Something in the air: does smelling stress affect dogs?

Georgina Mills discusses research into the effects of human stress on dogs, and how this might lead to them being more pessimistic.

The bidirectional relationships of optimism and pessimism with depressive symptoms in adulthood - A 15-year follow-up study from Northern Finland Birth Cohorts.

BACKGROUND: Low optimism and high pessimism have predicted depressive symptoms in several studies, but the associations in the other direction, from depressive symptoms to future optimism and pessimism, have been unexplored. We examined bidirectional associations of optimism and pessimism with depressive symptoms in adulthood. METHODS: A population-based sample of 4011 Finnish adults (55 % women) was analyzed with a 15-year prospective follow-up period from age 31 to age 46. Optimism and pessimism were measured with the Life Orientation Test-Revised, and depressive symptoms were measured with the Symptom Checklist-25. Temporal associations were investigated with cross-lagged panel models. RESULTS: According to the model fit indices (RMSEA < 0.04, CFI ≥ 0.97) optimism and pessimism had bidirectional relationships with depressive symptoms: optimism predicted lower depressive symptoms (ß = -0.09, p < .001), and depressive symptoms predicted lower optimism (ß = -0.10, p < .001) in the follow-up. Also, pessimism predicted higher depressive symptoms (ß = 0.08, p < .001), and depressive symptoms predicted higher pessimism (ß = 0.09, p < .001) in the follow-up. In the participants with clinically high depressive symptoms at age 31, the predictive associations from optimism and pessimism to depressive symptoms remained, but associations in the other direction were attenuated. LIMITATIONS: The follow-up study included only two time points with a 15-year time gap, which does not consider the possible fluctuation in the study variables between the measured times. CONCLUSION: Dispositional optimism and pessimism may have bidirectional relationships with depressive symptoms in adulthood when the baseline depressive symptoms are below the clinical level.

Are lateralized and bold fish optimistic or pessimistic?

Cognitive bias is defined as the influence of emotions on cognitive processes. The concept of the cognitive judgement bias has its origins in human psychology but has been applied to animals over the past 2 decades. In this study we were interested in determining if laterality and personality traits, which are known to influence learning style, might also be correlated with a cognitive bias in the three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus). We used the judgement bias test with the go/no-go procedure where fish were first trained to discriminate between a black and white card and, after reaching a minimum learning criterion, tested their response to an ambiguous card (grey). Optimistic subjects were expected to have a high expectation of reward associated with an ambiguous stimulus, whereas pessimistic subjects a high expectation of non-reward. We used an emergence and a mirror test to quantify boldness and laterality, respectively. We hypothesised that male, bolder and more strongly lateralized fish would be more optimistic than female, shy and less strongly lateralised fish. We found that males and more strongly lateralized fish were more optimistic than females and less strongly lateralized fish. In addition, bold males were more optimistic than shy males as we predicted, but females showed the opposite pattern. Finally, fish trained on the black colour card learned the training task faster than those trained on a white card. Our results indicate that both laterality and personality traits are linked to animals' internal states (pessimistic or optimistic outlooks) which likely has broad implications for understanding animal behaviour particularly in a welfare context.

Optimism, pessimism, and physical health among youth: a scoping review.

OBJECTIVE: High levels of optimism (and low levels of pessimism) are associated with improved physical health in adults. However, relatively less is known about these relations in youth. The present study aimed to review the literature investigating optimism, pessimism, and physical health in children and adolescents from populations with and without health conditions. METHODS: We conducted a scoping review up until February 2024. Studies were included if they sampled youth (average age ≤18 years) and treated optimism or pessimism as predictors of health behaviors or outcomes. Data on study and sample characteristics, health outcome, optimism construct, and findings were extracted from eligible papers and results were synthesized. RESULTS: Sixty studies were retained. Most studies were conducted in North America, with adolescents, and used cross-sectional designs and self-reported measures of health. Measures of optimism and pessimism differed across studies. Roughly one-third of studies sampled medical populations. Health categories included substance use, diet and physical activity, sexual health practices, medical adherence, other health behaviors, cardiometabolic health, subjective health/health-related quality of life, pain, sleep, and oral health. Generally, we observed adaptive associations between optimism and health. Higher optimism and lower pessimism were most consistently associated with lower rates of substance use and lower cardiometabolic risk. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of optimism or the absence of pessimism appears to be associated with various adaptive health outcomes among youth with and without health conditions. Developmental, methodological, and clinical considerations for future research are discussed, such as conducting longitudinal studies with objective measures of health and psychometrically validated instruments.

