Chronic contact with imidacloprid during development may decrease female solitary bee foraging ability and increase male competitive ability for mates.

Environmentally persistent xenobiotics, such as neonicotinoid insecticides, are thought to contribute to insect declines. Much of what is known about the non-target effects on bees comes from oral exposure in eusocial species. However, most bee species are solitary and nest below ground. For them, contaminated nesting resources may represent an important, yet understudied, route of exposure. We examined the effect of chronic contact exposure with realistic soil concentrations of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid (0, 7.5, 15, or 100 ppb) during immature development on adult locomotion (movement speed and distance) and brain development of the solitary bees Osmia lignaria and Megachile rotundata. Adult locomotion and mushroom body morphology were characterized 2 (females) or 4 (males) and 14 (both sexes) days after emergence. Unlike the 0 and 7.5 ppb groups, female O. lignaria treated with 15 and 100 ppb did not move faster with age. If movement speed is associated with foraging or nest-building ability, this could result in a 25% reduction in nest provisioning efficiency over the first 14 days. Young male M. rotundata moved more quickly (7.5 and 100 ppb) and farther (100 ppb) when treated with imidacloprid, potentially increasing their ability to compete for more receptive female bees. We did not detect an effect of imidacloprid on the relative volumes of the neuropil and Kenyon cell subregions. We discuss how an environmentally persistent xenobiotic has the potential to alter population dynamics through changes in adult locomotion, even in the absence of a detectable effect on gross brain morphology.

Chronic contact with realistic soil concentrations of imidacloprid affects the mass, immature development speed, and adult longevity of solitary bees.

The non-target effects of pesticides are an area of growing concern, particularly for ecologically and economically important organisms such as bees. Much of the previous research on the effects of neonicotinoids, a class of insecticide that has gained attention for non-target effects, on bees focused on the consumption of contaminated food resources by a limited number of eusocial species. However, neonicotinoids are known to accumulate and persist in soils at concentrations 2 to 60 times greater than in food resources, and may represent an important route of exposure for diverse and ecologically important ground-nesting bees. This study aimed to assess the effect of chronic contact exposure to realistic soil concentrations of imidacloprid, the most widely used neonicotinoid pesticide, on bee longevity, development speed, and body mass. Cohorts of Osmia lignaria and Megachile rotundata were used as proxies for ground-nesting species. We observed species- and sex-specific changes to adult longevity, development speed, and mass in response to increasing concentrations of imidacloprid. These results suggest that chronic exposure to nesting substrates contaminated with neonicotinoids may represent an important route of exposure that could have considerable physiological and ecological consequences for bees and plant-pollinator interactions.

Unpacking cognitive emotion regulation in eating disorder psychopathology: The differential relationships between rumination, thought suppression, and eating disorder symptoms among men and women.

While previous literature suggests that emotion dysregulation is a salient factor contributing to the onset and maintenance of eating disorders (EDs), less is known about how maladaptive, cognitively oriented regulation strategies such as rumination and thought suppression may be uniquely related to ED symptoms in men and women. The present study sought to examine the independent associations of ruminative brooding and thought suppression with ED symptoms, after controlling for negative affect intensity, and assess whether these associations differ by gender. Participants were 263 undergraduates who completed a series of questionnaires, including measures of ED symptoms (Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale), ruminative brooding (Ruminative Response Scale), and thought suppression (White Bear Suppression Inventory). Generalized linear models examined main effects of ruminative brooding and thought suppression and their interactions with gender on ED symptoms, controlling for negative affect intensity. Higher ruminative brooding was associated with higher binge eating among women. Thought suppression was associated with higher vomiting and fasting frequency in both genders, with a stronger association between suppression and fasting in men compared to women. Together results demonstrate the unique contributions of cognitive perseveration and avoidance in ED symptomatology; specifically, ruminative brooding may be a salient factor contributing to binge eating in women, while high levels of thought suppression among males may contribute to fasting. Findings highlight the potential importance of examining and differentially targeting specific facets of cognitive emotion regulation in men and women engaging in ED behaviors.

Testing an Integrative Model of Affect Regulation and Avoidance in Non-Suicidal Self-Injury and Disordered Eating.

