Enhancing cognitive control of our decisions: Making the most of humor during the IGT in females and males.

We studied the impact of humor on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) decision-making performance and the cognitive control exerted during this task, considering sex as a moderator, and examined whether cognitive control mediated the influence of humor on decision-making. Sixty participants (30 females) performed an extended version of the IGT (500 trials divided into 20 blocks). We randomly assigned them to either an experimental group (Humor Group; Hg; n = 30), where humorous videos were interspersed in the decision-making trials or a control group (Non-Humor Group; NHg; n = 30), where nonhumorous videos were interspersed in the decision-making trials.

Bidirectional relationship between intraindividual changes in behavioral activation and intraindividual changes in postpartum depressive symptoms: A random intercept cross-lagged panel model.

According to Lewisohn's model of depression, decreases in behavioral activation (BA) occurring after facing a vital stressor may increase the risk of depression. Transition to parenthood is a potentially stressful life event that increases the risks of postpartum depression. We aimed to (a) describe the changes in BA and depressive symptomatology between the prepartum period, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months postpartum and (b) evaluate the bidirectionality of the relationship between intraindividual changes in BA and intraindividual changes in depressive symptoms longitudinally.

Pain Intensity Predicts Pain Catastrophizing During the Postpartum Period: A Longitudinal Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Study.

Objective: Pain catastrophizing is an important psychological predictor of pain. Recent evidence suggests the relationship between catastrophizing and pain intensity could be bidirectional, but most studies have been conducted on chronic pain patients and using criticized statistical methods. The present study aimed to examine if the relationship between pain intensity and catastrophizing was bidirectional in the context of childbirth.

The relevance of psychological strength for physical and psychological well-being in trauma-exposed women.

Traumatic experiences have consistently been linked to poor health and well-being, particularly in women. Psychological factors have been theorized to directly affect the reporting of physical symptoms and perceptions of general health. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been proposed as a major pathway through which trauma affects health and emotion dysregulation.

Bidirectional relationship between physical health symptoms and depressive symptoms in the pre- and postpartum period.

Objective: To test the bidirectional relationships between physical health symptoms (PHS) and depressive symptoms (DS) as well as between the intensity of 'any pain' and DS in the pre- and postpartum period METHOD: Women (N = 615) completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, the Patients Health Questionnaire-15, and numerical pain rating scales when they were between 32 and 37 weeks of gestation, and subsequently one, three, and six months postpartum. We conducted two random intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPM) RESULTS: Both models presented excellent fits. The relationship between PHS and DS was bidirectional across all the data waves (χ(9) = 6.

Psychometric Properties of the Fibromyalgia Survey Questionnaire in Chilean Women With Fibromyalgia.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Chilean version of the Fibromyalgia Survey Questionnaire (FSQ).

Methods: Women with fibromyalgia (FM; n = 214), women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA; n = 97), and women without chronic pain (being followed by Gynecology, G; n = 117) from the Red de Salud UC CHRISTUS (Santiago, Chile) participated. Women with FM completed the FSQ, Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (Revised Version), Numerical Pain Rating Scale, Pain Catastrophizing Scale, Pain Vigilance and Awareness Questionnaire, Patient Health Questionnaire 15, and Short-Form Health Survey.

Humor Improves Women's but Impairs Men's Iowa Gambling Task Performance.

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) is a popular method for examining real-life decision-making. Research has shown gender related differences in performance, in that men consistently outperform women. It has been suggested that these performance differences are related to decreased emotional control in women compared to men.

The efficacy of adding group behavioral activation to usual care in patients with fibromyalgia and major depression: design and protocol for a randomized clinical trial.

Background: Fibromyalgia and major depression frequently co-occur. Patients with both conditions have a worse prognosis and higher disability, and their treatment options are scarce. Behavioral activation (BA) may be an especially useful intervention for these patients, as it targets mechanisms of action that seem to be common to both disorders.

Physical Health Consequences of Interpersonal Trauma: A Systematic Review of the Role of Psychological Variables.

Interpersonal forms of trauma are among the most commonly reported traumas. These types of traumas are more damaging to well-being than noninterpersonal forms. They have also been strongly associated with somatic symptoms and more general physical health problems.

"What if I make a mistake?": intolerance of uncertainty is associated with poor behavioral performance.

Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) has been posited as ubiquitous across experiences of anxiety; however, studies testing how IU impacts behavior remain scant. The current study examined the impact of IU on performance during a keyboard typing task, a relatively complex and common behavior. A total of 40 members of the university community completed the task and measures of IU, trait anxiety, negative affect, and state anxiety.

Predictors of trait dissociation and peritraumatic dissociation induced via cold pressor.

Understanding which factors predict individual dissociative response during stressful situations is important to clarify the nature of dissociation and the mechanisms associated to its use as a coping strategy. The present study examined (1) whether experiential avoidance (EA), anxiety sensitivity (AS), depressive symptoms, and state anxiety concurrently predicted trait dissociation (TD)-absorption, amnesia, depersonalization, and total TD scores-and laboratory induced dissociation (LID); and (2) whether TD and catastrophizing predicted LID. We also examined whether catastrophizing mediated the relationships between both AS and depressive symptoms and LID.

Trauma exposure and health: the role of depressive and hyperarousal symptoms.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms have been theorized to mediate the relationship between trauma exposure and physical health symptoms. Although empirical evidence supports this premise, studies conducted to date have employed statistical mediation analyses that are now broadly criticized. Furthermore, the mediating roles of both PTSD and depressive symptoms have seldom been examined concurrently, and it remains unclear which PTSD symptom clusters uniquely mediate this relationship.

Association of trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder, and experimental pain response in healthy young women.

Background: Evidence of pain alterations in trauma-exposed individuals has been found. The presence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be explaining these alterations, as some of the psychological characteristics of PTSD are hypothesized to increase pain response.

Objectives: To examine differences in pain response and in certain psychological variables between trauma-exposed women (TEW) with PTSD, TEW without PTSD, and non-trauma-exposed women (NTEW) and to explore the role of these psychological variables in the differences in pain response between the groups.

Factor structure and psychometric properties of the resilience scale in a spanish chronic musculoskeletal pain sample.

Unlabelled: The concept of resilience is receiving increasing attention in the field of chronic pain. It has been shown to play a protective role in patients with osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, and rheumatoid arthritis. Despite this finding, no resilience measurements have been validated in chronic pain populations.

Objective and perceived arousal during performance of tasks with elements of social threat: the influence of anxiety sensitivity.

Background And Objectives: Physiological arousal serves to maintain social anxiety disorder by skewing self-perception. Anxiety sensitivity is associated with the disorder and exaggerated perceptions of arousal, but has not been tested as explaining exaggerated perceived arousal in social contexts. The aim of this investigation was to address this issue.

Psychometric Properties of the Spanish Version of the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK).

Unlabelled: The Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK) is one of the most frequently employed measures for assessing pain-related fear in pain patients. Although the TSK has been translated into different languages, a Spanish version of the TSK has not been available, up to now. Thus, the aim of this study was to validate the Spanish version of the TSK in 2 different pain samples: A heterogeneous chronic pain sample (n = 125) and a musculoskeletal acute pain sample (n = 86).