How personality functioning relates to psychological distress and behavioral attitudes during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Functional aspects of personality are crucial for experiencing and handling emotional distress. With the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus and the subsequent installation of mitigation rules of social distancing, severe psycho-social challenges were posed upon people. Research has shown that individuals react differently to these challenges. This study aimed to investigate the role of dimensional aspects of personality during the Covid-19 pandemic. Specifically, we examined how personality functioning, defense mechanisms, and narcissism were related to psychological distress and cognitive and behavioral attitudes towards the rules of social distancing. In a non-clinical sample (N = 254), Level of Personality Functioning Scale, Inventory of Personality Organization, Defense Style Questionnaire, Pathological Narcissism Inventory, and three single questions regarding emotional distress and behavioral attitudes towards the pandemic were used. Structural equation models with reference and residual factors were calculated. Impairments in personality functioning and vulnerable narcissism showed significant positive relationships, adaptive defense mechanisms significant negative relationships with psychological distress during the pandemic. Residual factors for aggression and low moral values showed distinct negative relationships with psychological distress related to social distancing. Among individuals who chose to ignore the rules of social distancing, greater impairment in personality organization was found. Personality functioning may elucidate individual differences in psychological distress and compliance with the mitigation rules during the pandemic. Limitations of measures are carefully considered in all interpretations.

Location-scale modeling as an integrative approach to symptom dynamics during psychotherapy: An illustration with depressive symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: Depressive symptom dynamics, including change trajectories and symptom variability, have been related to therapy outcomes. However, such dynamics have often been examined separately and related to outcomes of interest using two-step analyses, which are characterized by several limitations. Here, we show how to overcome these limitations using location-scale models in a dynamic structural equation modeling framework. METHOD: We introduce location-scale modeling in an accessible manner to pave the way for its use in research integrating within-person dynamics and intervention-related change in psychopathology, and we illustrate this modeling approach in a large-scale internet-based intervention for depression (N = 1,656). Using eight data points sampled across about 8 weeks, we predicted improvement across the intervention (50% symptom reduction) as a function of early change and symptom variability. RESULTS: Early symptom change was associated with a more likely improvement across therapy. Variability of symptoms beyond change trajectories during the intervention was associated with less likely improvement. CONCLUSIONS: Location-scale models, and dynamic structural equation modeling more generally, are well suited to modeling how patterns of symptom change during psychotherapy are related to important (e.g., therapy) outcomes. Our illustrative application of location-scale modeling showed that symptom variability was associated with less overall improvement in depressive symptoms. However, this finding requires replication with more intensive sampling of symptoms before final conclusions can be drawn on when and how to distinguish maladaptive from adaptive variability during psychotherapy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Sequencing effects of behavioral activation and cognitive restructuring in an Internet-based intervention for depressed adults are negligible: Results from a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: Applying elements of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in internet-based interventions (IBIs) is effective in treating depression. However, CBT-based IBIs differ in which kind of components are applied and the order of their application. Furthermore, it is as yet unknown whether such sequencing matters. Using an IBI for depression, we examined whether the sequence of two major CBT components, behavioral activation (BA) and cognitive restructuring (CR), affect patterns of symptom changes and dropout rates. METHOD: Individuals with moderate to mild depressive symptoms (N = 2,304, 59% female) were randomly assigned to two groups: one group that received BA in Modules 2 and 3 and CR in Modules 4 and 5, and another group with the opposite sequence. The component contents were identical. We investigated group differences in dropout rates, symptom changes, and change trajectories across the intervention. RESULTS: The groups had similar dropout rates and showed similar changes pre- to postassessment, and from pre- to 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up assessments. Between-group differences were small enough to be considered equivalent. Three classes of change trajectories emerged in both groups, but they did not differ in shape or size and did not show diverging associations with person-level characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that the sequence of the CBT components BA and CR in IBIs for depression does, on average, not systematically impact how individuals change during and after participation, which provides flexibility in designing CBT-based interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

On the Meaning of the "P Factor" in Symmetrical Bifactor Models of Psychopathology: Recommendations for Future Research From the Bifactor-(S-1) Perspective.

