Explaining post-traumatic stress symptoms and sleep disturbance in Ukrainian civilians: perceived threat versus objective war exposure.

Objective: This study investigated the impact of war exposure on post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and sleep disturbance across Ukraine. Subjective and objective indicators of war exposure were modelled as predictors of these symptoms.Methods: We created two predictors: first, we used governmental and crowd-sourced data to create an objective war exposure index for each of the 21 non-occupied regions of Ukraine, based on the number of air raid alarms, explosions, and proximity to frontline; and second, we obtained self-report cross-sectional data, using convenience sampling, from a nation-wide survey (N = 991) on subjective experience of threat triggered by the war. The survey also measured the outcome variables of PTSS and sleep disturbance. Hierarchical multilevel regressions modelled the relationship of this objective war exposure index with the two outcome variables, after accounting for demographics. A final regression step modelled subjective threat as predictor of these symptoms.Results: We observed strongly elevated levels of PTSS and sleep disturbance and strong regional differences in objective and subjective war indicators. Objective war exposure predicted PTSS but not sleep disturbance, whereas subjective threat predicted both symptom domains.Conclusion: The study demonstrates the utility of objective war exposure data for predicting the prevalence of PTSS in the different regions. The results further underscore the prominent role of subjective appraisal processes in the symptomatology of PTSS and sleep disturbance, thus informing theories on trauma-related disorders. Our results can guide the allocation of mental health services by identifying highly affected regions.

Objective data on air raid alarms and explosions have been prospectively collected in Ukraine.We related those objective data to symptom reports of 991 responders in most Ukraine regions.Objective data explained symptoms of post-traumatic stress but not sleep disturbance.

Terrorism as Coalitional Predation: Explaining Definitional Ambiguities and Precautionary Responses.

Terrorism continues to be an enigmatic and contested concept, lacking a universally accepted definition despite extensive scholarly debate. Lay intuitions, however, demonstrate a notable convergence in identifying acts as "terrorism" when specific situational features are present, such as indiscriminate violence and out-group perpetration. These features elicit predictable and robust precautionary responses, raising the question: Is there a unified and parsimonious explanation for these phenomena? It is hypothesized that a situational template exists in the human mind, the coalitional predation template (CPT), which evolved not to detect modern-day terrorism, per se, but to identify and respond to situations of predatory coalitional conflict. The paper examines the potential cues and mechanisms that constitute the psychological systems activated by such threats, suggesting that matching the input cues of the CPT triggers well-documented precautionary responses to terrorism. However, this cue-based system may not align neatly with contemporary threats, leading to disproportionate responses to some threats while underestimating others. The model also posits that interpretations of violence can vary due to incomplete cues and the social position of the evaluator, leading to public disagreements and inconsistencies in defining terrorism. Consequently, arriving at an unambiguous and widely accepted definition of terrorism may not be possible. The model presented may account for a range of phenomena, including the inclination towards attributing mental illness to particular violent incidents and the uncanny surface similarities between terrorism and war crimes. The findings have significant implications for both the theoretical understanding of terrorism and practical policy responses.

Correlates of dangerous firearm storage among a representative sample of firearm owners across nine states.

OBJECTIVE: To identify demographic and behavioral correlates of dangerous firearm storage (i.e., unlocked and loaded) among firearm owners in nine states. METHODS: Online survey data from the probability-based sample were collected using Ipsos Knowledge Panel. Participants were adults residing in nine states across the United States (n = 7785). RESULTS: Nearly one third of the firearm owners within the sample stored at least one of their firearms unlocked and loaded. Greater threat sensitivity was associated with dangerous firearm storage. Established firearm owners who purchased an additional firearm during the firearm purchasing surge (2020-2021) had increased odds of storing at least one firearm unlocked and loaded. Those who had direct exposure to firearm violence and those whose primary reason for having a firearm at home was protection also had increased odds of storing at least one firearm unlocked and loaded. CONCLUSIONS: The results contribute to the literature on firearm storage tendencies, highlighting correlates of dangerous firearm storage within the home related to perceptions of threat and direct experiences with firearm violence. Implications include the need for broad public education on the value of secure storage targeted toward to those who have an elevated perception of danger and have been personally exposed to firearm violence.

