Gratitude improves parents' well-being and family functioning.

Parents are inundated with suggestions to improve their relationships with their children and promote child development, but improving caregiver well-being is often overlooked despite being considered one of the most important methods to promote healthy child development. Drawing on the robust literature on the emotional and relationship benefits of gratitude, we present two studies demonstrating the advantages of gratitude for parents' well-being and family functioning. First, in a 7-day daily experience study conducted in 2018 (N = 270), daily gratitude predicted greater well-being and family functioning, controlling for daily happiness, coder-rated care difficulty, and sociodemographics. Second, in a short-term longitudinal experiment conducted in 2018 (N = 619), participants were randomly assigned to write a gratitude letter or to complete a control activity. In this study, expressing gratitude predicted greater well-being and family functioning 1 week later via increases in positive emotions. Notably, across both studies neither felt nor expressed gratitude referred to one's children; however, the results of our studies suggest that gratitude in general improves parent-child relationships and family well-being. This work provides insights regarding ways to improve parents' well-being without requiring greater effort, energy, or attention to one's children, and it suggests that promoting parents' gratitude in general may benefit the entire family. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Myocardial deformation imaging by 2D speckle tracking echocardiography for assessment of diastolic dysfunction in murine cardiopathology.

Diastolic dysfunction is increasingly identified as a key, early onset subclinical condition characterizing cardiopathologies of rising prevalence, including diabetic heart disease and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Diastolic dysfunction characterization has important prognostic value in management of disease outcomes. Validated tools for in vivo monitoring of diastolic function in rodent models of diabetes are required for progress in pre-clinical cardiology studies. 2D speckle tracking echocardiography has emerged as a powerful tool for evaluating cardiac wall deformation throughout the cardiac cycle. The aim of this study was to examine the applicability of 2D speckle tracking echocardiography for comprehensive global and regional assessment of diastolic function in a pre-clinical murine model of cardio-metabolic disease. Type 2 diabetes (T2D) was induced in C57Bl/6 male mice using a high fat high sugar dietary intervention for 20 weeks. Significant impairment in left ventricle peak diastolic strain rate was evident in longitudinal, radial and circumferential planes in T2D mice. Peak diastolic velocity was similarly impaired in the longitudinal and radial planes. Regional analysis of longitudinal peak diastolic strain rate revealed that the anterior free left ventricular wall is particularly susceptible to T2D-induced diastolic dysfunction. These findings provide a significant advance on characterization of diastolic dysfunction in a pre-clinical mouse model of cardiopathology and offer a comprehensive suite of benchmark values for future pre-clinical cardiology studies.

Baby fever: Situational cues shift the desire to have children via empathic emotions.

The desire to have children is often regarded as a deep, biologically driven desire or a rational decision based on weighing costs and benefits. Based on these assumptions, many people believe that the desire to have children is unchanging. However, the studies presented here indicate that the desire to have children is readily shifted by subtle situational cues, such as advertisements and social media feeds depicting positive images of parents and children. In four studies (N = 1,093), we randomly assigned young adults (ages 18-35) without children to view images of parents and children or control images. We found that positive parent-child images led young adults to a greater desire to have children via increases in empathic emotions both immediately (Studies 1-4) and 3 days later (Study 3), but viewing negative parent-child images did not decrease the desire to have children (Study 2). The results of our studies suggest that portrayals of parents and children may temporarily influence young adults' desires to have children. Given the abundance of parent-child images on social media and intense societal pressure to have children, small changes in the desire to have children may accrue over time to influence child-rearing decisions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Practicing Other-Focused Kindness and Self-Focused Kindness Among Those at Risk for Mental Illness: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

