Measuring the Pupillary Light Reflex Using Portable Instruments in Applied Settings.

The early components of the pupillary light reflex (PLR) are governed by the parasympathetic nervous system. The use of cheap, portable pupillometry devices may allow for the testing of parasympathetic-system health in field settings. We examined the reliability of two portable instruments for measuring the PLR and their sensitivity to individual differences known to modulate the PLR.

Implicit Sexual Cognitions in Women with Ambiphilic Sexual Attractions: A Comparison to Androphilic and Gynephilic Women.

Previous research using indirect cognitive measures (sometimes referred to as implicit measures) of sexual attraction have shown that women who are attracted to men (androphilic women) show category non-specific responses, whereas those who are attracted to women (gynephilic) show a category-specific bias to women. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether women who explicitly report approximately equal attraction to men and women (ambiphilic) would show similar non-category specific attraction at this implicit level or whether their responses would be more similar to those of gynephilic women. An implicit association task and a priming task were given to 169 women alongside measures of their self-labelled sexual orientation and an explicit measure of their sexual attraction to men and women.

Reducing sickness absence and stigma due to mental health difficulties: a randomised control treatment trial (RCT) of a low intensity psychological intervention and stigma reduction programme for common mental disorder (Prevail).

Background: Common mental disorders are the leading cause of workplace absences. The Prevail intervention programme aims to reduce stigma and to educate staff and managers about evidence-based low intensity psychological interventions for common mental disorders (depression, anxiety, stress, and distress). Prevail is innovative in taking a public health approach.

A randomised controlled trial evaluating the Guide Cymru mental health literacy intervention programme in year 9 (age 13-14) school pupils in Wales.

Background: Adolescent mental health has become a public health concern as 10-20% of adolescents have experiences with mental health problems. Improving mental health education is critical to reducing stigma and improving access to appropriate care when needed. Here we examine the impact of a mental health literacy programme (Guide Cymru) in young adolescents in the UK.

The Stigma and Self-Stigma Scales for attitudes to mental health problems: Psychometric properties and its relationship to mental health problems and absenteeism.

The Stigma and Self-Stigma scales (SASS) measure multiple aspects of stigmatic beliefs about mental health problems, including cognitive aspects of stigma towards others (Stigma to Others) and emotional stigma toward others (Social Distance), anticipated stigma by others, self-stigma, avoidant coping strategies, and help-seeking intentions, alongside an index of social desirability. The properties of the SASS were investigated by employees of a large UK government organization. With minor exceptions, each of the SASS scales had strong psychometric properties, good internal reliability, and test-retest reliability.

The Stigma and Self-Stigma Scales for attitudes to mental health problems: Psychometric properties and its relationship to mental health problems and absenteeism.

The Stigma and Self-Stigma scales (SASS) measure multiple aspects of stigmatic beliefs about mental health problems, including cognitive aspects of stigma towards others (Stigma to Others) and emotional stigma toward others (Social Distance), anticipated stigma by others, self-stigma, avoidant coping strategies, and help-seeking intentions, alongside an index of social desirability. The properties of the SASS were investigated by employees of a large UK government organization. With minor exceptions, each of the SASS scales had strong psychometric properties, good internal reliability, and test-retest reliability.

Automatic processing of emotional images and psychopathic personality traits.

Psychopathy is associated with a deficit in affective processes and might be reflected in the inability to extract the emotional content of a stimulus. Across two experiments, we measured the interference effect from emotional images that were irrelevant to the processing of simultaneous target stimuli and examined if this interference was moderated by psychometrically defined traits of psychopathy. In Experiment 1, we showed this emotional distraction effect was reduced as a function of psychopathic traits related to cold-heartedness and occurred for both positively- and negatively-valenced images.

A reduction in the pupil's response to affective sounds in psychopathy and related personality traits.

The pupil of the eye dilates in response to affective information, even if that information is not visual. We used this affective modulation of the pupil to examine the hypothesis that individuals with high traits of psychopathy have an insensitivity to emotional stimuli. We also examined general personality traits related to psychopathy.

Secondary school students' perception of the online teaching experience during COVID-19: The impact on mental wellbeing and specific learning difficulties.

Background: Student engagement and concentration is critical for successful learning. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a dramatic increase in the use of online learning which may affect engagement and concentration, particularly for those students with specific learning difficulties.

Aims: Students would show lower scores on all the measures of student experience when judging these during online learning versus learning within the classroom.

Development and psychometric properties of the Knowledge and Attitudes to Mental Health Scales (KAMHS): a psychometric measure of mental health literacy in children and adolescents.

