Search

The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the final year of undergraduate medical education for thousands of medical students across the globe. Out of concern for spreading SARS-CoV-2 and conserving personal protective equipment, many students experienced declines in bedside clinical exposures. The perceived competency of this class within the context of the pandemic is unclear. We designed and distributed a survey to measure the degree to which recent medical school graduates from the USA felt clinically prepared on 13 core clinical skills. Of the 1283 graduates who matched at HCA Healthcare facilities, 90% (1156) completed the survey. In this national survey, most participants felt they were competent in their clinical skills. However, approximately one out of four soon-to-be residents felt they were clinically below where they should be with regard to calling consultations, performing procedures, and performing pelvic and rectal exams. One in five felt they were below where they should be with regard to safely transitioning care. These perceived deficits in important skill sets suggest the need for evaluation and revised educational approaches in these areas, especially when traditional in-person practical skills teaching and practice are disrupted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social scientists have long agreed that satisficing behavior increases error and reduces the validity of survey data. There have been numerous reviews on detecting satisficing behavior, but preventing this behavior has received less attention. The current narrative review provides empirically supported guidance on preventing satisficing by combining insight from related research streams (e.g. careless responding, random responding, insufficient effort responding, inattentive responding, straightlining, speeding). By uniting what is known about this broad range of problematic responding, a suite of preventive techniques can be highlighted, thus maximizing the utility of these literatures for researchers and practitioners. To optimize the contributions of this review, we complement the benefits of suggested preventive approaches with the potential drawbacks of taking the proposed steps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past research indicates that self-distancing through perspective-taking may increase help-seeking intentions among some people with depression. The current pre-registered study tested the effect of self-distancing through mental time-travel on help-seeking attitudes, intentions, outcome expectations, and self-stigma. Participants with elevated depressive symptomatology who had not yet sought help for current feelings of depression (n = 859) were randomly assigned to a self-distancing writing task, a self-immersive writing task, or a control condition. Help-seeking attitudes were significantly higher in the distancing condition than in the immersive or control conditions. Additionally, self-distancing through mental time-travel resulted in higher help-seeking intentions compared to the control condition but was not significantly different from the immersive condition. The immersive condition was not significantly different from the control for any outcomes. Interactions show that both self-distancing and the immersive task weakened the negative relationship between depression severity and help-seeking attitudes and intentions. Extending scholarship investigating self-distancing and help-seeking intentions, results show that self-distancing through mental time-travel can result in more favorable help-seeking attitudes compared to a control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression is a treatable condition; unfortunately, many do not seek help. Depression public service announcements (D-PSAs) are one means of increasing help-seeking behavior. However, as Beck's cognitive theory of depression indicates, it can be challenging to persuade people with depression. Although there have been successful D-PSAs, some have been ineffective or led to boomerang effects. With the goal of providing guidance for future messages, we use a mixed-methods approach to assess how people with heightened depressive symptomatology perceive motivations and barriers regarding help-seeking. Study 1 participants (N = 186), with and without depressive symptomatology, provided motivations and barriers to seeking help for depression. Study 1's qualitative analysis determined 112 motivations and 124 barriers to help-seeking. Study 2 participants (N= 214), all with heightened depressive symptomatology, rated the motivations and barriers from Study 1 on their attitude function, importance, awareness, and argument strength. This insight guided successful D-PSA creation in a follow-up study, reported elsewhere. The methodological approach utilized, and the specific motivations and barriers revealed, will ideally assist scholars and practitioners seeking to develop future D-PSAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars have warned that mental health anti-stigma campaigns targeting the general public can possibly be detrimental to some who are stigmatized. Scholars also have noted that people with depression respond to some public service announcements (PSAs) differently than those without. Accordingly, the current study explored whether anti-stigma PSAs targeting the general public could cause problematic outcomes for people with depression. Participants with (n = 55) and without (n = 133) heightened depressive symptomatology viewed two mental health anti-stigma PSAs. Participants provided thoughts about the PSAs through a single, open-ended question. To