People with reduced levels of mental well-being might be at risk for developing future mental illness. Although several positive psychology interventions successfully improve mental well-being and psychological distress, less is known about their efficacy in a sample at risk for mental disorders. A Dutch sample of 289 participants with low or moderate levels of well-being were randomly assigned to other-focused kindness with reflection, other-focused kindness without reflection, self-focused kindness, or waitlist control (Trial register: NTR6786). Results of multilevel growth curve analyses revealed that other-focused kindness, but not self-focused kindness, led to improvements in the primary outcome mental well-being relative to waitlist control up to 6-week follow-up. By contrast, only other-focused kindness without reflection led to improvements in psychological distress. The three kindness conditions mainly did not differ from one another, and mainly no differences were found up to 6-months follow-up. An exception was that perceived stress was significantly more reduced up to 6-week and 6-months follow-up when people practiced other-focused kindness without reflection then when participants had practiced self-focused kindness. These findings point to the benefits of practicing kindness for others when people might be at risk for future mental illness. The study also indicates that reflecting about practicing kindness does not seem to have added value.

Health behavior adherence and emotional adjustment during the COVID-19 pandemic in a US nationally representative sample: The roles of prosocial motivation and gratitude.

RATIONALE: Substantial health behavior change (e.g., social distancing, mask-wearing) is needed to slow COVID-19. Yet, adherence to these guidelines varies, and avoiding social contact may contribute to declines in emotional adjustment. OBJECTIVE AND METHODS: Drawing on prior research linking social motives to health behavior and well-being, we investigated the associations among social motives (prosocial motivation, gratitude) and resilience to social distancing (health behavior adherence, emotional adjustment) in a US nationally representative sample (N = 1007) collected in April 2020. RESULTS: Prosocial motivation, but not gratitude, correlated with health behavior adherence and social distancing practice. Conversely, gratitude, but not prosocial motivation, correlated with emotional adjustment (daily accomplishments, meaning in life, thriving, psychological distress, positive and negative affect). Analyses controlled for gratitude/prosocial motivation, self-focused motivation, COVID-19 worries, work arrangement, stay-at-home order, likelihood of COVID-19 diagnosis, and demographics. CONCLUSION: Public health campaigns focusing on the benefits of health behaviors for others, rather than just oneself, may promote adherence and emotional adjustment.

The Effect of Perceived Social Support on Personal Resources Following Minor Adversity: An Experimental Investigation of Belonging Affirmation.

People rely on their social relationships to help them cope with many stressors over the course of their lives. Across three experiments, we randomly assigned people to experience minor adversity or not and then to experience perceived social support (via belonging affirmation) or not. We found that those who underwent adversity without perceived social support had lower scores on personal resources (e.g., gratitude, connectedness) than the other conditions. In addition, we tested whether perceived social support helps people grow following adversity or simply buffers them from adversity-related declines in personal resources. Our findings comparing growth and buffering hypotheses were mixed; however, the evidence for buffering was slightly stronger than the evidence for growth. Thus, more research is needed to determine whether perceived social support buffers decrements in personal resources following adversity or actually promotes growth. Nevertheless, perceived social support is an important source of resilience when facing life's inevitable challenges.

Role of circulating fibrocytes in the diagnosis of acute appendicitis.

BACKGROUND: Improved diagnostic biomarkers are required for acute appendicitis. The circulating fibrocyte percentage (CFP) is increased in inflammatory states, but has not been studied in acute appendicitis. This study aimed to determine CFP in acute appendicitis and compare diagnostic accuracy with standard serological biomarkers. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was carried out between June 2015 and February 2016 at University Hospital Limerick. The CFP was determined by dual-staining peripheral venous samples for CD45 and collagen I using fluorescence-activated cell sorting, and correlated with histopathological diagnoses. The accuracy of CFP in determining histological acute appendicitis was characterized and compared with the white cell count, C-reactive protein concentration, neutrophil count, lymphocyte count and neutrophil : lymphocyte ratio. RESULTS: Of 95 adults recruited, 15 were healthy individuals and 80 had suspected appendicitis at presentation. Forty-six of these 80 patients had an appendicectomy, of whom 34 had histologically confirmed appendicitis. The CFP was statistically higher in patients with pathologically proven acute appendicitis than in healthy controls (median 6·1 (i.q.r. 1·6-11·6) versus 2·3 (0·9-3·4) per cent respectively; P = 0·008). The diagnostic accuracy of CFP, as determined using the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, was similar to that of standard biomarkers. In multinomial regression analysis, only raised CFP was retained as an independent prognostic determinant of acute appendicitis (odds ratio 1·57, 95 per cent c.i. 1·05 to 2·33; P = 0·027). CONCLUSION: The CFP is increased in histologically confirmed acute appendicitis and is as accurate as standard serological biomarkers in terms of diagnosis.