Behaviours of farmed saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) housed individually or in groups.

Saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) are farmed in Australia primarily for their skins and meat. Commercially, they are raised in group pens as hatchlings and grower crocodiles and then moved to unitised (individual) pens for the final finishing stage when they are several years old. They will exhibit aggressive behaviour towards each other in captivity. Unitised pens can prevent animal injury and teeth marks on the skins but may result in other social restrictions. Research into behavioural housing preferences could assist the industry and inform the process of guideline development for optimal crocodile management and welfare. This study assessed the impacts of two housing systems, unitised or group pens, in 20 commercial finishing crocodiles through measuring behavioural profiles of individuals from video recordings, including housing preference when given a choice. Both pens included water and an above-water shelf, but the crocodiles in unitised pens could also access underneath the shelf. A threat perception test was applied to assess anxiety when housed individually or in groups. However, it was difficult to apply a standardised stimulus to all animals that reliably elicited a behavioural response. Further work would be needed to validate this test for commercial reptiles as the outcomes were not robust. The behavioural observation results showed clear differences in where the crocodiles spent their time across the day and in their activity levels between the pen types. However, interpretation of this variation was confounded by the physical and social differences between the pen types given the inconsistency in shelf access. Behaviours exhibited also differed given there were social opportunities in the group pens where individuals were observed engaged in both aggressive and non-aggressive contact interactions. In the free choice environment, crocodiles spent similar amounts of time in both unitised and group pens, suggesting there were features of both pen types that were attractive to the animals. However, skins were damaged from teeth marks highlighting the physical and economical risks of group housing. Further work could validate behavioural tests to quantify affective state impacts in different housing environments and whether social interactions do provide benefits for improving crocodile welfare.

'They are conspiring against us': How outgroup conspiracy theories stimulate environmental neglect in intergroup resource dilemmas.

Natural resources are limited, and people often share these limited resources in groups, which creates an intergroup resource dilemma. To understand individuals' sustainable behaviours in intergroup resource dilemmas in the context of group interactions, the present research systematically investigates the effect of outgroup conspiracy theories on sustainable behaviours and preliminarily explores the internal mechanism underlying this effect. First, a survey study (Study 1) relying on real-world intergroup relations first confirmed the negative correlation between outgroup conspiracy beliefs and sustainable intentions in intergroup resource dilemmas. Then, an online experimental study that utilized the real situation of a region in China (Study 2) tested the causal relationship between exposure to an outgroup conspiracy theory and sustainable intentions, as well as showing the mediating role of intergroup threat perception underlying this relationship. Finally, a preregistered experimental laboratory study (Study 3) further verified the causal effect of exposure to an outgroup conspiracy theory on sustainable behaviours, again confirming the mediating role of intergroup threat perception. In general, our research demonstrates that exposure to an outgroup conspiracy theory stimulates individuals' environmental neglect and reduces their sustainable behaviours by increasing their perceptions of intergroup threat when faced with intergroup resource dilemmas.

A two-item screening of maternal or infant perceived life threat during childbirth prospectively associated with childbirth-related posttraumatic stress symptoms up to six months postpartum: two observational longitudinal studies.

Objective: This study investigated prospective relationships between the perception of threat to one's own life or to that of one's infant during childbirth and maternal childbirth-related posttraumatic stress symptoms (CB-PTSS) and probable childbirth-related posttraumatic stress disorder (CB-PTSD) in a community and a community and an emergency cesarean section (ECS) sample. Methods: Study samples included 72 mothers from a community sample and 75 mothers after emergency cesarean section. Perceived maternal and infant life threat were assessed at ≤1 week postpartum. Maternal CB-PTSS and probable CB-PTSD were assessed with validated questionnaires up to 6 months postpartum. Covariates were extracted from hospital records. Secondary data analysis with logistic and linear regressions was performed. Results: Globally, mothers were significantly more likely to perceive their infant's life to be threatened, rather than their own. Both types of perceived threat were prospectively but differentially associated with maternal CB-PTSS and probable CB-PTSD at 4-6 weeks and 6 months postpartum. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Conclusion: The type of perceived threat differently influences maternal CB-PTSS and probable CB-PTSD up to 6 months postpartum. These results may be the basis for the development of a short screening instrument after traumatic childbirth in clinical settings. Future studies need to assess the psychometric properties and acceptability of such a brief screening tool.

