Autonomic reactivity during acute social stress: exploratory investigation of an interaction by threat interpretation bias and emotion regulation difficulties.

Objective: This preliminary study examined the interactive influences of interpretation bias and emotion dysregulation in predicting autonomic stress response.Methods: Participants (N = 72 college students; ages 18-25, 70% female, 47% Hispanic/Latinx), completed a performance-based assessment of threat interpretation bias and self-report measures of emotion regulation difficulties. Electrodermal activity (EDA; skin conductance level) was collected while participants completed a standardized psychosocial stressor task.Results: Interpretation bias and emotion regulation difficulties interacted to predict EDA trajectories (ß = 0.054, SE = .001, CI:.007, .002, p < .001) during acute stress: presence of either interpretation bias toward threat (ß = 6.950, SE = 2.826, CI: 1.407, 12.488, p = .013) or emotion regulation difficulties (ß = 9.387, SE = 3.685, CI: 2.141, 16.636, p = .011) was associated with greater reactivity and poorer recovery; presence of both was associated with the lowest resting state EDA and blunted reactivity (ß = 1.340, SE = 3.085, CI: -4.721, 7.407, p = .66).Conclusions: Preliminary findings support interpretation bias and emotion regulation difficulties, and their distinct interactive patterns, as predictors of autonomic reactivity trajectories during stress. Interpretation bias modification and emotion regulation skills may be important intervention targets for common psychological conditions that are influenced by aberrant psychophysiological processes.

Stress overload in first-generation college students: Implications for intervention.

First-generation college students (FGCS), those whose parents never obtained a baccalaureate, are disadvantaged relative to continuing generation college students (CGCS) in regard to academic performance and health status. The literature documents myriad challenges facing FGCS, in the form of both adjustment demands and limited resources. Stress overload, the pathogenic form of stress, occurs when demands overwhelm coping resources. Its relevance to the plight of FGCS, as well as its established link to dysfunction in other college populations, prompted the present hypotheses: Stress overload (a) would be more prevalent among FGCS than CGCS and (b) could thereby explain their academic and health disparities. Public-university students (n = 593) completed an anonymous online survey assessing stress overload, somatic symptoms, and grades. Analyses of variance (ANOVAs) showed FGCS (n = 366) to report more stress overload than CGCS, even after controlling for specific confounds, as well as lower grades and marginally more symptoms. Path analyses yielded a best-fitting model that showed stress overload to mediate the association between generational status (FGCS vs. CGCS) and grade and symptom levels. In sum, stress-overload maps onto the circumstances of FGCS, provides a common denominator to their myriad challenges, and offers a mechanism to explain their academic performance and health issues. This suggests the utility of stress overload as a screening tool and as a primary focus for therapeutic intervention with FGCS. These implications, the study's limitations, and the need for future research to probe the role of stress overload in the FGCS college experience are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The Effect of Training on Participant Adherence With a Reporting Time Frame for Momentary Subjective Experiences in Ecological Momentary Assessment: Cognitive Interview Study.

BACKGROUND: Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) has the potential to minimize recall bias by having people report on their experiences in the moment (momentary model) or over short periods (coverage model). This potential hinges on the assumption that participants provide their ratings based on the reporting time frame instructions prescribed in the EMA items. However, it is unclear what time frames participants actually use when answering the EMA questions and whether participant training improves participants' adherence to the reporting instructions. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the reporting time frames participants used when answering EMA questions and whether participant training improves participants' adherence to the EMA reporting timeframe instructions. METHODS: Telephone-based cognitive interviews were used to investigate the research questions. In a 2×2 factorial design, participants (n=100) were assigned to receive either basic or enhanced EMA training and randomized to rate their experiences using a momentary (at the moment you were called) or a coverage (since the last phone call) model. Participants received five calls over the course of a day to provide ratings; after each rating, participants were immediately interviewed about the time frame they used to answer the EMA questions. A total of 2 raters independently coded the momentary interview responses into time frame categories (Cohen κ=0.64, 95% CI 0.55-0.73). RESULTS: The results from the momentary conditions showed that most of the calls referred to the period during the call (57/199, 28.6%) or just before the call (98/199, 49.2%) to provide ratings; the remainder were from longer reporting periods. Multinomial logistic regression results indicated a significant training effect (χ21=16.6; P<.001) in which the enhanced training condition yielded more reports within the intended reporting time frames for momentary EMA reports. Cognitive interview data from the coverage model did not lend themselves to reliable coding and were not analyzed. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study provide the first evidence about adherence to EMA instructions to reporting periods and that enhanced participant training improves adherence to the time frame specified in momentary EMA studies.