The proximal experience of awe.

Research on awe has grown exponentially in recent decades; however, few studies have considered whether awe-inspiring experiences also inspire other emotions. In two studies, we explored whether interventions targeting awe also evoke other discrete emotions. Additionally, we considered two constructs that may be associated with increases in each emotion-self-relevant thoughts and connectedness. In Study 1, we manipulated awe in virtual reality and examined the potential effects of a prototypical awe experience-a spacewalk accompanied by an audio clip of Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot. In Study 2, we manipulated awe with a video depicting scenes of Earth from outer space paired with the same audio clip. Across both studies, a prototypical awe experience was associated not only with awe, but with compassion, gratitude, love, and optimism, along with connectedness and self-relevant thoughts. Furthermore, we found that increases in self-relevant thoughts and connectedness in response to the awe induction predicted increases in each emotion evoked and vice-versa. These findings suggest that experiences that are commonly considered awe-inspiring-such as viewing a picturesque landscape-may be more appropriately conceptualized more broadly as self-transcendent. More work is needed to determine whether the documented benefits of awe may be more appropriately interpreted as the benefits of self-transcendent emotions.

Parenthood Is Associated With Greater Well-Being for Fathers Than Mothers.

The experiences of mothers and fathers are different in ways that could affect their well-being. Yet few studies have comprehensively examined gender differences in parents' well-being. In the current research, we investigated such gender differences in a large representative sample (Study 1a; N = 13,007), in a community sample using validated well-being measures (Study 1b; N = 472), and in a large experience sampling study measuring happiness during caregiving activities and during interactions with children (Study 2; N = 4,930). Fathers reported greater happiness, subjective well-being, psychological need satisfaction, and daily uplifts than did men without children (Studies 1a and 1b). During caregiving experiences, fathers reported greater happiness, whereas mothers reported lower happiness, compared with their other activities. Fathers also reported relatively higher happiness when interacting with their children than did mothers (Study 2). Across all three studies and more than 18,000 participants, parenthood was associated with more positive well-being outcomes for fathers than for mothers.

Moderators of wellbeing interventions: Why do some people respond more positively than others?

Interventions rarely have a universal effect on all individuals. Reasons ranging from participant characteristics, context and fidelity of intervention completion could cause some people to respond more positively than others. Understanding these individual differences in intervention response may provide clues to the mechanisms behind the intervention, as well as inform future designs to make interventions maximally beneficial for all. Here we focus on an intervention designed to improve adolescent wellbeing, and explore potential moderators using a representative and well-powered sample. 16-year old participants (N = 932) in the Twins Wellbeing Intervention Study logged online once a week to complete control and wellbeing-enhancing activities consecutively. Throughout the study participants also provided information about a range of potential moderators of intervention response including demographics, seasonality, personality, baseline characteristics, activity fit, and effort. As expected, some individuals gained more from the intervention than others; we used multi-level modelling to test for moderation effects that could explain these individual differences. Of the 15 moderators tested, none significantly explained individual differences in intervention response in the intervention and follow-up phases. Self-reported effort and baseline positive affect had a notable effect in moderating response in the control phase, during which there was no overall improvement in wellbeing and mental health. Our results did not replicate the moderation effects that have been suggested by previous literature and future work needs to reconcile these differences. They also show that factors that have previously been shown to influence baseline wellbeing do not also influence an individual's ability to benefit from a wellbeing intervention. Although future research should continue to explore potential moderators of intervention efficacy, our results suggest that the beneficial effect of positive activities in adolescents were universal across such factors as sex and socioeconomic status, bolstering claims of the scalability of positive activities to increase adolescent wellbeing.

