The Development of the Attachment Defenses Questionnaire (ADQ-50): A Preliminary Examination of Reliability, Validity, and Factor Structure.

This paper marks the initial phase in the development of the Attachment Defenses Questionnaire (ADQ-50), a self-report tool crafted to assess defense mechanisms associated with attachment processes, catering to both clinical and research contexts. Anchored in the theoretical framework of attachment theory, the ADQ posits that an individual's internalized attachment style plays a influential role in predicting their defense mechanisms. The paper outlines the comprehensive development and refinement process of the ADQ-50. In Study 1 a preliminary 176-item version of the ADQ was examined. Data was collected online drawing from participants sourced from Prolific and undergraduate students (N = 1994). Study 2 further refined the ADQ, evaluating its initial convergent validity with a diverse participant pool (N = 726), including undergraduates, Prolific contributors, general practice medical patients, and individuals from social media. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a robust ten-factor structure, resulting in a 50-item scale aligning with theoretical expectations and demonstrating good psychometric properties. Findings, limitations, strengths and future research directions are discussed. We posit that the ADQ holds great potential to deepen our comprehension of defense mechanisms linked to attachment, with wide-ranging implications for clinical practices.

Does ASMR propensity reflect a mentally flexible mindset? Exploring the relationship between ASMR propensity, transliminality, emotional contagion, schizotypal traits, roleplaying ability, and creativity.

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is an alternative state of consciousness characterised by changes in affect, feelings of relaxation, and tingling sensations on the body. Online videos designed to stimulate ASMR in viewers have become increasingly popular. Although there is evidence that ASMR may improve sleep, emotion regulation, and relaxation, the current understanding of ASMR propensity remains limited. This study examined whether a mentally flexible cognitive style may underlie the ability to experience ASMR. Undergraduate students (N = 376) completed an online survey involving a series of self-report questionnaires and two performance-based creative ability tasks. Findings did not provide support for an overall mentally flexible mindset, however, transliminality, emotional contagion susceptibility, positive schizotypal traits, and roleplaying ability all significantly positively predicted ASMR propensity. These findings suggest that ASMR propensity represents several possible underlying cognitive styles relating to enhanced imagination and perceptual ability, and cannot be simply characterised by mental flexibility.

The association between gut-health promoting diet and depression: A mediation analysis.

BACKGROUND: Recent research has highlighted the relevance of a gut-health promoting diet as a possible treatment and prevention for depression. A dietary pattern with consumption of fermented food and high consumption of dietary fiber can promote gut health, physical health, and might even improve mental health. This study aimed to investigate the interrelationship among diet, physical health, and depression. METHODS: This study used a nationally representative sample (N = 16,572) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2011-2018). Dietary information was collected by dietary recall interviews. Depression was assessed by the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire. Subjective physical health was indicated by self-reported Body Mass Index (BMI). Objective physical health was indicated by BMI measured by trained health technicians. Path analysis was used to test the association between diet and depression, and the mediating roles of self-reported BMI and BMI measured by technicians. RESULTS: Consumption of probiotic foods and higher intake of fiber were significantly associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms. Both subjective and objective physical health significantly mediated the relationship between variables of diet and mild depressive symptoms. Subjective physical health also significantly mediated the relationship between high intake of dietary fiber and lower likelihood of reporting severe depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: Despite being cross-sectional in nature, this study presented evidence that gut-health promoting diets may reduce depressive symptoms through improving physical health. These findings provide preliminary support to diet programs for preventing depression and diet programs as an alternative or supplementary treatment of depression.

Corrigendum: Reduced Glutamate in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Is Associated With Emotional and Cognitive Dysregulation in People With Chronic Pain.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2019.01110.].

Chinese versions of the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire: Psychometric properties, measurement invariance across gender and cultures.

