No abstract

T h e p r esen t stu dy exa m in es th e at t en t io n al b ia s hyp o t h esis fo r in d ivid u a ls wit h gen er a lised so cia l ph o b ia (G SP s). So cia lly p h o b ic in divid u a ls were hyp o t h esised t o exh ib it at t en t io n a l b ias t owa rd s t h reat stim uli r eleva n t t o in t er p er so n a l sit u at io n s. T h is hyp o t h esis wa s t est ed u sin g th e fa ce-in -th ecro wd p a r ad igm . G SP s a n d n o n a n xio u s co n t ro ls (N AC s) d et ected a n a ngr y, h ap p y, n eu t r a l, o r d isgu st t a rget fa ce in a crowd o f 12 d ist ra ct er p h o t ogr ap h s. R esu lts in d ica t ed th at , co m p a red t o N A C s, G SP s exh ib ited great er at t en t io n a l b ia ses fo r a n gr y t h a n fo r ha p py fa ces in a n eu t r a l cro wd . G SP s were m o r e slo wed d o wn in th eir p erfo r m a n ce by ha p py a n d a ngr y ver su s n eu t ra l d ist r a cter s; N A C s d id n o t exh ib it su ch sen sit ivit y t o d ist r act er type. F in a lly, G SP s wer e fa ster in d et ectin g a n ger th a n d isgu st exp r essio n s; N AC s d et ect ed b o th t yp es o f fa ces eq u a lly q u ick ly. I m p licat io n s o f t h ese ® n d in gs fo r t h e m a in t en a n ce o f so cia l p h o b ia a r e d iscu ssed .

An operationalization of mental pain is presented in three studies. The first study describes the operationalization of mental pain and the factor structure of the items produced by a content analysis of self-reports yielding a scale with nine factors: the experience of irreversibility, loss of control, narcissistic wounds, emotional flooding, freezing, estrangement, confusion, social distancing, and emptiness. Study 2 tested the relationship between mental pain and depression and anxiety in a normal population. Study 3 focused on the relationship between mental pain and coping. Mental pain is conceptualized as a perception of negative changes in the self and its functions that are accompanied by negative feelings. It is suggested that it can be meaningfully applied to the study of different mental states, life conditions, and transitions in life.

Maternal postpartum depression (PPD) exerts long-term negative effects on infants; yet the mechanisms by which PPD disrupts emotional development are not fully clear. Utilizing an extreme-case design, 971 women reported symptoms of depression and anxiety following childbirth and 215 high and low on depressive symptomatology reported again at 6 months. Of these, mothers diagnosed with major depressive disorder (n = 22), anxiety disorders (n = 19), and controls (n = 59) were visited at 9 months. Mother-infant interaction was microcoded for maternal and infant's social behavior and synchrony. Infant negative and positive emotional expression and self-regulation were tested in 4 emotion-eliciting paradigms: anger with mother, anger with stranger, joy with mother, and joy with stranger. Infants of depressed mothers displayed less social gaze and more gaze aversion. Gaze and touch synchrony were lowest for depressed mothers, highest for anxious mothers, and midlevel among controls. Infants of control and anxious mothers expressed less negative affect with mother compared with stranger; however, maternal presence failed to buffer negative affect in the depressed group. Maternal depression chronicity predicted increased self-regulatory behavior during joy episodes, and touch synchrony moderated the effects of PPD on infant self-regulation. Findings describe subtle microlevel processes by which maternal depression across the postpartum year disrupts the development of infant emotion regulation and suggest that diminished social synchrony, low differentiation of attachment and nonattachment contexts, and increased self-regulation during positive moments may chart pathways for the cross-generational transfer of emotional maladjustment from depressed mothers to their infants. (PsycINFO Database Record