding area during the 2019-20 bushfire season. An online survey captured information on demographics, health (physical and mental health, sleep) and medical advice seeking from 2,084 adult participants (40% male, median age 45 years). Almost all participants (97%) experienced at least one physical health symptom that they attributed to smoke, most commonly eye or throat irritation, and cough. Over half of responders self-reported symptoms of anxiety and/or feeling depressed and approximately half reported poorer sleep. Women reported all symptoms more frequently than men. Participants with existing medical conditions or poorer self-rated health, parents and those directly affected by fire (in either the current or previous fire seasons) also experienced poorer physical, mental health and/or sleep symptoms. Approximately 17% of people sought advice from a medical health practitioner, most commonly a general practitioner, to manage their symptoms. This study demonstrated that prolonged exposure to bushfire smoke can have substantial effects on health. Holistic approaches to understanding, preventing and mitigating the effects of smoke, not just on physical health but on mental health, and the intersection of these, is important. Improved public health messaging is needed to address uncertainty about how individuals can protect their and their families health for future events. This should be informed by identifying subgroups of the population, such as those with existing health conditions, parents, or those directly exposed to fire who may be at a greater risk.

Identifying the contingencies of self-worth associated with eating disorder symptoms: The use of choice-based conjoint analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Self-worth contingent on shape/weight is a diagnostic criterion and key maintaining factor for eating disorders. However, the role of other contingencies of self-worth (i.e., domains in which self-worth is invested) is largely unknown. Moreover, research has relied on self-ratings of contingency strength, which are subject to distortion through socially desirable responding and limited self-awareness, and may have limitations in terms of ecological validity. To overcome these limitations, the present study investigated a broad range of contingencies of self-worth in relation to eating disorder pathology and employed a choice-based conjoint (CBC) approach for assessing these contingencies. METHOD: Young women and men from the community (N = 428) completed a CBC task to assess the domains in which self-worth is invested, the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) to assess eating disorder symptomatology, and the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding to assess socially desirable responding. RESULTS: Beta regression analyses showed that CBC thinness and athletic competence predicted higher scores on all EDE-Q scales. CBC muscularity and facial attractiveness predicted higher scores, while coping ability and quality of relationships predicted lower scores, on various aspects of eating disorder symptoms. CBC social acceptance predicted lower eating disorder symptoms in males only. DISCUSSION: The findings suggest that a broader range of contingencies of self-worth beyond shape/weight are relevant to eating disorder pathology and should be considered as potential underlying mechanisms and treatment targets. In addition, this first use of the CBC method in eating disorder research provides initial support for its validity and utility.

A cognitive model of delusion propensity through dysregulated correlation detection.

BACKGROUND: We present a novel account of delusion propensity that integrates the roles of working memory (WM), decision criteria, and information gathering biases. This framework emphasises the role of aberrant correlation detection, which leads to the spurious perception of relationships between one's experiences. The frequency of such outcomes is moderated by the scaling of one's decision criteria which, for reasons discussed, must also account for WM capacity. The proposed dysregulated correlation detection account posits that propensity for delusional ideation is influenced by disturbances in this mechanism. METHODS: Hypotheses were tested using a novel task that required participants (N = 92) to identify correlation between binary manipulations of simple shapes, presented as sequential pairs. Decision criteria and correlation detection were assessed under a Signal Detection Theory framework, while WM capacity was assessed through the Automated Operation Span Task and delusion propensity was measured using the Peters Delusion Inventory. Structural equation modeling was conducted to evaluate the proposed model. RESULTS: Consistent with the central hypothesis, an interaction between decision criteria and WM was found to contribute significantly to delusion propensity through its effect on correlation detection accuracy. Greater delusion propensity was observed among participants with more liberal decision criteria, which was also in accordance with hypotheses. At the same time, the total effect of WM on delusion propensity was not found to be significant. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide preliminary support for the proposed dysregulated correlation detection account of propensity for delusional ideation.

Searching for emotion: A top-down set governs attentional orienting to facial expressions.