Threat Expectation Does Not Improve Perceptual Discrimination despite Causing Heightened Priority Processing in the Frontoparietal Network.

Threat cues have been widely shown to elicit increased sensory and attentional neural processing. However, whether this enhanced recruitment leads to measurable behavioral improvements in perception is still in question. Here, we adjudicate between two opposing theories: that threat cues do or do not enhance perceptual sensitivity. We created threat stimuli by pairing one direction of motion in a random dot kinematogram with an aversive sound. While in the MRI scanner, 46 subjects (both men and women) completed a cued (threat/safe/neutral) perceptual decision-making task where they indicated the perceived motion direction of each moving dot stimulus. We found strong evidence that threat cues did not increase perceptual sensitivity compared with safe and neutral cues. This lack of improvement in perceptual decision-making ability occurred despite the threat cue resulting in widespread increases in frontoparietal BOLD activity, as well as increased connectivity between the right insula and the frontoparietal network. These results call into question the intuitive claim that expectation automatically enhances our perception of threat and highlight the role of the frontoparietal network in prioritizing the processing of threat-related environmental cues.

Age-dependent changes in the anger superiority effect: Evidence from a visual search task.

The perception of threatening facial expressions is a critical skill necessary for detecting the emotional states of others and responding appropriately. The anger superiority effect hypothesis suggests that individuals are better at processing and identifying angry faces compared with other nonthreatening facial expressions. In adults, the anger superiority effect is present even after controlling for the bottom-up visual saliency, and when ecologically valid stimuli are used. However, it is as yet unclear whether this effect is present in children. To fill this gap, we tested the anger superiority effect in children ages 6-14 years in a visual search task by using emotional dynamic stimuli and equating the visual salience of target and distractors. The results suggest that in childhood, the angry superiority effect consists of improved accuracy in detecting angry faces, while in adolescence, the ability to discriminate angry faces undergoes further development, enabling faster and more accurate threat detection.

How Cognitive Absorption Influences Responses to Immersive Narratives of Environmental Threats.

Nongovernment organizations are increasingly leveraging the metaverse and its suite of extended reality technologies, such as 360° video and virtual reality, to immerse audiences in situations depicting environmental threats. The promise of immersive storytelling as a conservation tool is predicated on the verisimilitude of the mediated experience, with exposure to environmental threats in immersive video akin to in vivo exposure. However, the psychological mechanisms explaining users' environmental responses to immersive stories remain ambiguous. In three controlled laboratory experiments, we examined unique properties (e.g., interactivity and modality) of immersive technologies vis-à-vis environmental stories and their influence on proenvironmental outcomes. Study 1 (N = 48) implemented a two-condition (interactivity: high vs. low) between-subjects experiment, showing that interactive 360° video significantly influenced attitudes through the mechanism of cognitive absorption. A 2 (interactivity: high/low) × 2 (distance: proximal/distant) between-subjects experiment (study 2; N = 76) further supported this mediation model by showing the mediating effects of cognitive absorption on attitudes and threat perceptions toward both distant and proximal threats. Lastly, study 3 (N = 68) replicated the mediating effects of cognitive absorption across 360° video modalities, though head-mounted display-based, rather than screen-based, 360° videos only significantly increased attitudes and absorption when threats were proximal. We discuss the results' practical and theoretical implications and propose avenues for future research. Moreover, we outline important considerations for environmental organizations seeking to leverage metaverse platforms for communicating environmental threats.

Testing anxiety and reward processing in anorexia nervosa as predictors of longitudinal clinical outcomes.