Perceived stress, optimism-pessimism, psychological adjustment, and death distress of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: the aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between death distress, psychological adjustment, optimism, pessimism and perceived stress among nurses working during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: this study was designed as cross-sectional/cohort. The population of the study involved 408 nurses from Northern Cyprus, which are registered as full members of the Nurse Council. The sample comprised 214 nurses, who volunteered to participate in the study. The study data was collected using a web-based online survey (Demographic form, the Coronavirus Stress Measure, The Optimism and Pessimism Questionnaire, The Brief Adjustment Scale-6, The Death Distress Scale). RESULTS: the results indicated that perceived stress significantly and negatively predicted optimism (ß = -0.21, p < 0.001) and pessimism (ß = 0.38, p < 0.001). Perceived stress had significant and positive predictive effects on psychological adjustment (ß = 0.31, p < 0.001) and death distress (ß = 0.17, p < 0.01). Further analysis results revealed that pessimism mediates the association of stress with psychological adjustment and death distress; however, optimism only mediates the effect of stress on psychological adjustment among nurses. CONCLUSION: a low level of pessimism is effective in strengthening nurses' psychological adjustment skills againt perceived stress and death distress. Nurses should consider behavioral strategies to help reduce the level of pessimism during periods such as pandemics. BACKGROUND: (1) High levels of perceived stress increased higher score of psychological adjustment. (2) Pessimism mediates the association of stress with adjustment and death distress. (3) Optimism only mediates the effect of stress on psychological adjustment among nurses.

Efficiency neglect: Why people are pessimistic about the effects of increasing population.

In six studies, we find evidence of efficiency neglect: when thinking about the effects of population growth, people intuitively focus on increased demand while neglecting the changes in production efficiency that occur alongside, and often in response to, increased demand. In other words, people tend to think of others solely as consumers, rather than as consumers as well as producers. Efficiency neglect leads to beliefs that the real costs of some consumer goods are rising when they are actually decreasing and may contribute to antiimmigration sentiments because of the fear that increasing local population creates competition for fixed resources. We demonstrate that economic pessimism and antiimmigration sentiments are reduced when people are prompted to consider their own beliefs about increased productivity over time, but are unchanged when they consider their beliefs about increases in demand. Together, these findings shed light on people's lay economic theories and suggest promising interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Can an intervention designed to reduce repetitive negative thinking alter the response to a psychosocial stressor? A randomized controlled study.

Prior research suggests that repetitive negative thinking (RNT) negatively impacts mental health by intensifying and prolonging emotional reactivity to stress. This study investigated whether an intervention designed to reduce RNT alters emotional reactivity. Young adults with high trait RNT (N = 79) were randomly allocated to an RNT-focused intervention (smartphone app-based, 10 days) or a waiting list before exposure to a standardized stressor. The pre-registered analysis did not reveal a significant condition * time interaction for negative affect. However, exploratory analyses showed that whilst initial increases in negative affect in response to the stressor did not differ between conditions, participants in the intervention condition reported less negative affect throughout the following recovery phase. Additionally, participants in the intervention condition appraised their ability to cope with the stressor as higher and reported less RNT in the recovery phase. In contrast, the intervention did not affect biological stress responses. The findings indicate that RNT-focused interventions might have positive effects on mental health by breaking the self-reinforcing cycle of RNT, negative affect and maladaptive appraisals in response to stress. However, as findings are partly based on exploratory analyses, further research is needed to confirm whether reduced subjective stress reactivity mediates the effects of RNT-focused interventions on psychopathological symptoms.

