Effects of a brief interpersonal conflict cognitive reappraisal intervention on improvements in access to emotion regulation strategies and depressive symptoms in college students.

Objective: Research has demonstrated relative success with brief interventions that utilize social psychological theory to target the root cause of unwanted behaviours. Given the intersections among anxious attachment, depression, and emotion dysregulation, the current research utilises an interpersonal conflict cognitive reappraisal intervention to evaluate improvements in depressive symptoms. We also evaluated mediation via improvements in emotion regulation and moderation by attachment anxiety. Design: Undergraduates (N = 260) completed a baseline assessment and were randomised to one of four writing conditions: An interpersonal conflict from (a) their own perspective; (b) the other party's perspective; or (c) a neutral, third-party perspective (primary experimental condition) or about their day (control condition). They also completed a follow-up survey online two weeks later. Main outcome measures included limited access to emotion regulation strategies and depressive symptoms. Results: Consistent with hypotheses, compared to control, participants who adopted the perspective of neutral third party reported improvements in access to emotion regulation strategies. There was also a significant indirect effect on depressive symptoms through changes in strategies. Finally, improving strategies led to a reduction in depressive symptoms, especially for those higher in attachment anxiety. Conclusion: We present promising emerging results for a single-session, conflict-focused, brief cognitive reappraisal intervention on changes in emotion regulation and depressive symptoms.

Catching more than pocket monsters: Pokémon Go's social and psychological effects on players.

The augmented reality mobile game Pokémon Go has reached unprecedented popularity since its release in 2016. The game has received intense media attention, but scientific inquiry into its popularity and the effects of play are in the early stages. Previous work has used secondary data or simple correlational analysis to draw early conclusions. A seven-day diary study was conducted to investigate potential health, psychological, and social outcomes of daily gameplay. Daily time spent playing Pokémon Go was related to higher scores of life satisfaction, vitality, and greater social interactions and conversation with both friends and strangers, but not with increased daily exercise. Increased total gameplay across the week was associated with increased interaction and conversations along with more exercise. Future directions for this unique type of game along with the need for theoretical development for unique style of games are discussed.

Compounding risk: An examination of associations between spirituality/religiosity, drinking motives, and alcohol-related ambivalence among heavy drinking young adults.

OBJECTIVES: The present study assessed combinations of spirituality/religiosity (S/R), a known protective factor against heavy drinking, with drinking motives, and alcohol-related ambivalence to better understand how these factors interrelate and are associated with drinking and alcohol-related problems. METHODS: Participants were 241 heavy drinking undergraduate students (81.74% female; Mage=23.48years; SD=5.50) who completed study questionnaires online. RESULTS: Coping, enhancement, and conformity drinking motives were associated with greater alcohol use and problems, however there were no main effects of either ambivalence or S/R on alcohol outcomes. S/R interacted with ambivalence with respect to drinking and problems. S/R also interacted with conformity drinking motives with respect to drinking and problems. Further, ambivalence interacted with conformity drinking motives regarding problems. Three-way interactions emerged between ambivalence, S/R, and drinking motives (social, coping, and enhancement motives) regarding drinking and problems. Results show that individuals at highest risk for problematic drinking are those who more strongly endorse drinking motives, are low in S/R, and high in ambivalence. CONCLUSIONS: Findings supported hypotheses and provide support for clusters of individual difference factors that put heavy drinking college students at higher risk for problematic drinking. These examinations have practical utility and may inform development and implementation of interventions and programs targeting alcohol misuse among heavy drinking undergraduate students.

God, Can I Tell You Something? The Effect of Religious Coping on the Relationship between Anxiety Over Emotional Expression, Anxiety, and Depressive Symptoms.

The current study investigated whether religious coping would moderate the association between ambivalence over emotional expression (AEE) and depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms such that the positive relationship between AEE and depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms would be weaker among those higher in religious coping. Three-hundred and fifty-two undergraduates (M age=23.51 years, SD=6.80; 84.4% female) completed study materials. Contrary to expectations, results revealed a significant interaction between religious coping and AEE such that religious coping exacerbated the relationship between higher AEE and distress symptoms. The implications of this study suggest that religious coping may not be an ideal coping mechanism for individuals with high levels of AEE. These results indicate the need to further examine the role of AEE in religious coping, and have potential implications for clinicians, healthcare professionals, and religious mentors who may promote the use of religious coping in treatment.

I like people who drink like me: Perceived appeal as a function of drinking status.

