Informed consent and risk communication challenges in antimicrobial clinical trials: a scoping review.

Objectives: Randomised trials for the management of drug-resistant infections are challenging to conduct as target patient populations often lack decision-making capacity, and enrolment windows are typically short. Improving informed consent and risk communication in these trials is especially crucial for protecting patient interests and maximising trial efficiency. This study aimed to understand challenges in risk communication and informed consent in antimicrobial clinical trials.

Meta-analysis of Face Perception in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: Evidence for Differential Impairment in Emotion Face Perception.

Background And Hypothesis: Schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) are associated with face perception impairments. It is unclear whether impairments are equal across aspects of face perception or larger-indicating a differential impairment-for perceiving emotions relative to other characteristics (eg, identity, age). While many studies have attempted to compare emotion and non-emotion face perception in SSD, they have varied in design and produced conflicting findings.

The Unified Narcissism Scale-Revised: Testing Incremental Validity and Shortening the Measure.

Narcissism has had a long history of conceptual and measurement confusion. In this paper, we aimed to assess the incremental and external validity of the Unified Narcissism Scale-Revised (UNS-R), and to determine a prototype short form of the measure that is invariant across cultures. In Study 1, we constructed a 15-item short form prototype that was scalar invariant across four countries (United States, China, Sri Lanka, and Australia).

Testing a syndemics perspective on the effects of multiple adversities on depression and anxiety symptoms in a representative population sample.

Purpose: Considerable empirical evidence indicates that stressful life experiences may have a negative impact on mental health. However, it is unclear how multiple adverse experiences may intersect to influence symptoms of depression and anxiety. Using a syndemics approach to identify potential synergistic effects between major stressors, we aimed to quantify the roles of multiple recent adverse life experiences on depression and anxiety symptoms.

Cognitive reappraisal moderates the protective effect of body satisfaction on mental health and wellbeing in adults: A prospective study during COVID-19 lockdown.

Background: Body satisfaction is associated with mental health and well-being in adults. However, prospective studies are needed to better understand its protective effects, and in whom these are most beneficial. This study investigated body satisfaction as a predictor of depressive symptoms, generalised anxiety, and well-being in a representative Australian sample collected during the initial COVID-19 lockdown.

COVID-19 infection associated with poorer mental health in a representative population sample.

Objective: There is limited evidence of the direct effects of COVID-19 infection on mental health, and whether these are influenced by vaccination or physical health symptoms. We aimed to investigate the relationships of COVID-19 infection, current symptom presentation, and vaccination status with mental health symptoms in adults.

Study Design And Setting: A cross-sectional sample of the Australian adult population that was representative by age, gender, and location was recruited through market research panels (N = 1407, 51.

Core features of callous-unemotional traits: a cross-cultural comparison of youth in four countries.

With considerable debate concerning the impact of culture on the expression of callous-unemotional (CU) traits, it is unclear whether the core features of CU traits generalize to youth across cultures. This study aimed to examine whether cultural differences are reflected in the core features of CU traits and the associations among these features. Network analysis was employed to identify the core features and to examine the network structure of CU traits operationalized by the Inventory of Callous Unemotional traits (ICU) in four community youth samples from different nations (Australia, N = 190; the UK, N = 437; the USA, N = 330; China, N = 503).

A Bayesian model of the jumping-to-conclusions bias and its relationship to psychopathology.

The mechanisms by which delusion and anxiety affect the tendency to make hasty decisions (Jumping-to-Conclusions bias) remain unclear. This paper proposes a Bayesian computational model that explores the assignment of evidence weights as a potential explanation of the Jumping-to-Conclusions bias using the Beads Task. We also investigate the Beads Task as a repeated measure by varying the key aspects of the paradigm.

Callous-unemotional Traits and Child Response to Teacher Rewards, Discipline, and Instructional Methods in Chinese Preschools: A Classroom Observation Study.

Atypical responses to teacher rewards, discipline and different forms of instructional methods have been identified as potential contributors to disruptive behavior, low school engagement, and academic underachievement in children with elevated callous-unemotional (CU) traits. To date, research on CU traits in schools has relied on interview or questionnaire methods and has predominantly been conducted in Western countries. Thus, the present study aims to investigate the relationships between CU traits and children's responses to teacher rewards, discipline and instructional methods in the Chinese preschool context using classroom observation.

Understanding Australian Government Risk Communication Early in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Sociodemographics, Risk Attitudes and Media Consumption.