Stress overload and the new nightmare for Dreamers.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if, following threats to DACA policies, Dreamer college students experienced greater stress overload, more symptoms, and worse grades than their classmates. Participants: Students (n = 424) from a large public university, including Dreamers (n = 64), participated between March 2017 and June 2018. Methods: Students completed an anonymous online survey containing self-report measures of stress overload, symptoms, grades, and background characteristics. Results: Dreamers reported significantly higher levels of stress overload than did other students, including minorities and immigrants. Dreamers reported more somatic symptoms but not lower grades than other students-outcomes mediated, wholly or partially, by stress overload. Conclusion: Findings document the health toll of current politics on Dreamers, and indicate disproportionate stress overload as a reason. They also attest to Dreamer "grit" in maintaining grades nevertheless. Implications include the need for proactive support by universities and broader social policy change to restore well-being to these students.

Near-peer Mentoring in an Undergraduate Research Training Program at a Large Master's Comprehensive Institution: The Case of CSULB BUILD.

The California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) BUILDing Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) program developed a near-peer mentoring component in which master's students serve as mentors for undergraduate research trainees in health-related disciplines, in addition to fulfilling teaching assistant duties. This paper has two parts. The first describes (a) the functions of this mentoring component, taking into consideration the context of CSULB; (b) the extensive year-round training curriculum for near-peer mentors; and (c) the evolution of this curriculum in response to feedback from BUILD trainees, near-peer mentors, and undergraduate research training instructors. The second part evaluates the effectiveness of the near-peer mentoring component, based on focus groups and quantitative surveys of both near-peer mentors and mentees. We offer recommendations for master's comprehensive research institutions interested in implementing near-peer mentoring within similar research training programs.

HDlive and HD-flow images of early-stage nonhydropic mole.

We present our first experience of constructing an image of an early-stage complete hydatidiform mole employing HDlive. Conventional 2D sonography showed massive, lobulated, and mixed masses and intrauterine anechoic fluid collection. Smooth, lobulated masses were clearly recognized using HDlive. Small, irregular, cystic spaces inside the masses were also evident. HDlive provided anatomically realistic features akin to macroscopic specimens for physicians and pathologists, owing to the complete depiction of the inner surface of an early-stage nonhydropic mole.

HDlive imaging of fetal enteric duplication cyst.

Enteric duplication cysts are rare congenital anomalies, but their antenatal diagnosis is becoming more common because of advances in ultrasonography. With the latest state-of-the-art technology, HDlive facilitates a more realistic anatomical visualization of different fetal organ structures, making diagnosis more precise. We present a case of antenatal HDlive imaging of an enteric duplication cyst. A 26-year-old pregnant Japanese woman was referred to our ultrasound clinic because of a fetal intra-abdominal cyst at 27 weeks of gestation. Two-dimensional (2D) ultrasound revealed a sonolucent, ellipsoid structure in the subhepatic area. Magnetic resonance imaging yielded the same findings. However, irregular internal echoes appeared at 33 weeks of gestation. There was no vascularity on color Doppler. HDlive clearly depicted a more realistic image of the circular mass, which was thick walled, with a large amount of debris inside, and showed no communication with adjacent structures. Careful monitoring was conducted for these unusual findings. A day after delivery, an emergency operation was performed because the infant had sudden signs and symptoms of obstruction. Intra-operative findings were ileus and a necrotic ileal duplication cyst confirmed by histopathologic studies. Complications of enteric duplication cyst can arise at any time of life, and so thorough monitoring may be recommended. The findings of irregular internal echoes and a large amount of debris inside the cyst are relatively characteristic features of a complicated cyst. HDlive gives us additional information on the actual appearance of a complicated cyst that may be difficult to obtain using conventional 2D sonography alone. HDlive can be very useful in the antenatal surveillance of enteric duplication cysts.