Research indicates that humans orient attention toward facial expressions of emotion. Orienting to facial expressions has typically been conceptualised as due to bottom-up attentional capture. However, this overlooks the contributions of top-down attention and selection history. In the present study, across four experiments, these three attentional processes were differentiated using a variation of the dot-probe task, in which participants were cued to attend to a happy or angry face on each trial. Results show that attention toward facial expressions was not exclusively driven by bottom-up attentional capture; instead, participants could shift their attention toward both happy and angry faces in a top-down manner. This effect was not found when the faces were inverted, indicating that top-down attention relies on holistic processing of the face. In addition, no evidence of selection history was found (i.e., no improvement on repeated trials or blocks of trials in which the task was to orient to the same expression). Altogether, these results suggest that humans can use top-down attentional control to rapidly orient attention to emotional faces.

What is top-down about seeing enemies? Social anxiety and attention to threat.

An attentional bias to threat is an important maintaining and possibly aetiological factor for social anxiety. Despite this, little is known about the underlying mechanisms of threat biases, such as the relative contributions of top-down and bottom-up attention. In order to measure attentional bias toward threat, the current study employed a variation of the dot-probe task in which participants' attention was initially cued to the left or right side of the screen before an angry face paired with a neutral face was displayed, and subsequently participants responded to a probe in the locus of one of the faces. This design provides separate measures of engagement with and disengagement from threat. In addition, in order to manipulate the availability of top-down attentional resources, participants completed this task under no, low (simple arithmetic task), and high (difficult arithmetic task) working memory load. Higher levels of social anxiety were found to be associated with increased engagement with threat under no-load, whereas this effect was eliminated under low-load and high-load conditions. Moreover, social anxiety was not associated with delayed disengagement from threat. These results highlight the critical role of top-down attention for engaging attention with threat.

Spontaneous spatial navigation circuitry in schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Spatial memory is core to wayfinding and everyday memory. Interestingly, individuals with schizophrenia using spatial navigation strategies (cognitive mapping) are impaired, whereas those using response-based (e.g., single-landmark) strategies show relatively intact memory performance. We observed abnormal brain communication in schizophrenia participants who used a spatial strategy during a virtual-reality navigation task, particularly between temporal and frontal brain regions. In contrast, schizophrenia participants using a response strategy recruited similar brain systems to healthy participants, but to a greater extent to support memory performance. These findings highlight that strategy use is an important consideration for understanding memory systems and navigation in schizophrenia.

Investigating service features to sustain engagement in early intervention mental health services.

AIM: To understand what service features would sustain patient engagement in early intervention mental health treatment. METHODS: Mental health patients, family members of individuals with mental illness and mental health professionals completed a survey consisting of 18 choice tasks that involved 14 different service attributes. Preferences were ascertained using importance and utility scores. Latent class analysis revealed segments characterized by distinct preferences. Simulations were carried out to estimate utilization of hypothetical clinical services. RESULTS: Overall, 333 patients and family members and 183 professionals (N = 516) participated. Respondents were distributed between a Professional segment (53%) and a Patient segment (47%) that differed in a number of their preferences including for appointment times, individual vs group sessions and mode of after-hours support. Members of both segments shared preferences for many of the service attributes including having crisis support available 24 h per day, having a choice of different treatment modalities, being offered help for substance use problems and having a focus on improving symptoms rather than functioning. Simulations predicted that 60% of the Patient segment thought patients would remain engaged with a Hospital service, while 69% of the Professional segment thought patients would be most likely to remain engaged with an E-Health service. CONCLUSIONS: Patients, family members and professionals shared a number of preferences about what service characteristics will optimize patient engagement in early intervention services but diverged on others. Providing effective crisis support as well as a range of treatment options should be prioritized in the future design of early intervention services.

Traditional test administration and proactive interference undermine visual-spatial working memory performance in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.

Introduction Working-memory (WM) is a core cognitive deficit among individuals with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (SSD). However, the underlying cognitive mechanisms of this deficit are less known. This study applies a modified version of the Corsi Block Test to investigate the role of proactive interference in visuospatial WM (VSWM) impairment in SSD. Methods Healthy and SSD participants completed a modified version of the Corsi Block Test involving both high (typical ascending set size from 4 to 7 items) and low (descending set size from 7 to 4 items) proactive interference conditions. Results The results confirmed that the SSD group performed worse overall relative to a healthy comparison group. More importantly, the SSD group demonstrated greater VSWM scores under low (Descending) versus high (Ascending) proactive interference; this pattern is opposite to that of healthy participants. Conclusions This differential pattern of performance supports that proactive interference associated with the traditional administration format contributes to VSWM impairment in SSD. Further research investigating associated neurocognitive mechanisms and the contribution of proactive interference across other domains of cognition in SSD is warranted.