Attachment avoidance, but not anxiety, minimizes the joys of caregiving.

Perhaps unlike other social roles that people may hold, caring for children offers opportunities for both immense joy and incredible frustration. Yet what predicts how parents will feel during caregiving experiences? In the current study, we examined parents' (N = 152) positive emotion, negative emotion, and felt meaning during caregiving using the Day Reconstruction Method. In addition, we tested attachment anxiety and avoidance as predictors of parents' emotion during caregiving relative to their other daily experiences. We found that attachment avoidance was associated with elevated negative emotion and reduced positive emotion and meaning in life across the entire day, whereas attachment anxiety was associated with elevated negative emotion and marginally greater meaning in life, but not positive emotion, across the entire day. Furthermore, caregiving was associated with greater positive emotion and meaning, but not negative emotion, compared to parents' other daily activities. Finally, attachment avoidance, but not anxiety, was associated with lower levels of positive emotion, negative emotion, and felt meaning during caregiving compared to other daily activities. These findings are consistent with other evidence that attachment avoidance is associated with deactivation of emotion in close relationships and suggest that attachment avoidance minimizes the joys of parenting.

Kindness in the blood: A randomized controlled trial of the gene regulatory impact of prosocial behavior.

CONTEXT: Prosocial behavior is linked to longevity, but few studies have experimentally manipulated prosocial behavior to identify the causal mechanisms underlying this association. One possible mediating pathway involves changes in gene expression that may subsequently influence disease development or resistance. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS: In the current study, we examined changes in a leukocyte gene expression profile known as the Conserved Transcriptional Response to Adversity (CTRA) in 159 adults who were randomly assigned for 4 weeks to engage in prosocial behavior directed towards specific others, prosocial behavior directed towards the world in general, self-focused kindness, or a neutral control task. RESULTS: Those randomized to prosocial behavior towards specific others demonstrated improvements (i.e., reductions) in leukocyte expression of CTRA indicator genes. No significant changes in CTRA gene expression were observed in the other 3 conditions. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that prosocial behavior can causally impact leukocyte gene expression profiles in ways that might potentially help explain the previously observed health advantages associated with social ties.

EXAMINING PARENTS' ROMANTIC ATTACHMENT STYLES AND DEPRESSIVE AND ANXIETY SYMPTOMS AS PREDICTORS OF CAREGIVING EXPERIENCES.

Evidence has suggested that parental romantic attachment style and depressive and anxiety symptoms are related to experiences of caregiving (Creswell, Apetroaia, Murray, & Cooper, 2013; Jones, Cassidy, & Shaver, 2014; Lovejoy, Graczyk, O'Hare, & Neuman, 2000), but more research is necessary to clarify the nature of these relations, particularly in the context of attachment-salient events such as reunions. In a cross-sectional study of 150 parents of children ages 1 to 3 years, we assessed participants' attachment styles (self-reported anxiety and avoidance) and depressive and anxiety symptoms. Participants generated a narrative describing their most recent reunion with their child, which we coded for caregiving outcomes of negative emotion and secure base script content. Attachment style and depressive and anxiety symptoms separately predicted each caregiving outcome. Depressive and anxiety symptoms mediated the associations between attachment style and caregiving outcomes. These results suggest that parental attachment insecurity and depressive and anxiety symptoms contribute to negative emotion and reduced secure base script content. Further, depressive and anxiety symptomatology partially accounts for the relation between attachment insecurity and caregiving outcomes, suggesting that parental mental health is a critical point for intervention.

Right-sided valve disease.

In this review, we discuss right-sided heart valve disease, namely tricuspid regurgitation (TR), tricuspid stenosis, pulmonary regurgitation, pulmonary stenosis and right-sided endocarditis. These are frequently seen in conjunction with other diseases, making assessment of their significance more difficult, but it has become increasingly clear that moderate or severe right-sided heart valve disease, in particular TR, is associated with worse prognosis. There remain large gaps in our knowledge of medical and interventional treatment, but in this article we outline what is known about the causes, presentation and management of these commonly seen conditions.