Associations between unmet interpersonal needs and different aspects of suicide have been observed in both Western and non-Western cultures using the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (INQ). However, measurement invariance is a prerequisite for comparing differences between culturally different groups, and to date, no studies have examined measurement invariance of INQ across cultures. This study aimed to (a) validate Chinese versions of the INQ, (b) assess measurement invariance across gender for the Chinese INQ, (c) assess measurement invariance across Australian and Chinese cultures for the INQ, and (d) comprehensively assess the association of interpersonal needs with suicide ideation. A sample of 469 Australian undergraduates and a sample of 854 Chinese undergraduates were used in this study. For testing measurement invariance across gender, the sample of Chinese undergraduates was split by gender into the Chinese male and Chinese female samples. Five versions of INQ (10-, 12-, 15-, 18- and 25-item) were tested. The 10- and 15-item Chinese INQ demonstrated adequate psychometric properties through various analyses (i.e., reliability, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling) and also demonstrated measurement invariance across gender via multigroup confirmatory factor analysis. The 10-item INQ demonstrated measurement invariance across Australian and Chinese cultures. Of the two interpersonal factors, only perceived burdensomeness was significantly associated with suicide ideation. Multigroup structural equation modeling demonstrated that perceived burdensomeness may be a greater risk factor of suicide among Australian undergraduates than among Chinese undergraduates. Practical and theoretical contributions of this study are discussed.

Predicting Suicidal Behavior Without Asking About Suicidal Ideation: Machine Learning and the Role of Borderline Personality Disorder Criteria.

OBJECTIVE: Identifying predictors contributing to suicide risk could help prevent suicides via targeted interventions. However, using only known risk factors may not yield accurate enough results. Furthermore, risk models typically rely on suicidal ideation, even though people often withhold this information. METHOD: This study examined the contribution of various predictors to the accuracy of six machine learning models for identifying suicidal behavior in a prison population (n = 353), including borderline personality disorder (BPD) and antisocial personality disorder (APD) criteria, and compared how excluding data about suicidal ideation affects accuracy. RESULTS: Results revealed that gradient tree boosting accurately identified individuals with suicidal behavior, even without relying on questions about suicidal ideation (AUC = 0.875, F1 = 0.846). Furthermore, the model maintained this accuracy with only 29 predictors. Meeting five or more diagnostic criteria of BPD was an important risk factor for suicidal behavior. APD criteria, in the presence of other predictors, did not substantially improve accuracy. Additionally, it may be possible to implement a decision tree model to assess individuals at risk of suicide, without focusing upon suicidal ideation. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight that modern classification algorithms do not necessarily require information about suicidal ideation for modeling suicide and self-harm behavior.

A mixed-methods examination of autonomous sensory meridian response: Comparison to frisson.

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a pleasurable, head-oriented tingling sensation, typically induced by exposure to audiovisual triggers, producing feelings of relaxation and euphoria. This article explores the induction of ASMR experiences in a laboratory setting amongst non-specialised participants, as well as the relationship between ASMR and frisson, or 'musical chills'. In previous work, the ASMR-15 was found to be a reliable measure of ASMR propensity, however, the predictive validity of the measure has yet to be determined. The aim of this study was to assess whether ASMR-15 scores predict greater ASMR induction in an experimental setting. To address this, N = 100 undergraduate psychology students completed the ASMR-15 and a measure of frisson, before viewing ASMR stimuli under controlled conditions. Mixed-methods analyses indicated the successful induction of ASMR amongst some participants, convergence between ASMR-15 scores and video ratings, as well as divergence between ASMR and frisson scores.

Reduced Glutamate in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Is Associated With Emotional and Cognitive Dysregulation in People With Chronic Pain.

A decrease in glutamate in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been extensively found in animal models of chronic pain. Given that the mPFC is implicated in emotional appraisal, cognition and extinction of fear, could a potential decrease in glutamate be associated with increased pessimistic thinking, fear and worry symptoms commonly found in people with chronic pain? To clarify this question, 19 chronic pain subjects and 19 age- and gender-matched control subjects without pain underwent magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Both groups also completed the Temperament and Character, the Beck Depression and the State Anxiety Inventories to measure levels of harm avoidance, depression, and anxiety, respectively. People with chronic pain had significantly higher scores in harm avoidance, depression and anxiety compared to control subjects without pain. High levels of harm avoidance are characterized by excessive worry, pessimism, fear, doubt and fatigue. Individuals with chronic pain showed a significant decrease in mPFC glutamate levels compared to control subjects without pain. In people with chronic pain mPFC glutamate levels were significantly negatively correlated with harm avoidance scores. This means that the lower the concentration of glutamate in the mPFC, the greater the total scores of harm avoidance. High scores are associated with fearfulness, pessimism, and fatigue-proneness. We suggest that chronic pain, particularly the stress-induced release of glucocorticoids, induces changes in glutamate transmission in the mPFC, thereby influencing cognitive, and emotional processing. Thus, in people with chronic pain, regulation of fear, worry, negative thinking and fatigue is impaired.