Effective risk communication is essential for government and health authorities to effectively manage public health during the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Understanding the factors that influence people's perceptions of crisis-related risk messages is critical to identify gaps and inequalities in population risk communication. Using a longitudinal survey of a representative adult sample, we examined risk communication about COVID-19 during April-June 2020 in Australia across sociodemographic groups especially the at-risk groups, accounting for and exploring the effects of risk attitudes and media engagement.

The Factors Associated With Telehealth Use and Avoidance During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Longitudinal Survey.

Background: Social distancing requirements due to the COVID-19 pandemic saw a rapid increase in the delivery of telehealth consultations as an alternative to face-to-face health care services.

Objective: The aims of this study were to assess the use and acceptability of telehealth during the early stages of the pandemic and identify factors associated with telehealth avoidance during this period.

Methods: Data were obtained from waves 4 and 7 of a longitudinal survey designed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health and behavior of a representative sample of Australian adults.

Risk tolerance and changes in coronavirus disease (COVID) related health behaviors: A longitudinal study.

Objective: The present study examined behavioral responses during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the role of dispositional risk tolerance in the Australian context.

Method: The study involved a six-wave longitudinal investigation with a nationally representative sample of Australians ( = 1,296). Dispositional risk tolerance was measured at Wave 1 and participants' anxiety level and self-report implementation of 10 COVID actions was assessed in each wave.

Patterns and predictors of alcohol use during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia: Longitudinal cohort study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in disruptions across many life domains. The distress associated with the pandemic itself, and with public health efforts to manage the outbreak, could result in increased alcohol use. This study aimed to quantify changes in alcohol use during the early stages of the pandemic and factors associated with different patterns of use.

The Psychological Benefits of an Uncertain World: Hope and Optimism in the Face of Existential Threat.

We examine how prior mental health predicts hopes and how hopes predict subsequent mental health, testing hypotheses in a longitudinal study with an Australian nation-wide adult sample regarding mental health consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak during its initial stage. Quota sampling was used to select a sample representative of the adult Australian population in terms of age groups, gender, and geographical location. Mental health measures were selected to include those with the best psychometric properties.

Cause or symptom? A longitudinal test of bidirectional relationships between emotion regulation strategies and mental health symptoms.

Previous work has generally conceptualized emotion regulation as contributing to mental health outcomes, and not vice versa. The present study challenges this assumption by using a prospective design to investigate the directionality of underlying relationships between emotion regulation and mental health in the context of a major population-level stressor. We surveyed a large nationally representative sample of adults (18-91 years, = 704) at three 1-month intervals across the acute lockdown phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, using standardized measures of depression and anxiety symptoms.

Immediate emotions and subjective stakes in risky decision-making under uncertainty.

Background: Previous research has shown that immediate emotions and cognitive processing of the stakes of outcomes influence decision-making under uncertainty. The effect of perceived beneficial stakes and different types of immediate emotions on decision-making is an important topic that has received little attention in the literature. This study investigated the effects of trait anxiety and anticipatory emotions (fear, sadness, excitement and comfortability) on the perception of thee stakes of outcomes and behavioral intentions.

Identifying the contingencies of self-worth associated with eating disorder symptoms: The use of choice-based conjoint analysis.

Objective: Self-worth contingent on shape/weight is a diagnostic criterion and key maintaining factor for eating disorders. However, the role of other contingencies of self-worth (i.e.

A cognitive model of delusion propensity through dysregulated correlation detection.

Background: We present a novel account of delusion propensity that integrates the roles of working memory (WM), decision criteria, and information gathering biases. This framework emphasises the role of aberrant correlation detection, which leads to the spurious perception of relationships between one's experiences. The frequency of such outcomes is moderated by the scaling of one's decision criteria which, for reasons discussed, must also account for WM capacity.

Associations of loneliness, belongingness and health behaviors with psychological distress and wellbeing during COVID-19.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the effects of loneliness, belongingness and other modifiable factors on psychological distress and wellbeing and whether the effects of COVID-19 modulated these relationships.

Methods: The current study reported on 1217 participants aged 18 years or older who completed an online survey from 28 to 31 March 2020. Survey measures included demographic characteristics; exposure to COVID-19; impact of COVID-19 on employment, finance, and work and social adjustment; loneliness, thwarted belongingness, and health behavior changes as modifiable factors.

Measuring Risk Tolerance across Domains: Scale Development and Validation.

Risk attitudes are of interest to researchers in many fields as they play a crucial role in our day-to-day decision-making. In this paper we develop a measure of risk attitudes-the Multi-Domain Risk Tolerance (MDRT) scale-that addresses some key shortcomings of popular self-report scales, such as the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking (DOSPERT) scale. We do this by clearly aligning the risk in the items with the particular domain of risk, reducing item ambiguity, and reducing the impact of prior knowledge.