Symmetrical bifactor models are frequently applied to diverse symptoms of psychopathology to identify a general P factor. This factor is assumed to mark shared liability across all psychopathology dimensions and mental disorders. Despite their popularity, however, symmetrical bifactor models of P often yield anomalous results, including but not limited to nonsignificant or negative specific factor variances and nonsignificant or negative factor loadings. To date, these anomalies have often been treated as nuisances to be explained away. In this article, we demonstrate why these anomalies alter the substantive meaning of P such that it (a) does not reflect general liability to psychopathology and (b) differs in meaning across studies. We then describe an alternative modeling framework, the bifactor-(S-1) approach. This method avoids anomalous results, provides a framework for explaining unexpected findings in published symmetrical bifactor studies, and yields a well-defined general factor that can be compared across studies when researchers hypothesize what construct they consider "transdiagnostically meaningful" and measure it directly. We present an empirical example to illustrate these points and provide concrete recommendations to help researchers decide for or against specific variants of bifactor structure.

Attentional bias in German Armed Forces veterans with and without posttraumatic stress symptoms - An eye-tracking investigation and group comparison.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Most eye tracking based paradigms evidence patterns of sustained attention on threat coupled with low evidence for vigilance to or avoidance of threat in posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Still, eye tracking data on attention bias is particularly limited for military population. This eye tracking study investigated attentional bias in PTSS in a sample of German Armed Forces veterans. METHODS: Veterans with deployment-related PTSS (N = 24), veterans with deployment-related traumatization without PTSS (N = 28), and never-deployed healthy veterans (N = 18) were presented with pairs of combat and neutral pictures, pairs of general threat and neutral pictures, and pairs of emotional and neutral faces. Their eye gazes were tracked during a free viewing task. 3 x 3 x 2 mixed general linear model analyses were conducted. Internal consistency of attention bias indicators was calculated for the entire sample and within groups. RESULTS: Veterans with PTSS dwelled longer on general threat AOIs in contrast to non-exposed controls and shorter on general threat and combat associated neutral AOIs in contrast to both control groups. Veterans with PTSS entered faster to general threat AOIs than non-exposed controls. Veterans with PTSS showed circumscribed higher attention fluctuation in contrast to controls. Internal consistency varied across attention bias indicators. LIMITATIONS: Statistical power was reduced due to recruitment difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence is provided for the maintenance hypothesis in PTSS. No robust evidence is provided for hypervigilant behavior in PTSS. Findings on attention bias variability remain unclear, calling for more investigations in this field.

It's Not That Great Anymore: The Central Role of Defense Mechanisms in Grandiose and Vulnerable Narcissism.

Objectives: The concept of narcissism contains a yet unresolved paradox: Its grandiose facet depicts the psychopathological core but is often associated with life-satisfaction and overall functioning, whereas its vulnerable facet is associated with psychological distress, but still not included in the international classification systems. Our goal was to investigate the relationship between the two facets of narcissism expecting underlying defense mechanisms to be core elements. First, we aimed to identify defense mechanisms specific to grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Second, we explored how both facets are differentially associated with psychological distress, assuming that grandiose narcissism would be associated with less psychological distress than vulnerable narcissism. Third, we investigated the mediating role of defense mechanisms between narcissism and psychological distress. Methods: In a non-clinical sample of N = 254 individuals, the Pathological Narcissism Inventory was used for the assessment of grandiose and vulnerable facets of narcissism, the Defense Style Questionnaire for defense mechanisms, and the Brief Symptom Inventory for psychological distress. Structural equation modeling was employed to identify distinct factors of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Associations between specific defense mechanisms and both facets were calculated. Furthermore, the direct association between both facets and psychological distress was examined. We finally explored whether defense mechanisms mediate the association between distress and both grandiose and vulnerable narcissism. Results: A distinct pattern of defense mechanisms for each facet of narcissism could be extracted: Both facets showed significant positive correlations with specific intermediate and all maladaptive defense mechanisms. Only grandiose narcissism showed significant positive correlations with adaptive defenses. Vulnerable narcissism showed negative correlations with all adaptive defenses. Specifically, grandiose narcissism was significantly related to anticipation, pseudo-altruism, rationalization, and dissociation, whereas vulnerable narcissism was negatively related to all these defense mechanisms. While grandiose narcissism was not related to psychological distress, vulnerable narcissism showed high correlations with psychological distress. Intriguingly, mediator analysis found that grandiose narcissism was related to psychological distress when mediated by maladaptive defense mechanisms. Discussion: The role of defense mechanisms is central for a differentiated understanding of the two different faces of narcissism. The relevance of assessing defense mechanisms in clinical settings, and related empirical findings are discussed.

Analyzing Stability and Change in Dyadic Attachment: The Multi-Rater Latent State-Trait Model With Autoregressive Effects.