Aortic valve disease.

Aortic valve disease is common and has significant impact on prognosis and quality of life. In this educational review, we cover the pathophysiology, presentation and assessment of aortic stenosis (AS) and aortic regurgitation (AR), including the role of imaging modalities beyond echocardiography. We review current treatment strategies and emphasise the use and indications for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in view of recent data highlighting its emergence as a novel treatment option for patients with AS, who are unsuitable for conventional aortic valve replacement (AVR). We also describe novel surgical approaches for AR and potential future strategies for percutaneous intervention.

Applied magnetic field design for the field reversed configuration compression heating experiment.

Detailed calculations of the formation, guide, and mirror applied magnetic fields in the FRC compression-heating experiment (FRCHX) were conducted using a commercially available generalized finite element solver, COMSOL Multiphysics(®). In FRCHX, an applied magnetic field forms, translates, and finally captures the FRC in the liner region sufficiently long to enable compression. Large single turn coils generate the fast magnetic fields necessary for FRC formation. Solenoidal coils produce the magnetic field for translation and capture of the FRC prior to liner implosion. Due to the limited FRC lifetime, liner implosion is initiated before the FRC is injected, and the magnetic flux that diffuses into the liner is compressed. Two-dimensional axisymmetric magnetohydrodynamic simulations using MACH2 were used to specify optimal magnetic field characteristics, and this paper describes the simulations conducted to design magnetic field coils and compression hardware for FRCHX. This paper presents the vacuum solution for the magnetic field.

A multi-frame soft x-ray pinhole imaging diagnostic for single-shot applications.

For high energy density magnetized target fusion experiments at the Air Force Research Laboratory FRCHX machine, obtaining multi-frame soft x-ray images of the field reversed configuration (FRC) plasma as it is being compressed will provide useful dynamics and symmetry information. However, vacuum hardware will be destroyed during the implosion. We have designed a simple in-vacuum pinhole nosecone attachment, fitting onto a Conflat window, coated with 3.2 mg∕cm(2) of P-47 phosphor, and covered with a thin 50-nm aluminum reflective overcoat, lens-coupled to a multi-frame Hadland Ultra intensified digital camera. We compare visible and soft x-ray axial images of translating (~200 eV) plasmas in the FRX-L and FRCHX machines in Los Alamos and Albuquerque.

A pilot open label, single dose trial of fenobam in adults with fragile X syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: A pilot open label, single dose trial of fenobam, an mGluR5 antagonist, was conducted to provide an initial evaluation of safety and pharmacokinetics in adult males and females with fragile X syndrome (FXS). METHODS: Twelve subjects, recruited from two fragile X clinics, received a single oral dose of 50-150 mg of fenobam. Blood for pharmacokinetic testing, vital signs and side effect screening was obtained at baseline and numerous time points for 6 h after dosing. Outcome measures included prepulse inhibition (PPI) and a continuous performance test (CPT) obtained before and after dosing to explore the effects of fenobam on core phenotypic measures of sensory gating, attention and inhibition. RESULTS: There were no significant adverse reactions to fenobam administration. Pharmacokinetic analysis showed that fenobam concentrations were dose dependent but variable, with mean (SEM) peak values of 39.7 (18.4) ng/ml at 180 min after the 150 mg dose. PPI met a response criterion of an improvement of at least 20% over baseline in 6 of 12 individuals (4/6 males and 2/6 females). The CPT did not display improvement with treatment due to ceiling effects. CONCLUSIONS: Clinically significant adverse effects were not identified in this study of single dose fenobam across the range of dosages utilised. The positive effects seen in animal models of FXS treated with fenobam or other mGluR5 antagonists, the apparent lack of clinically significant adverse effects, and the potential beneficial clinical effects seen in this pilot trial support further study of the compound in adults with FXS.