INTRODUCTION: Individuals rate opposite sex faces as more attractive after consuming or being primed with alcohol. However, other traits such as intelligence and likeability have not been examined and might vary as a function of information about one's drinking habits. We expected social drinkers to be rated more positively than heavy drinkers, abstainers, or recovering alcoholics. We further hypothesized that faces with similar drinking habits to participants would be rated as more appealing. METHODS: Five hundred ninety-four undergraduates viewed 25 opposite sex faces randomly paired with drinking information, and rated each face on perceived appeal. RESULTS: Hierarchical linear models revealed that social drinkers were rated as most appealing, as expected. Unexpectedly, recovering alcoholics were rated as the next most appealing, followed by abstainers, then heavy drinkers. The interaction between drinker type and participants' own drinking predicting ratings indicated that the heavier the participant drinks, the more favorably they rated heavy drinkers compared to other types of drinkers. Thus, as expected, ratings varied as a function of participants' own drinking; however, ratings did not vary as a function of participants' alcohol-related problems. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support hypotheses in that social drinkers were generally perceived as appealing compared to other drinker types, and ratings tended to be influenced by participants' own drinking. Individuals' prototypes and norms regarding drinking may influence how they perceive others when others' drinking habits are known. This might be especially important to consider with heavy drinkers who may seek out others who drink similarly, which could reinforce problematic drinking.

General Needs Satisfaction as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Ambivalence Over Emotional Expression and Perceived Social Support.

The detrimental effect of ambivalence over emotional expression (AEE) on social support has been well documented. However, the underlying mechanism of this effect remains unclear. Research has demonstrated that when general needs are not met, negative psychological outcomes occur. Thus, the current study investigated general needs satisfaction (GNS) as a potential mediator of the association between AEE and social support among 352 undergraduates. Results revealed that AEE was negatively associated with autonomy, relatedness, competence, and social support, whereas social support was positively associated with autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Further, GNS and each of its three subscales were all found to significantly mediate the association between AEE and social support. Thus, findings from the present study contribute to our understanding of AEE by illustrating a potential mechanism through which AEE may lead to a lack of perceived social support, namely GNS.

I Want You to Like Me: Extraversion, Need for Approval, and Time on Facebook as Predictors of Anxiety.

Although social networking sites such as Facebook have been touted as creating a global village, there may be a downside to such computer-mediated interactions on user's well-being. One such consequence is that stimuli via computer-mediated interactions may be anxiety-provoking for some users. As such, recent studies have tried to ascertain personality factors and individual differences that are associated with higher anxiety in connection with extensive Facebook use. The current study evaluated the relationships among extraversion, time on Facebook, need for approval, and anxiety among college students (N=280). Results revealed that need for approval significantly moderated the association between extraversion and anxiety. Specifically, individuals higher in extraversion tended to be less anxious, although this was less true for those extraverts who were higher in need for approval. Further, this moderating effect was stronger among extraverts who were high in need for approval and spent more time on Facebook relative to those who spent less time on Facebook. The present research contributes to the emerging literature by providing evidence regarding how personality factors interact with Facebook usage.

Tears in your beer: Gender differences in coping drinking motives, depressive symptoms and drinking.

This study evaluates associations between coping drinking motives (CDM; drinking to regulate negative affect), depressive symptoms, and drinking behavior and extends the literature by also taking into account gender differences. Two hundred forty-three college students (Mean age = 22.93, SD = 6.29, 82% female) participated. Based on previous research, we expected that CDM would be positively associated with drinking and problems, particularly among those higher in depressive symptoms, as individuals experiencing higher levels of negative affect (i.e. depressive symptoms) and who drink to cope are likely to drink more and experience more alcohol-related problems. Lastly, based on established gender differences, we expected that CDM would be positively associated with drinking and problems, especially among females higher in depressive symptoms. Unexpectedly, findings suggested that CDMs were positively related to peak drinking, especially among those lower in depressive symptoms. Results further revealed a significant three-way interaction between CDM, depressive symptoms, and gender when predicting alcohol-related problems and drinking frequency. Specifically, we found that CDM were more strongly associated with problems among women who were lower in depressive symptoms; whereas CDM were more strongly associated with problems among men who were higher in depressive symptoms. These findings offer a more comprehensive depiction of the relationship between depressive symptoms, CDM, and drinking behavior by taking into account the importance of gender differences. These results provide additional support for considering gender when designing and implementing alcohol intervention strategies.

The influence of individualism and drinking identity on alcohol problems.

This study evaluated the interactive association between individualism and drinking identity predicting alcohol use and problems. Seven hundred and ten undergraduates (Mean age =22.84, SD = 5.31, 83.1% female) completed study materials. We expected that drinking identity and individualism would positively correlate with drinking variables. We further expected that individualism would moderate the association between drinking identity and drinking such that the relationship between drinking identity and alcohol outcomes would be positively associated, particularly among those high in individualism. Our findings supported our hypotheses. These findings better explain the relationship between drinking identity, individualism, and alcohol use. Furthermore, this research encourages the consideration of individual factors and personality characteristics in order to develop culturally tailored materials to maximize intervention efficacy across cultures.

Canine Comfort: Pet Affinity Buffers the Negative Impact of Ambivalence over Emotional Expression on Perceived Social Support.