Previous research suggests that parental attachment is stable throughout emerging adulthood. However, the relationships between the mutual attachments in the dyads of emerging adults and their parents are still unclear. Our study examines the stability and change in dyadic attachment. We asked 574 emerging adults and 463 parents at four occasions over 1 year about their mutual attachments. We used a latent state-trait model with autoregressive effects to estimate the time consistency of the attachments. Attachment was very stable, and earlier measurement occasions could explain more than 60% of the reliable variance. Changes of attachment over time showed an accumulation of situational effects for emerging adults but not for their parents. We estimated the correlations of the mutual attachments over time using a novel multi-rater latent state-trait model with autoregressive effects. This model showed that the mutual attachments of parents and emerging adults were moderately to highly correlated. Our model allows to separate the stable attachment from the changing attachment. The correlations between the mutual attachments were higher for the stable elements of attachment than for the changing elements of attachment. Emerging adults and their parents share a stable mutual attachment, but they do not share the changes in their respective attachments.

How individuals change during internet-based interventions for depression: A randomized controlled trial comparing standardized and individualized feedback.

BACKGROUND: Standardized and individualized Internet-based interventions (IBI) for depression yield significant symptom improvements. However, change patterns during standardized or individualized IBI are unknown. Identifying subgroups that experience different symptom courses during IBI and their characteristics is vital for improving response. METHODS: Mildly to moderately depressed individuals according to self-report (N = 1,089) were randomized to receive module-wise feedback that was either standardized or individualized by a counselor within an otherwise identical cognitive-behavioral IBI for depression (seven modules over six weeks). Depressive symptoms were assessed at baseline and before each module (Patient Health Questionnaire; PHQ-9). Other individual characteristics (self-report) and the presence of an affective disorder (structured clinical interview) were assessed at baseline. Growth mixture modeling was used to identify and compare subgroups with discernable change patterns and associated client variables across conditions. RESULTS: Model comparisons suggest equal change patterns in both conditions. Across conditions, a group of immediate (62.5%) and a group of delayed improvers (37.5%) were identified. Immediate improvers decreased their PHQ-9 score by 5.5 points from pre to post, with 33% of improvement occurring before treatment commenced. Delayed improvers were characterized by stable symptom severity during the first two modules and smaller overall symptom decrease (3.4 points). Higher treatment expectations, a current major depressive disorder (interview), and lower social support were associated with delayed improvement. CONCLUSION: Internet-based interventions for depression with individualized and with standardized feedback lead to comparable patterns of change. Expectation management and bolstering of social support are promising strategies for individuals that are at risk for delayed improvement.

Explaining general and specific factors in longitudinal, multimethod, and bifactor models: Some caveats and recommendations.

An increasing number of psychological studies are devoted to the analysis of g-factor structures. One key purpose of applying g-factor models is to identify predictors or potential causes of the general and specific effects. Typically, researchers relate predictor variables directly to the general and specific factors using a classical mimic approach. However, this procedure bears some methodological challenges, which often lead to model misspecification and biased parameter estimates. We propose 2 possible modeling strategies to circumvent these problems: the multiconstruct bifactor and the residual approach. We illustrate both modeling approaches for the application of g-factor models to longitudinal and multitrait-multimethod data. Practical guidelines are provided for choosing an appropriate method in empirical applications, and the implications of this investigation for multimethod and longitudinal research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Bayesian analysis of longitudinal multitrait-multimethod data with ordinal response variables.

A new multilevel latent state graded response model for longitudinal multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) measurement designs combining structurally different and interchangeable methods is proposed. The model allows researchers to examine construct validity over time and to study the change and stability of constructs and method effects based on ordinal response variables. We show how Bayesian estimation techniques can address a number of important issues that typically arise in longitudinal multilevel MTMM studies and facilitates the estimation of the model presented. Estimation accuracy and the impact of between- and within-level sample sizes as well as different prior specifications on parameter recovery were investigated in a Monte Carlo simulation study. Findings indicate that the parameters of the model presented can be accurately estimated with Bayesian estimation methods in the case of low convergent validity with as few as 250 clusters and more than two observations within each cluster. The model was applied to well-being data from a longitudinal MTMM study, assessing the change and stability of life satisfaction and subjective happiness in young adults after high-school graduation. Guidelines for empirical applications are provided and advantages and limitations of a Bayesian approach to estimating longitudinal multilevel MTMM models are discussed.