This research tested a model that integrates risk factors among non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and eating disorder (ED) behaviors with the aim of elucidating possible shared and unique mechanisms underlying both behaviors. Emotional distress, limited access to emotion regulation (ER) strategies, experiential avoidance, and NSSI/ED frequency were examined in a sample of 230 female undergraduates. Structural equation modeling indicated that limited access to ER strategies and avoidance mediated relationship between emotional distress and avoidance, which in turn was associated with NSSI and ED behaviors. Results suggest NSSI and ED behaviors may serve similar emotion regulation functions, and specifically highlight the role of experiential avoidance in these behaviors.

Predictors and Outcomes of Psychiatric Hospitalization in Youth Presenting to the Emergency Department with Suicidality.

Youth suicide attempters presenting to the emergency department (ED) are frequently admitted to psychiatric inpatient hospitals, yet little is known about how clinicians decide which youths to admit versus discharge to outpatient care. We examine predictors of inpatient hospitalization and describe service use outcomes associated with hospitalization in 181 youths drawn from consecutive ED admissions for suicidality. Predictors of hospitalization include ED site, suicide plan, and parent report of problems. Hospitalization was associated with improved linkage to outpatient treatment and more intensive service use. Future research is needed to understand the best service delivery and treatments for these high-risk youth.

The SAFETY Program: a treatment-development trial of a cognitive-behavioral family treatment for adolescent suicide attempters.

The purpose of this article is to describe feasibility, safety, and outcome results from a treatment development trial of the SAFETY Program, a brief intervention designed for integration with emergency services for suicide-attempting youths. Suicide-attempting youths, ages 11 to 18, were enrolled in a 12-week trial of the SAFETY Program, a cognitive-behavioral family intervention designed to increase safety and reduce suicide attempt (SA) risk (N = 35). Rooted in a social-ecological cognitive-behavioral model, treatment sessions included individual youth and parent session-components, with different therapists assigned to youths and parents, and family session-components to practice skills identified as critical in the pathway for preventing repeat SAs in individual youths. Outcomes were evaluated at baseline, 3-month, and 6-month follow-ups. At the 3-month posttreatment assessment, there were statistically significant improvements on measures of suicidal behavior, hopelessness, youth and parent depression, and youth social adjustment. There was one reported SA by 3 months and another by 6 months, yielding cumulative attempt rates of 3% and 6% at 3 and 6 months, respectively. Treatment satisfaction was high. Suicide-attempting youths are at high risk for repeat attempts and continuing mental health problems. Results support the value of a randomized controlled trial to further evaluate the SAFETY intervention. Extension of treatment effects to parent depression and youth social adjustment are consistent with our strong family focus and social-ecological model of behavior change.

Using the GAD-Q-IV to identify generalized anxiety disorder in psychiatric treatment seeking and primary care medical samples.

The fourth edition of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GAD-Q-IV) is a self-report measure that is commonly used to screen for the presence of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The current investigation attempted to identify an optimal cut score using samples obtained from an outpatient psychiatric (n=163) and primary care clinic (n=99). Results indicated that a cut score of 7.67 provided an optimal balance of sensitivity (.85) and specificity (.74) comparable to a previously identified cut score (5.7) across both samples (sensitivity=.90, specificity=.66). However, both cut scores were consistently outperformed by a score representing the criteria for GAD described in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (sensitivity=.89, specificity=.82).

Using the experiential avoidance model of non-suicidal self-injury: understanding who stops and who continues.

This research sought to identify factors that may facilitate our understanding of the individual characteristics associated with continuing to engage in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) versus stopping the behavior. Participants were 214 undergraduates who currently engaged in NSSI, had a past history of, or never engaged in NSSI. Individuals with a current or past history of NSSI reported significantly more intense emotional experiences, more difficulty identifying their feelings, less access to emotion regulation skills, and significantly greater avoidance than individuals who never engaged in NSSI; additionally, individuals with a past NSSI history reported significantly greater acceptance of their emotional responses and significantly greater impulse control than individuals currently engaging in NSSI. The research and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Cognitive vulnerability to depression: a comparison of the weakest link, keystone and additive models.

Multiple theories of cognitive vulnerability to depression have been proposed, each focusing on different aspects of negative cognition and utilising different measures of risk. Various methods of integrating such multiple indices of risk have been examined in the literature, and each demonstrates some promise. Yet little is known about the interrelations among these methods, or their incremental validity in predicting changes in depression. The present study compared three integrative models of cognitive vulnerability: the additive, weakest link, and keystone models. Support was found for each model as predictive of depression over time, but only the weakest link model demonstrated incremental utility in predicting changes in depression over the other models. We also explore the correlation between these models and each model's unique contribution to predicting onset of depressive symptoms.