The associations between repetitive negative thinking, insomnia symptoms, and sleep quality in adults with a history of trauma.

BACKGROUND: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and sleep disturbance are highly comorbid and repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is associated with both sleep disturbance and PTSD. However, few studies have examined the association between RNT and sleep disturbance in individuals exposed to trauma, with and without PTSD. METHOD: Associations between trait-level and trauma-related RNT, insomnia, and sleep quality were investigated in a trauma-exposed MTurk (N = 342) sample. Additionally, PTSD symptom severity was tested as a moderator of the associations between RNT and insomnia and sleep quality. RESULTS: Trait-level RNT predicted poorer sleep quality and greater insomnia, regardless of PTSD severity. Trauma-related RNT was also associated with greater insomnia, though the effect was moderated by PTSD severity such that it was significant for participants with low and moderate, but not severe, PTSD. Both trait- and trauma-related RNT were associated with several specific aspects of sleep quality, including: sleep disturbances, daytime dysfunction, use of sleep medications, sleep onset latency, and subjective sleep quality. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates significant associations linking RNT with insomnia and sleep disturbance in trauma-exposed individuals. Clinically, results suggest that it may be helpful to target both general and trauma-related RNT in sleep interventions for trauma-exposed individuals with insomnia.

The Link between Abstract Thinking Style and Subjective Well-Being: Its Impact when People are in (Real or Perceived) Financial Scarcity

Across three studies, we explored the link between an abstract mindset and subjective well-being (SWB) in participants with real and/or perceived financial scarcity. In Studies 1 and 2, samples presented real objective financial vulnerability: Adolescents from lower-middle income districts (Study 1; N = 256), and adults without higher education and with very low incomes (Study 2; N = 210). In Studies 1 and 2 participants completed a survey including measures of thinking style and SWB. In Studies 2 and 3 perception of financial difficulty and SWB were also measured. Study 3 (N = 161) used a sample of university students and employed an experimental design manipulating participants’ thinking style (i.e., concrete versus abstract mindset conditions); additionally, all participants were induced to perceive financial scarcity. Correlations revealed a significant and positive relationship between an abstract thinking style and SWB (Studies 1 and 2). Thus, these results showed that a relatively more abstract thinking style was associated with greater life satisfaction. In Studies 2 and 3 mediation analyses indicated that adults who presented a more abstract thinking style, perceived lower financial difficulties and then reported greater SWB. Overall, given that an abstract thinking style can be induced, these results offer a new intervention approach for improving the SWB of people living in situations of financial scarcity. (AU)

Is it better to be happy or right? Examining the relative role of the pragmatic and epistemic imperatives in momentary affective evaluations.

According to research highlighting the importance of predictions, the confirmation of expectations may be a positively-laden experience. A strong test of this principle is the case of the "doomsayer's delight": the possibility that belief confirmation can be rewarding even when negative expectations are realized. In order to investigate this idea, we conducted two high-powered experiments examining people's immediate affective reactions following exposure to expected or unexpected positive and negative stimuli. The results show that people feel significantly worse when their pessimistic expectations are confirmed than when their optimistic expectations are violated. This finding was not moderated by several theoretically relevant individual difference measures or temporal dynamics. Findings from this study contribute to our understanding of the interplay between epistemic and pragmatic motivations in guiding emotional responses. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Risk factors for internalizing symptoms: The influence of empathy, theory of mind, and negative thinking processes.