ISTDP and Its Contribution to the Understanding and Treatment of Psychotic Disorders.

In this article, we review Davanloo's metapsychology of the unconscious and how it can contribute to the current psychodynamic understanding and treatment of psychosis. In this framework, current attachment and emotions become connected with unconscious conflict-laden feelings about early attachment trauma at the core of the unconscious conflict. These conflict-laden feelings mobilize unconscious anxiety and defenses, which are alongside or, in and of themselves, constitute the entire picture of psychosis. Those patients with low emotional capacities are provided specific therapeutic techniques to bolster anxiety tolerance while those more defended patients are offered means to begin to accept and experience the feelings they have about present and past adverse experiences including those caused by psychosis itself. Case and case series research have shown this model to be clinically effective and cost effective as an adjunct to care. Case vignettes will describe the assessment of capacities and treatment frame for patients with a history of psychosis. Davanloo's metapsychology of the unconscious offers an important contribution to the current psychodynamic understanding of psychosis by considering the role of attachment, emotions and unconscious conflict and addressing these through specific psychodynamic interventions.

New evidence for a pain personality? A critical review of the last 120 years of pain and personality.

BACKGROUND: Personality traits may influence development and adjustment to ongoing pain. Over the past 120 years, there has been considerable research into the relationship between pain and personality. This paper presents new evidence for common personality traits found amongst chronic pain sufferers. In particular, it evaluates evidence for Cloninger's biopsychosocial model of personality in distinguishing typical personality features of chronic pain sufferers. It evaluates this evidence in the context of the past 120 years of research including psychodynamic formulations, MMPI studies, personality disorder investigations, and the influence of neuroticism on chronic pain. METHODS: A literature search was conducted using PubMed, Medline, PsycINFO, SCOPUS and Cochrane library. Search terms included chronic pain, pain, personality, neuroticism, harm avoidance, self-directedness, attachment, Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-R), MMPI, MMPI-2, NEO-PI, EPI, Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory, Millon Behavioral Health Inventory, Millon Behavioral Medicine Diagnostic, the Personality Assessment Inventory, the Locus of Control Construct and different combinations of these terms. CONCLUSIONS: Recent descriptive studies using Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-R) suggest that higher harm avoidance and lower self-directedness may be the most distinguishing personality features of chronic pain sufferers. High harm avoidance refers to a tendency to be fearful, pessimistic, sensitive to criticism, and requiring high levels of re-assurance. Low self-directedness often manifests as difficulty with defining and setting meaningful goals, low motivation, and problems with adaptive coping. Evidence for this personality profile is found across a wide variety of chronic pain conditions including fibromyalgia, headache and migraine, temporomandibular disorder, trigeminal neuropathy, musculo-skeletal disorders and heterogeneous pain groups. Limitations are also discussed. For example, high harm avoidance is also found in those suffering anxiety and depression. While many studies control for such factors, some do not and thus future research should address such confounds carefully. The evidence is also evaluated within the context of past research into the existence of 'a pain personality'. Psychodynamic formulations are found to be deficient in objective scientific methods. MMPI studies lack sufficient evidence to support 'a pain personality' and may be confounded by somatic items in the instrument. More recent neuroticism studies suggest a relationship between neuroticism and pain, particularly for adjustment to chronic pain. Personality disorders are more prevalent in chronic pain populations than non-pain samples. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Because harm avoidance reflects a tendency to developed conditioned fear responses, we suggest that higher harm avoidance may create more vulnerability to developing a fear-avoidance response to chronic pain. Furthermore, lower self-directedness may contribute to keeping a sufferer within this vicious cycle of fear, avoidance and suffering. Moreover, we suggest that harm avoidance and self-directedness are broader and more complex constructs than current clinical targets of CBT such as fear-avoidance and self-efficacy. Thus, assessing such personality traits may help to address the complexity of chronic pain presentations. For example, it may help to identify and treat sufferers more resistant to treatment, more prone to comorbidity and more vulnerable to entering the vicious cycle of chronic pain, suffering and disability.

On Dreams and Motivation: Comparison of Freud's and Hobson's Views.

