Human responses to Covid-19: The role of optimism bias, perceived severity, and anxiety.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the governments are trying to contain the spread with non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), such as social distancing rules, restrictions, and lockdowns. In an effort to identify factors that may influence population adherence to NPIs, we examined the role of optimism bias, anxiety, and perceived severity of the situation in relation to engagement in protective behavioral changes and satisfaction with governments' response to this pandemic. We conducted an online survey in 935 participants (  = 34.

Salivary oxytocin after oxytocin administration: Examining the moderating role of childhood trauma.

Although oxytocin administration influences behavior, its effects on peripheral oxytocin concentrations are mixed and derived from studies on healthy subjects. Additionally, trauma attenuates the behavioral effects of oxytocin, but it is unknown whether it also influences its effect on peripheral circulation. This study examined whether salivary oxytocin increased after oxytocin administration and whether trauma attenuated this effect.

The effect of oxytocin administration on empathy and emotion recognition in residential youth: A randomized, within-subjects trial.

Previous research has revealed a positive effect of oxytocin administration on several social behaviors especially in individuals with social-affective deficits. However, it is still unknown whether intranasal oxytocin administration (OT-IN) can be beneficial to residential youth who exhibit severe social-affective impairments. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subjects, sequential study to examine the effect of OT-IN on empathy and emotion recognition in 100 male adolescents living in residential youth care facilities.

Dissociation and psychopathology in residential youth: a brief report.

Although dissociative symptoms are observed in several psychiatric disorders and linked to antisocial behavior and offending, the relation between dissociation and psychopathology or comorbidity has not been consistently investigated in residential youth yet. This brief report documented prevalence and comorbidity rates of several psychiatric disorders and examined their relation to dissociation in residential youth. The study included 100 male adolescents (age = 16.

Daily oxytocin patterns in relation to psychopathy and childhood trauma in residential youth.

Inconsistent findings have been found on the relation between oxytocin levels and psychopathy or callous-unemotional (CU) traits in humans, potentially because the role of trauma in oxytocin secretion and the distinction between primary and secondary psychopathy have been overlooked so far. Primary psychopathy has a stronger biological background, whereas secondary psychopathy mainly develops due to environmental adversity, such as childhood trauma. This study investigated the interaction effects of CU traits and childhood trauma on daily salivary oxytocin levels in 57 males living in residential youth care facilities.

Oxytocin Receptor Gene (OXTR) and Deviant Peer Affiliation: A Gene-Environment Interaction in Adolescent Antisocial Behavior.

Although the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) is involved in aggression and social affiliation, it has not been examined in gene-environment interaction studies. This longitudinal study examined the effect of genetic variants in OXTR and its gene-environment interaction with perceived deviant peer affiliation in the trajectories of antisocial behavior in 323 adolescents (182 males) from 13 to 18 years. Annual assessments of reactive and proactive aggression, delinquency, and friends' delinquency, as well as DNA at age 17 were collected.

The role of trauma in the hormonal interplay of cortisol, testosterone, and oxytocin in adolescent aggression.

Although numerous studies have examined the neuroendocrinology of aggression, the findings are mixed and focused on cortisol and testosterone. We argue that past findings remain inconclusive partly because the key roles of oxytocin and trauma have not been systematically integrated yet. Oxytocin is associated with social behavior and interacts with cortisol and testosterone, whereas trauma is a crucial risk factor of aggression that strongly affects hormonal activity.

Reduced Freezing in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Patients while Watching Affective Pictures.

Besides fight and flight responses, animals and humans may respond to threat with freezing, a response characterized by bradycardia and physical immobility. Risk assessment is proposed to be enhanced during freezing to promote optimal decision making. Indeed, healthy participants showed freezing-like responses to threat cues.

Tonic immobility differentiates stress responses in PTSD.

Background: Tonic immobility (TI) is a state of physical immobility associated with extreme stress and the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, it is unknown whether TI is associated with a distinct actual stress response, i.e.

Posttraumatic stress disorder under ongoing threat: a review of neurobiological and neuroendocrine findings.

Background: Although numerous studies have investigated the neurobiology and neuroendocrinology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after single finished trauma, studies on PTSD under ongoing threat are scarce and it is still unclear whether these individuals present similar abnormalities.

Objective: The purpose of this review is to present the neurobiological and neuroendocrine findings on PTSD under ongoing threat. Ongoing threat considerably affects PTSD severity and treatment response and thus disentangling its neurobiological and neuroendocrine differences from PTSD after finished trauma could provide useful information for treatment.

The Association Between Callous-Unemotional Traits, Externalizing Problems, and Gender in Predicting Cognitive and Affective Morality Judgments in Adolescence.

Morality deficits have been linked to callous-unemotional traits and externalizing problems in response to moral dilemmas, but these associations are still obscure in response to antisocial acts in adolescence. Limited evidence on young boys suggested that callous-unemotional traits and externalizing problems were associated with affective but not cognitive morality judgments. The present study investigated these associations in a community sample of 277 adolescents (M age  = 15.