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a psychiatric disorder with a tenuous longitudinal course marked by a high risk of relapse. Previous studies suggest that aberrant threat perception and reward processing operate in many with AN, and may produce obstacles to treatment engagement; therefore, these could potentially represent predictors for longitudinal clinical outcomes. In this study, anxiety and reward symptoms, behaviors, and neural circuit connectivity were measured in intensively treated AN-restrictive subtype patients (n = 33) and healthy controls (n = 31). Participants underwent an fMRI experiment using a monetary reward task in combination with either overlapping individually tailored anxiety-provoking words or neutral words. Behavioral/psychometric measures consisted of reaction times on the monetary reward task and self-ratings on anxiety symptoms at study entry. We tested multimodal, multivariate models based on neural, behavioral, and psychometric measures of reward and anxiety to predict physiological (Body Mass Index; BMI) and psychological (eating disorder symptom severity) longitudinal outcomes in AN over six months. Our results indicated that higher anxiety symptom psychometric scores significantly predicted BMI reductions at follow-up. Untreated anxiety after intensive treatment could put individuals with AN at heightened risk for weight loss. This represents a potentially modifiable risk factor that could be targeted more aggressively to help reduce the chance of future clinical worsening.

Threat expectation does not improve perceptual discrimination despite causing heightened priority processing in the frontoparietal network.

Threat cues have been widely shown to elicit increased sensory and attentional neural processing. However, whether this enhanced recruitment leads to measurable behavioral improvements in perception is still in question. Here we adjudicate between two opposing theories: that threat cues do or do not enhance perceptual sensitivity. We created threat stimuli by pairing one direction of motion in a random dot kinematogram with an aversive sound. While in the MRI scanner, 46 subjects (both men and women) completed a cued (threat/safe/neutral) perceptual decision-making task where they indicated the perceived motion direction of each moving dots stimulus. We found strong evidence that threat cues did not increase perceptual sensitivity compared to safe and neutral cues. This lack of improvement in perceptual decision-making ability occurred despite the threat cue resulting in widespread increases in frontoparietal BOLD activity, as well as increased connectivity between the right insula and the frontoparietal network. These results call into question the intuitive claim that expectation automatically enhances our perception of threat, and highlight the role of the frontoparietal network in prioritizing the processing of threat-related environmental cues.

A Second Cold War? Explaining Changes in the American Discourse on China: Evidence from the Presidential Debates (1960-2020).

When and how do the American political elites react discursively to China as a rising power? Do they depict it as an economic or military risk? What role do discursive references to China play in the US populist discourses? Relying on the thematic and critical discourse analysis of all the American presidential debates, this article explores the way US politicians portray China throughout three eras marked by distinct global power configurations. Several types of discourses have been identified. In contrast to the belligerent rhetoric of the early Cold War, when China was framed as a major military threat, after 2004, presidential candidates started referring to Beijing as an economic rival. By 2008, the emerging bipartisan consensus centered on China as mainly a trade competitor. By contrast, populist narratives in 2016 and 2020 stood out because they included emotional appeals and inflated the risks of the Sino-American rivalry to mobilize voters. In doing so, the populists sought to forge coalitions in favor of protectionist policies among those voters, who were employed in manufacturing sectors facing growing international competition. The anti-China mentions reached a peak during the 2020 debates amidst the pandemic when the populist candidate used biased language, relying on tropes resembling the 19th century racist "yellow peril" rhetoric. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11366-023-09857-z.

Identity, experience, and threat: Assessing key correlates of firearm ownership and related behaviors in a representative sample of five US States.

The purpose of this study was to examine psychosocial, experiential, and demographic correlates of firearm ownership, carrying, and storage methods. We used a representative survey of 3,510 people living in five US states (Colorado, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Texas) conducted in 2022. Individuals provided information on past experiences with firearms, perceptions of threat and neighborhood safety, discrimination, and tolerance of uncertainty alongside demographic items. The analysis was conducted in November 2022. Past experiences with firearms and prior victimization are associated with increased firearm ownership and carrying practices. Threat sensitivity is associated with owning more guns while poorer perceptions of neighborhood safety correspond with owning fewer guns but greater risk for unsafe storage practices like storing a loaded gun in a closet or drawer. Intolerance of uncertainty is associated with owning fewer guns and lower risk for carrying outside of the home but greater risk for unsafe storage. Prior experience of discrimination is associated with risk for carrying firearms outside of the home. Demographic characteristics related to sex, rurality, military service, and political conservatism predict risky firearm-related behaviors related to firearm ownership, carrying frequency, and unsecure storage. Taken together, we find firearm ownership and risky firearm behaviors (e.g. carrying, unsafe storage) are more prominent among groups such as politically conservative males living in rural areas while also being influenced by threatening experiences, uncertainty, and perceptions of safety.