Internalizing symptoms such as elevated stress and sustained negative affect can be important warning signs for developing mental disorders. A recent theoretical framework suggests a complex interplay of empathy, theory of mind (ToM), and negative thinking processes as a crucial risk combination for internalizing symptoms. To disentangle these relationships, this study utilizes neural, behavioral, and self-report data to examine how the interplay between empathy, ToM, and negative thinking processes relates to stress and negative affect. We reanalyzed the baseline data of N = 302 healthy participants (57% female, Mage = 40.52, SDage = 9.30) who participated in a large-scale mental training study, the ReSource project. Empathy and ToM were assessed using a validated fMRI paradigm featuring naturalistic video stimuli and via self-report. Additional self-report scales were employed to measure internalizing symptoms (perceived stress, negative affect) and negative thinking processes (rumination and self-blame). Our results revealed linear associations of self-reported ToM and empathic distress with stress and negative affect. Also, both lower and higher, compared to average, activation in the anterior insula during empathic processing and in the middle temporal gyrus during ToM performance was significantly associated with internalizing symptoms. These associations were dependent on rumination and self-blame. Our findings indicate specific risk constellations for internalizing symptoms. Especially people with lower self-reported ToM and higher empathic distress may be at risk for more internalizing symptoms. Quadratic associations of empathy- and ToM-related brain activation with internalizing symptoms depended on negative thinking processes, suggesting differential effects of cognitive and affective functioning on internalizing symptoms. Using a multi-method approach, these findings advance current research by shedding light on which complex risk combinations of cognitive and affective functioning are relevant for internalizing symptoms.

Repetitive negative thinking as a unique transdiagnostic risk factor for suicidal ideation.

Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is a transdiagnostic symptom observed across mood and anxiety disorders and is characterized by frequent, distressing thoughts that are perceived as uncontrollable. Specific forms of RNT have been linked to increased suicide risk. However, most work examining links between RNT and suicide has been conducted within specific disorders and subtypes of RNT (e.g., rumination in individuals with depression). The present study aimed to investigate associations between transdiagnostic RNT and suicidal ideation. We hypothesized RNT would be associated with suicide risk beyond disorder-specific clinical symptoms. Fifty-four participants with mood, anxiety, and/or traumatic stress disorders completed an interview assessing suicidal risk (Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS)) and self-report questionnaires assessing transdiagnostic RNT, depression, and anxiety. Based on C-SSRS, we divided participants into high or low suicide risk groups. We analyzed the relationship between suicidal risk group and RNT and found that RNT was uniquely associated with suicidal risk group, controlling for depression and anxiety severity. Our results suggest including assessments of RNT may have clinical utility for understanding the degree of suicide risk in individuals and point to the potential utility of including clinical interventions to target this symptom for those at high risk of suicide.