This study evaluated pet affinity as a buffer between ambivalence over emotional expression (AEE) and social support. AEE occurs when one desires to express emotions but is reluctant to do so and is related to negative psychological outcomes. Individuals high in AEE may have difficulty receiving social support and thus may not gain accompanying benefits. Social support has been associated with positive health outcomes, and pet support is positively associated with human social support. The present study explores the potential protective effect of pet affinity. One hundred ninety-eight undergraduate dog owners completed measures assessing perceived social support, pet affinity, and AEE. AEE was expected to be negatively associated with social support, and pet affinity was expected to buffer the negative effects of AEE on social support. We found that AEE was negatively associated with perceived social support. An interaction between pet affinity and AEE emerged such that the negative association between AEE and social support was weaker among those higher in pet affinity. Thus, at high levels of AEE, those who felt a close connection with their pets reported more perceived social support than those less connected with their pets. Overall, these findings emphasize the potential benefits of pet affinity.

Benefit finding as a moderator of the relationship between spirituality/religiosity and drinking.

This study evaluated benefit finding as a moderator of the relationship between spiritual and religious attitudes and drinking. Previous research indicates that undergraduates who drink heavily experience negative alcohol-related consequences. Literature also suggests that spirituality and religiosity (S/R) are protective against heavy drinking (e.g., Yonker, Schnabelrauch, & DeHaan, 2012) and that finding meaning, which is conceptually related to benefit finding, is negatively associated with alcohol use (e.g., Wells, 2010). Seven hundred undergraduate students completed the study materials including measures of drinking, benefit finding, and S/R. Based on previous research, we expected that S/R and benefit finding would be negatively associated with drinking. Furthermore, we expected that benefit finding would moderate the association between S/R and drinking, such that S/R would be more negatively associated with drinking among those higher in benefit finding. Consistent with expectations, a negative association between S/R and drinking was present, and was stronger among those high in benefit finding. These findings extend previous research by demonstrating that the protective effect of S/R on drinking appears to be particularly true among those who find benefit following stressful experiences. This study extends previous research showing that S/R is negatively associated with drinking by evaluating benefit finding (measured via the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996) as a potential moderator of the relationship between S/R and drinking. This study contributes to the alcohol literature seeking to understand and identify individual factors in drinking and determine how S/R and benefit finding relate to drinking.

Sociosexuality predicts women's preferences for symmetry in men's faces.

Although men displaying cues of good physical condition possess traits that are desirable in a mate (e.g., good health), these men are also more likely to possess antisocial characteristics that are undesirable in a long-term partner (e.g., aggression and tendency to infidelity). How women resolve this trade-off between the costs and benefits associated with choosing a mate in good physical condition may lead to strategic variation in women's mate preferences. Because the costs of choosing a mate with antisocial personality characteristics are greater in long- than short-term relationships, women's sociosexuality (i.e., the extent to which they are interested in uncommitted sexual relationships) may predict individual differences in their mate preferences. Here we investigated variation in 99 heterosexual women's preferences for facial symmetry, a characteristic that is thought to be an important cue of physical condition. Symmetry preferences were assessed using pairs of symmetrized and original (i.e., relatively asymmetric) versions of 10 male and 10 female faces. Analyses showed that women's sociosexuality, and their sociosexual attitude in particular, predicted their preferences for symmetry in men's, but not women's, faces; women who reported being more interested in short-term, uncommitted relationships demonstrated stronger attraction to symmetric men. Our findings present new evidence for potentially adaptive variation in women's symmetry preferences that is consistent with trade-off theories of attraction.

Opposite-sex siblings decrease attraction, but not prosocial attributions, to self-resembling opposite-sex faces.

Contextual cues of genetic relatedness to familiar individuals, such as cosocialization and maternal-perinatal association, modulate prosocial and inbreeding-avoidance behaviors toward specific potential siblings. These findings have been interpreted as evidence that contextual cues of kinship indirectly influence social behavior by affecting the perceived probability of genetic relatedness to familiar individuals. Here, we test a more general alternative model in which contextual cues of kinship can influence the kin-recognition system more directly, changing how the mechanisms that regulate social behavior respond to cues of kinship, even in unfamiliar individuals for whom contextual cues of kinship are absent. We show that having opposite-sex siblings influences inbreeding-relevant perceptions of facial resemblance but not prosocial perceptions. Women with brothers were less attracted to self-resembling, unfamiliar male faces than were women without brothers, and both groups found self-resemblance to be equally trustworthy for the same faces. Further analyses suggest that this effect is driven by younger, rather than older, brothers, consistent with the proposal that only younger siblings exhibit the strong kinship cue of maternal-perinatal association. Our findings provide evidence that experience with opposite-sex siblings can directly influence inbreeding-avoidance mechanisms and demonstrate a striking functional dissociation between the mechanisms that regulate inbreeding and the mechanisms that regulate prosocial behavior toward kin.