Cultural threat perceptions predict violent extremism via need for cognitive closure.

Understanding the psychological processes that drive violent extremism is a pressing global issue. Across six studies, we demonstrate that perceived cultural threats lead to violent extremism because they increase people's need for cognitive closure (NFC). In general population samples (from Denmark, Afghanistan, Pakistan, France, and an international sample) and a sample of former Mujahideen in Afghanistan, single-level and multilevel mediation analyses revealed that NFC mediated the association between perceived cultural threats and violent extremist outcomes. Further, in comparisons between the sample of former Afghan Mujahideen and the general population sample from Afghanistan following the known-group paradigm, the former Mujahideen scored significantly higher on cultural threat, NFC, and violent extremist outcomes. Moreover, the proposed model successfully differentiated former Afghan Mujahideen participants from the general Afghan participants. Next, two preregistered experiments provided causal support for the model. Experimentally manipulating the predictor (cultural threat) in Pakistan led to higher scores on the mediator (NFC) and dependent variables (violent extremist outcomes). Finally, an experiment conducted in France demonstrated the causal effect of the mediator (NFC) on violent extremist outcomes. Two internal meta-analyses using state-of-the-art methods (i.e., meta-analytic structural equation modeling and pooled indirect effects analyses) further demonstrated the robustness of our results across the different extremist outcomes, designs, populations, and settings. Cultural threat perceptions seem to drive violent extremism by eliciting a need for cognitive closure.

Repeatability of an attention bias test for sheep suggests variable influence of state and trait affect on behaviour.

Understanding the effects of repeated testing on behaviour is essential for behavioural tests that are re-applied to the same individuals for research and welfare assessment purposes. Assessing the repeatability of behaviour can also help us understand the influence of persistent traits vs transient states on animal responses during testing. This study examined the repeatability of behavioural responses in an attention bias test developed for sheep as a measure of affective state. Sheep were assessed in the attention bias test three times (n = 81 sheep), with testing occurring at intervals of 1 year then 2 weeks. During testing, individual sheep were exposed to a dog located behind a window for 3 s in a 4 × 4 m arena, then the dog was obscured from view, removed and sheep behaviours were recorded for 180 s. We hypothesised that behaviours in the test would have moderate-high repeatability but that the mean behavioural responses would change over consecutive trials as sheep habituated to the test environment. To estimate repeatability, data were modelled using restricted maximum likelihood linear mixed-effects models, fitting animal ID as a random effect. Vigilance behaviour, defined as having the head at or above shoulder height, was moderately repeatable (r = 0.58). Latency to eat (r = 0.20) and duration spent looking towards the previous location of the dog (attention to the dog wall) (r = 0.08) had low repeatability. Mean latency to eat did not differ significantly between trials (P = 0.2) and mean vigilance behaviour tended to decrease over the trials (P = 0.07). Mean duration of attention to the dog wall significantly decreased across the trials (P < 0.001), while mean zones crossed increased (P < 0.001), as did behaviours directed towards the exit door such as duration in proximity and pawing at the door. Overall, vigilance behaviour was moderately repeatable, suggesting it may have been driven by temperament or personality traits, while attention and feeding behaviours may have been more influenced by transient affective states or other factors, however further research is needed to better tease apart these potential effects. Sheep demonstrated some habituation to the test over consecutive trials. Care should therefore be taken during future application of the test to ensure all animals undergoing attention bias testing have equivalent experience for a valid interpretation of their relative behavioural responses.

Public conformism with health regulation is crumbling as COVID-19 becomes a chronic threat: Repeated Cross-sectional Studies.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to analyze the long terms trends in public attitudes toward the COVID-19 pandemic and compliance with self-quarantine regulations. METHODS: Repeated cross-sectional studies looking into data collected from nationally representative samples (N = 2568) of the adult population in Israel at five points in time representing the five morbidity waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined public trust in Israeli health regulations, levels of public panic, feelings of personal worry, and compliance with health regulations, specifically self-quarantine. RESULTS: Public trust in health regulations in January 2022 is at an all-time low (25%) compared to the maximum value of nearly 75% measured in March 2020. While reported worry is steadily reducing, the perception of public panic is increasing. In earlier rounds, public compliance with self-quarantine was reported close to 100%; however, it has dropped to 38% by January 2022 when compensation is not assumed. Regression analysis suggests that trust is a major predictor of compliance with health regulations. CONCLUSIONS: The "fifth wave" of the COVID-19 pandemic brought about an all-time low in public trust in health regulations. The Israeli public, normally a highly compliant one, is showing signs of crumbling conformity.