Optimistic vs Pessimistic Message Framing in Communicating Prognosis to Parents of Very Preterm Infants: The COPE Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: In the neonatal intensive care unit, there is a lack of understanding about how best to communicate the prognosis of a serious complication to parents. Objective: To examine parental preferences and the effects of optimistic vs pessimistic message framing when providing prognostic information about a serious complication. Design, Setting, and Participants: This crossover randomized clinical trial was conducted at a single German university medical center between June and October 2021. Eligible participants were parents of surviving preterm infants with a birth weight under 1500 g. Data were analyzed between October 2021 and August 2022. Interventions: Alternating exposure to 2 scripted video vignettes showing a standardized conversation between a neonatologist and parents, portrayed by professional actors, about the prognosis of a hypothetical very preterm infant with severe intraventricular hemorrhage. The video vignettes differed in the framing of identical numerical outcome estimates as either probability of survival and probability of nonimpairment (optimistic framing) or a risk of death and impaired survival (pessimistic framing). Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was preference odds (ratio of preference for optimistic vs pessimistic framing). Secondary outcomes included state anxiety, perceptions of communication, and recall of numerical estimates. Results: Of 220 enrolled parents (142 [64.5%] mothers; mean [SD] age: mothers, 39.1 [5.6] years; fathers, 42.7 [6.9] years), 196 (89.1%) preferred optimistic and 24 (10.1%) preferred pessimistic framing (preference odds, 11.0; 95% CI, 6.28-19.10; P < .001). Preference for optimistic framing was more pronounced when presented second than when presented first (preference odds, 5.41; 95% CI, 1.77-16.48; P = .003). State anxiety scores were similar in both groups at baseline (mean difference, -0.34; -1.18 to 0.49; P = .42) and increased equally after the first video (mean difference, -0.55; 95% CI, -1.79 to 0.69; P = .39). After the second video, state anxiety scores decreased when optimistic framing followed pessimistic framing but remained unchanged when pessimistic framing followed optimistic framing (mean difference, 2.15; 95% CI, 0.91 to 3.39; P < .001). With optimistic framing, participants recalled numerical estimates more accurately for survival (odds ratio, 4.00; 95% CI, 1.64-9.79; P = .002) but not for impairment (odds ratio, 1.50; 95% CI, 0.85-2.63; P = .16). Conclusions and Relevance: When given prognostic information about a serious complication, parents of very preterm infants may prefer optimistic framing. Optimistic framing may lead to more realistic expectations for survival, but not for impairment. Trial Registration: German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS): DRKS00024466.

Lack of reinforcement is hard to "bear": Assessing judgment bias in grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis).

Cognitive biases reveal underlying affective state by indicating optimism and pessimism. This methodology may permit assessment of positive welfare in animals that have few validated positive welfare indicators, such as bears. Our goal was to validate a judgment bias test for assessing optimism in brown bears, using a touchscreen. After training the bears on a conditional discrimination, we compared responses to an ambiguous stimulus in a 2 × 2 nested design involving four experimental conditions representing presence or absence of a behind-the-scenes tour and presence or absence of a keeper training session with food reinforcement. We recorded bears' behavior during the conditions as a measure of convergent validity. Testing revealed the possibility of pessimism in the absence of reinforcement in one bear. More frustration behaviors were also observed during the no food reinforcement conditions. This is the first experimental demonstration of brown bears using a touchscreen and one of only three reports in which bears have been reported to perform a conditional discrimination. This method of assessing underlying affective state shows promise for the future.

Stability and change of optimism and pessimism in late midlife and old age across three independent studies.

Research across a number of different areas in psychology has long shown that optimism and pessimism are predictive of a number of important future life outcomes. Despite a vast literature on the correlates and consequences, we know very little about how optimism and pessimism change across adulthood and old age and the sociodemographic factors that are associated with individual differences in such trajectories. In the present study, we conducted (parallel) analyses of standard items from the Life Orientation Test (Scheier & Carver, 1985) in three comprehensive data sets: Two-wave data from both the Berlin Aging Study II (N = 1,423, aged 60-88; M = 70.4, SD = 3.70) and the Midlife in the U.S. Study (N = 1,810 aged 60-84; M = 69.12, SD = 6.47) as well as cross-sectional data from the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement (N = 17,087, aged 60-99; M = 70.19, SD = 7.53). Using latent change-regression models and locally weighted smoothing curves revealed that optimism is on average very stable after age 60, with some evidence in Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement of lowered optimism in very old age. Consistent across the three independent studies, pessimism evinced on average modest increases, ranging between .25 and .50 SD per 10 years of age. Of the sociodemographic factors examined, higher levels of education revealed the most consistent associations with lower pessimism, whereas gender evinced more study-specific findings. We take our results to demonstrate that age-related trajectories and correlates thereof differ for optimism and pessimism. Older adults appear to preserve into older ages those levels of optimistic expectations they have had at 60 years of age and show only modest increases in pessimism. We discuss possible reasons for these findings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Hair cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone and their associations with optimism and pessimism in older people.