Background: Adolescence is a crucial period for the acquisition of good mental health behaviours, which are the foundation for health and wellbeing in later life. Improved knowledge about mental health and improved help-seeking behaviours have been shown to lead to better mental health outcomes. Mental health literacy (MHL) is multifaceted (e.

Psychological distress and resilience in first responders and health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unlabelled: During the COVID-19 pandemic, first responders and health care workers faced elevated virus-related risks through prolonged contacts with the public. Research suggests that these workers already experienced lower levels of psychological well-being linked to occupational risks. Thus, the pandemic's impact might have particularly affected mental health in these groups.

Explicit and Implicit Self-esteem and Aggression: Differential Effects of Agency and Communion.

Previous work has shown that self-esteem is related to aggression and violence. However, self-esteem is a multidimensional construct, and so we isolated self-esteem related to agency (e.g.

The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Well-Being and Psychological Distress: Impact Upon a Single Country.

The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have affected the psychological well-being and mental health of many people. Data on prevalence rates of mental health problems are needed for mental health service planning. Psychological well-being and prevalence of clinically significant mental distress were measured in a large sample from Wales 11-16 weeks into lockdown and compared to population-based data collected in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Emotional modulation of the pupil in psychopathy: A test of the Response Modulation Hypothesis.

Some aspects of psychopathy may be underpinned by a deficit in processing emotional information, although there is evidence that this impairment only emerges when the affective cues are not central to ongoing goal-directed behaviour. However, this hypothesis has not been explored previously in relation to autonomic reactivity to emotional stimuli. The current study investigated this in a large (N = 174) community sample by examining changes in pupil diameter, a measure of autonomic nervous system activity, while participants viewed images that were either neutral in content or contained highly arousing/emotional content.

Enhanced emotional response to both negative and positive images in post-traumatic stress disorder: Evidence from pupillometry.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterised by alterations in the function of the autonomic nervous system. However, it is unclear if this dysfunction is threat-related or related to arousing stimuli in general. Pupillometry offers a simple non-invasive measure of ANS activity that can separate parasympathetic and sympathetic arousal.

Reducing stigma and increasing workplace productivity due to mental health difficulties in a large government organization in the UK: a protocol for a randomised control treatment trial (RCT) of a low intensity psychological intervention and stigma reduction programme for common mental disorder (Prevail).

Background: Common mental disorders are the leading cause of workplace absences. While the reasons for this are multifarious, there is little doubt that stigma related to common mental disorder plays a large role in sickness absence and in poor help-seeking. Frequently both managers and staff are unsure of how to approach and intervene with mental health related problems.

Improving mental health literacy in year 9 high school children across Wales: a protocol for a randomised control treatment trial (RCT) of a mental health literacy programme across an entire country.

Background: Adolescence is a crucial period for developing and maintaining good habits for mental health and well-being. This is important for future mental health, as most mental health problems manifest during adolescence. Mental health literacy is the foundation for mental health prevention, stigma reduction, and increased help-seeking efficacy particularly among adolescents.

Self-Esteem, Narcissism, and Aggression: Different Types of Self-Esteem Predict Different Types of Aggression.

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between self-esteem, narcissism, and measures of proactive and reactive aggression in two large community samples of young adults from two countries (the United Kingdom and Malaysia). Self-esteem and narcissism were measured through the Multidimensional Self-Esteem Inventory and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, whereas aggression was measured by the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire in 501 young adults with approximately equal numbers of men and women. In both countries, low levels of self-esteem were associated with reactive aggression while high levels of narcissism were associated with proactive aggression.

Sexual Attraction to Both Genders in Ambiphilic Men: Evidence from Implicit Cognitions.

Ambiphilic (or bisexual) men describe feelings of sexual attraction to both men and women. However, physiological measures of arousal have failed to show a consistent pattern of arousal to both genders. We measured men's automatic associations between the concept of sex (represented by words) and the concepts of men versus women (represented by images) via the Implicit Association Test (IAT) and a priming task.

The Triarchic Model of Psychopathy and Antisocial Behavior: Results From an Offender Population With Personality Disorder.

The triarchic model posits that psychopathy is a combination of phenotypes related to boldness, meanness, and disinhibition. We examined how each of these phenotypes of psychopathy related to past violence and antisocial behavior and to behavior within the prison. The sample consisted of men ( = 108) with a history of serious offending and a diagnosis of personality disorder at the point of admission to a prison serving as a therapeutic community.

Psychopathy and impulsivity: The relationship of psychopathy to different aspects of UPPS-P impulsivity.

Impulsivity is thought to be a major component of psychopathy. However, impulsivity is a multi-faceted concept, and different facets may have differential relationships to psychopathy. We measured impulsivity via the UPPS-P in a sample of prisoners and in patients in a personality disorder service resident in secure psychiatric care.