Perception of COVID-19 threat, low self-efficacy, and external locus of control lead to psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While it is well documented that the COVID-19 pandemic has had critical consequences for individuals' mental health, few studies to date have investigated the influence of psychological factors on psychological distress in the context of COVID-19. This study explores the influences of self-efficacy, health locus of control, and COVID-19 threat perception on psychological distress (DASS-21). 180 adults completed an online set of standardised questionnaires. Results indicated that self-efficacy had a significant relationship with all three subscales of psychological distress. However, COVID-19 threat perception was significantly associated with stress. External health locus of control was significantly associated with depression by the chance externality subscale, and stress by the powerful others externality subscale. Additionally, external health locus of control was found to moderate the relationship between COVID-19 threat perception and depression.

How speed impacts threat assessment in lethal force decisions.

Despite the importance of being both fast and accurate in lethal force decisions, there is little empirical evidence to identify how speed impacts threat-related decisions and perception. Two experiments used speeded and unspeeded manipulations to determine how the speed imperative impacted threat assessments. Experiment 1 used drift diffusion modeling to quantify decision parameters, including rate of information processing, decision threshold, bias, and non-decisional processes. Speeded conditions reduced the information threshold needed to make decisions and shortened non-decisional processes, yet this manipulation had no impact on the rate of information processing or starting bias. Experiment 2 explored perceptual differences in threat assessment. Participants confidently made threat assessments despite only 30 ms exposure to stimuli with little impact on their subjective threat ratings based on exposure duration. Taken together, these results document the influence of speed on decision-making parameters of threat assessments while demonstrating little impact on threat perception.

Intolerance of uncertainty and reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a threat to mental health worldwide. The current study aims to investigate the role of intolerance of uncertainty in cognitive, emotional and behavioral reactions to this pandemic and propose a path model of these reactions. In the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia, participants in a general sample (n = 1,011) as well as an older adult sample (n = 655) completed measures regarding intolerance of uncertainty, mental health (anxiety, well-being, perceived stress) and adherence to preventive measures. Two rounds of data collection were carried out in the first sample. Intolerance of uncertainty was found to be related to mental health indicators and the structural equation model showed a direct and indirect effect on them as well as on the adherence to preventive measures. However, the comparison of data from different time points has brought inconsistent results. The findings highlight the role of intolerance of uncertainty in reaction to threat and indicate the potential of uncertainty reduction e.g., getting clear messages from authorities, as a way of decreasing mental health problems.

Personal and family factors for emotional distress in adolescents with chronic disease.

Introduction: Physical and psychological comorbidity is a challenge for public health, especially in the adolescent stage due to the difficulties of this age. The salutogenic perspective emphasizes general psychological resources such as self-esteem but also highlights the role of contextual factors such as family members in promoting health. From this perspective, the objective of this study was to analyze the joint influence of demographic factors (sex, age and type of chronic disease), personal factors (self-esteem and perception of threat of the disease) and family factors (affection and communication, psychological and behavioral control) of risk of emotional distress (anxiety-depressive symptoms) in chronically ill adolescents. Methods: The study is a cross-sectional design with 495 adolescents with chronic disease aged 12-16 years. In order to obtain the results, a linear methodology was used to compare means and perform regressions to predict belonging to the anxiety and depression typologies. Four typologies were constructed: typology I (high anxiety and depression scores); typology II (high anxiety and low depression scores); typology III (low anxiety and high depression scores) and typology IV (low anxiety and depression scores). Results: The results were consistent with the salutugenic theory. Potential mediating or moderating roles of age, sex, self-esteem, perceived threat and psychological and behavioral control marked the differences between the typologies. Discussion: This population could benefit from interventions focused on family flexibility.