Investigating the role of self-disgust in nonsuicidal self-injury.

Self-directed disgust, a component of self-criticism, may present an important, yet unexplored emotion in the context of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). The aim of this study was to examine the role of self-disgust in NSSI, specifically as a potential mediator in the relations between depression and NSSI as well as sexual abuse and NSSI, and to also better understand characteristics that might differentiate recent and past self-injurers. A total of 549 college students completed measures assessing NSSI, self-disgust, depression, anxiety sensitivity, and physical and sexual abuse. Results indicated self-disgust fully mediated the relation between depressive symptoms and NSSI status and partially mediated the relation between sexual abuse and NSSI status. Additionally, compared to past self-injurers (4.6%; n = 25), recent self-injurers (6.4%; n = 35) endorsed significantly higher self-disgust and depressive symptoms. Self-disgust may be an important component in NSSI and should be addressed in treatment.

The role of perceived belongingness to a drug subculture among opioid-dependent patients.

Illicit drug use frequently occurs in a context of a drug subculture characterized by social ties with other drug users, feelings of excitement and effectiveness deriving from illicit activities, and alienation from mainstream society. Identification with this subculture is recognized anecdotally as a barrier to recovery, but clear quantification of individual differences in perceived belongingness to the drug subculture has been absent from the literature. The purpose of this study was to describe the development and psychometric properties of a brief self-report measure designed to assess this construct, the Belongingness to Drug Culture Questionnaire (BDCQ). Ninety-six opioid-dependent, methadone-maintained participants completed the BDCQ, related self-report measures, and assessment of drug use patterns. The BDCQ demonstrated high internal consistency (α = .88) and was significantly associated with self-reported days of drug use in the past 30 days, desire to quit, impulsivity, psychopathy, and social, enhancement, and coping drug use motives. These findings encourage continued psychometric evaluation of the BDCQ and study of the role of belongingness in the development and maintenance of substance use disorders.

The association between affect amplification and urgency.

BACKGROUND: Individuals lacking effective coping skills to manage aversive affective states are more likely to behave impulsively despite harmful long-term consequences. Urgency or the propensity to act rashly in response to negative affect is associated with a host of maladaptive behaviors. However, relatively little research has evaluated the impact of affective variables--such as emotion regulation--on urgency. Moreover, the role of urgency has not been examined in populations with mood and anxiety disorders, a group for whom maladaptive coping and avoidance behaviors are common responses to heightened affect. This study evaluated the association between urgency and three variables associated with the amplification of affect (anxiety sensitivity (AS), access to emotion regulation strategies, and distress intolerance). METHODS: Data were collected from an unselected community sample (n = 297) and a clinical sample with a mood and/or anxiety disorder (n = 99). RESULTS: Results from a linear regression indicated significant associations between both distress intolerance and emotion regulation strategies and urgency. AS was significantly associated with urgency when considered alone, but did not remain significant when considered in the context of an alternative measure of distress intolerance and emotion regulation. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that intolerance of distressing states and lack access to a repertoire of emotion regulation strategies are strongly associated with acting impulsively in response to negative affect. Treatment implications and future research directions are discussed.

The effects of prior cognitive control task exposure on responses to emotional tasks in healthy participants.

BACKGROUND: Recent advances have been made in the application of cognitive training strategies as interventions for mental disorders. One novel approach, cognitive control training (CCT), uses computer-based exercises to chronically increase prefrontal cortex recruitment. Activation of prefrontal control mechanisms have specifically been identified with attenuation of emotional responses. However, it is unclear whether recruitment of prefrontal resources alone is operative in this regard, or whether prefrontal control is important only in the role of explicit emotion regulation. This study examined whether exposure to cognitive tasks before an emotional challenge attenuated the effects of the emotional challenge. AIMS: We investigated whether a single training session could alter participants' reactivity to subsequent emotional stimuli on two computer-based tasks as well as affect ratings made during the study. We hypothesized that individuals performing the Cognitive Control (CC) task as compared to those performing the Peripheral Vision (PV) comparison task would (1) report reduced negative affect following the mood induction and the emotion task, and (2) exhibit reduced reactivity (defined by lower affective ratings) to negative stimuli during both the reactivity and recovery phases of the emotion task and (3) show a reduced bias towards threatening information. METHOD: Fifty-nine healthy participants were randomized to complete CC tasks or PV, underwent a negative mood induction, and then made valence and arousal ratings for IAPS images, and completed an assessment of attentional bias. RESULTS: RESULTS indicated that a single-session of CC did not consistently alter participants' responses to either task. However, performance on the CC tasks was correlated on subsequent ratings of emotional images. CONCLUSIONS: While overall these results do not support the idea that affective responding is altered by making healthy volunteers use their prefrontal cortex before the affective task, they are discussed in the context of study design issues and future research directions.