The cumulative negative effects of prolonged Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis (HPA axis) activation are associated with several age-related diseases. Some psychological traits such as optimism and pessimism have been shown to be related to both health and the stress response, although their relationship with the HPA axis is inconclusive. More stable HPA axis biomarkers, such as hair samples of cortisol (HC) and dehydroepiandrosterone (HDHEA), would help to clarify the association between these psychological traits and HPA axis functioning. The main aim of this study was to test the relationships between optimism and pessimism and chronic stress biomarkers measured in hair (HC and HDHEA). Additionally, a secondary objective was to explore sex differences in HC and HDHEA levels and their relationship with these psychological traits. We measured optimism, pessimism, and their combination (dispositional optimism) using the Life Orientation Test Revised (LOT-R) and chronic stress biomarkers (HC and HDHEA) in 119 healthy participants (46 men and 73 women) between 56 and 81 years old who belonged to a university program. Regression analyses controlling for perceived stress and BMI indicated that higher dispositional optimism was related to lower HC and HC:HDHEAratio (ß = -0.256, p = .008 and ß = -0.300, p = .002, respectively). More specifically, higher pessimism was related to higher HC (ß = 0.235; p = .012) and HC:HDHEAratio (ß = 0.240; p = .011), whereas higher optimism was associated with a lower HC:HDHEAratio(ß = -0.205; p = .031). Moderation analyses showed no sex differences. To date, this is the first study to investigate the link between these traits and HC and HDHEA in older people. Our results confirm that positive and negative expectations about the future (i.e. optimism and pessimism) may play an important role in health due to their relationship with the HPA axis. They also strengthen the idea that the negative effects of pessimism have a greater weight than the protective effects of optimism in their relationship with HPA axis regulation.

The relationship between perfectionism and interpersonal sensitivity with self-compassion in university students: the mediation of repetitive negative thinking.

Self-compassion is a construct of positive psychology related to personality and cognitive factors. Perfectionism and interpersonal sensitivity are prevalent personality traits among university students and are associated with low self-compassion. Further research is required to comprehend how these mechanisms work in creating self-compassion. Consequently, the current study investigated the direct and indirect relationship between perfectionism and interpersonal sensitivity with self-compassion via repetitive negative thinking. To this end, a sample of 450 students studying in Tehran during the 2022 academic year was selected as the study sample. The results indicated that perfectionism and interpersonal sensitivity demonstrate a negative direct relationship with self-compassion, while perfectionism and interpersonal sensitivity exhibit an indirect relationship with self-compassion via repetitive negative thinking. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that the relationship between perfectionism and interpersonal sensitivity with self-compassion is not straightforward and that repetitive negative thinking can mediate this relationship. The results can be used to improve methods for increasing self-compassion and paying attention to personality, and cognitive factors can be an important step toward more effective self-compassion interventions.

Hard to let it go: repetitive negative thinking and hoarding in later life in Japan.

Objectives: Hoarding in older adults can have a detrimental effect on daily life. Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) could result in a greater avoidance of discarding and increased saving behaviors; yet, the unique role of RNT on hoarding in older adults remains understudied. This study aimed to investigate whether the intensity of RNT contributes to hoarding in older adults. Methods: Two hundred and sixty-four older adults in Japan (ages 65-86 years, 132 males and 132 females) participated in an online survey. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine whether RNT could significantly explain the variance of hoarding after controlling for age, sex, years of education, self-reported cognitive impairment, and depression. Results: As we expected, RNT was significantly associated with greater hoarding behaviors, such as excessive acquisition (ß = .27, p = .005) and difficulty in discarding (ß = .27, p = .003). On the other hand, reflection, repetitive thinking without negative emotional valence, was significantly associated with higher scores on clutter (ß = .36 p < .001). Conclusion: Our findings highlight the importance of addressing RNT in the prevention and treatment of hoarding symptoms among older adults, potentially leading to more effective interventions and improved outcomes in managing hoarding behaviors in this population.