The merits of Freudian dream theory continue to be debated and both supporters and critics appeal to empirical evidence to support their respective positions. What receives much less attention is the theoretical coherency of either Freudian dream theory or alternative perspectives. This paper examines Freudian dream theory and J. Allan Hobson's alternative position by addressing the role of motivation in dreams. This paper first discusses motivation in Freudian theory and its relation to dreams and disguise-censorship. The role of motivation in Hobson's theory is then considered. Hobson's claim that dream plot and content selection is random and based on design error and functional imbalance is then discussed in relation to the protoconsciousness theory proposal that dreams serve an adaptive function. While there are apparent inconsistencies in Hobson's position, his appeal to emotions and instincts provides a preliminary platform for understanding the role of motivation in dreams that is consonant with the Freudian position.

Ego, drives, and the dynamics of internal objects.

This paper addresses the relationship between the ego, id, and internal objects. While ego psychology views the ego as autonomous of the drives, a less well-known alternative position views the ego as constituted by the drives. Based on Freud's ego-instinct account, this position has developed into a school of thought which postulates that the drives act as knowers. Given that there are multiple drives, this position proposes that personality is constituted by multiple knowers. Following on from Freud, the ego is viewed as a composite sub-set of the instinctual drives (ego-drives), whereas those drives cut off from expression form the id. The nature of the "self" is developed in terms of identification and the possibility of multiple personalities is also established. This account is then extended to object-relations and the explanatory value of the ego-drive account is discussed in terms of the addressing the nature of ego-structures and the dynamic nature of internal objects. Finally, the impact of psychological conflict and the significance of repression for understanding the nature of splits within the psyche are also discussed.

How Important is Temperament? The Relationship Between Coping Styles, Early Maladaptive Schemas and Social Anxiety

Young’s Schema Theory provides a theoretical framework that relates temperament, coping styles and Early Maladaptive Schemas to social anxiety and Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). The current study explored the relationship between these variables in a sample of 360 non-clinical adults. Results indicated that individuals higher in social anxiety display higher levels of schemas themed around Disconnection and Rejection than individuals low in social anxiety. Temperament appears to influence the type of coping style some individuals adopt with more introverted individuals utilising more avoidant strategies. Nevertheless, neuroticism appears to have a stronger relationship with Disconnection and Rejection schemas than coping strategies linked to either avoiding or overcompensating for stressors. Path analysis was used to test three models of the data based on the relationships proposed by Young and colleagues. Results provide preliminary evidence that the impact of maladaptive schemas on coping strategies is stronger than the influence of coping strategies on such schemas. The implications of the findings for both theory and treatment concerning social anxiety and SAD are discussed, along with suggestions for future research (AU)

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Evolutionary and differential psychology: conceptual conflicts and the path to integration.

Evolutionary psychology has seen the majority of its success exploring adaptive features of the mind believed to be ubiquitous across our species. This has given rise to the belief that the adaptationist approach has little to offer the field of differential psychology, which concerns itself exclusively with the ways in which individuals systematically differ. By framing the historical origins of both disciplines, and exploring the means through which they each address the unique challenges of psychological description and explanation, the present article identifies the conceptual and theoretical problems that have kept differential psychology isolated not only from evolutionary psychology, but from explanatory approaches in general. Paying special attention to these conceptual problems, the authors review how these difficulties are being overcome by contemporary evolutionary research, and offer instructive suggestions concerning how differential researchers (and others) can best build upon these innovations.

Explanation in personality psychology: "Verbal magic" and the five-factor model.

Scientific psychology involves both identifying and classifying phenomena of interest (description) and revealing the causes and mechanisms that contribute towards these phenomena arising (explanation). Within personality psychology, some propose that aspects of behavior and cognition can be explained with reference to personality traits. However, certain conceptual and logical issues cast doubt upon the adequacy of traits as coherent explanatory constructs. This paper discusses "explanation" in psychology and the problems of circularity and reification. An analysis of relations and intrinsic properties is then developed to address the logical requirements necessary for circumventing these problems. An examination of McCrae and Costa's defense of traits as explanatory constructs, in terms of "tendencies" and "dispositions" highlights logical issues that prevent traits, so defined, from explaining trait-like behaviors and cognitions. The logical requirements for a coherent trait-explanatory account are outlined and possible explanatory directions in trait-approaches are discussed. The ongoing tendency towards fallacious reasoning in psychology and suggestions for preventing this are further examined.