allow for an assessment of convergence, participants rated overall favorability toward each PSA through a close-ended item. Results indicated that most qualitative responses were favorable; however, 23.6% of respondents with heightened depressive symptomatology, compared to 1.5% without, provided responses coded as indicating that at least one PSA caused unintended negative affect, χ2(1) = 25.96, [Formula: see text] p < .001. Evidence of untoward effects primarily came from the Friend PSA and the qualitative responses indicate how this occurred. Moreover, complementing the qualitative coding, the Friend PSA was rated less favorably by participants with heightened depressive symptomatology (M = 5.00, SD = 1.67), than those without (M = 5.64, SD = 1.44), F(1, 186) = 6.99, p = .009, ηp2 = .036. There were no significant differences in quantitative favorability ratings regarding the Labeling PSA. Indicating that further investigation is warranted, results suggest it is possible for an anti-stigma PSA targeting the general public to cause unintended negative affect among some people with depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prosociality is a critical issue in behavioral research. In this investigation, we developed a measure of prosocial behavioral intentions. Qualitative responses from two surveys (n = 465) and items from existing measures were used to generate a list of prosocial behaviors in which people might intend to engage. We factor analyzed responses to these items (n = 319) and retained the most common and representative items. The new measure demonstrated adequate internal consistency (n = 247, 147; α =.81,.83); convergent validity with past prosocial behavior (r =.51,.43), moral identity (r =.50,.55), and materialism (r = –.30, –.20). The instrument also predicted prosocial behavior while controlling for a prior measure of prosocial intentions, Exp(B) = 1.99, Wald = 10.59, p =.001, thereby demonstrating incremental predictive validity. This 4-item scale could be used across contexts to advance the study of prosociality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Responding to burgeoning scholarship examining discrete positive emotions, the overarching goals of the current review are to provide a summary of 28 enjoyable emotions and to offer an initial classification of these emotions into families. The families of discrete enjoyable emotions, many proposed for the first time, are as follows: (1) Self-praising emotions (authentic pride, fiero, naches, feeling respected), (2) other-praising emotions (admiration, elevation, gratitude, inspiration), (3) past-oriented emotions (forgiveness, nostalgia, relief), (4) future-oriented emotions (anticipatory enthusiasm, courage, determination, hope), (5) hazardous emotions (lust, schadenfreude, hubristic pride), (6) affectionate emotions (love, attachment love, tenderness, positive empathy), (7) arousal-defined emotions (euphoria, serenity), (8) violation-elicited emotions (amusement, awe, curiosity, positive surprise).This review describes how the 28 enjoyable emotions were selected, outlines the classification process generating the families of enjoyable emotions, provides a brief summary of current scholarship on each emotion, and concludes with a discussion of fertile future directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current experimental study assessed the utility, and potential harm, of depression public service announcements (D-PSAs) that were matched, moderately matched, or mismatched based on attitude function (i.e., social-adjustive or object-appraisal) and either one-sided or refutational two-sided. US adults (N = 567) with mild to severe depressive symptomatology were randomly assigned to view control messages or one set of D-PSAs. Results indicate that functionally matched D-PSAs, regardless of message sidedness, caused more favorable help-seeking outcome expectations, attitudes, and intentions compared to the control messages. Exposure to the mismatched D-PSAs, particularly refutational, led to less-favorable help-seeking outcome expectations, attitudes, and intentions compared with the control condition. Help-seeking outcomes among those exposed to the moderately matched messages were not significantly different from those exposed to the control messages, with the exception of those exposed to the one-sided moderately matched messages. The one-sided moderately matched messages resulted in lower help-seeking intentions than the control messages. Overall, results indicate that if messages can be tailored to match the recipients' attitude functions, help-seeking outcomes among people with heightened depressive symptomatology can be increased. However, the results also indicate that some D-PSAs can have negative effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term elevation (also referred to as moral elevation), described by Thomas Jefferson and later coined by Jonathan Haidt, refers to the suite of feelings people may experience when witnessing an instance of moral beauty. The construct of elevation signifies the emotion felt when a person is a witness to, but not a recipient of, the moral behavior of others. Scholarship examining elevation has burgeoned since Haidt first introduced the construct. Researchers have explored the antecedents of, and outcomes associated with, witnessing instances of moral beauty. The current review will outline the existing scholarship on elevation, highlight conflicting findings, point out critical gaps in the current state of elevation research, and delineate fertile future directions for basic and applied research. Continued investigation of the affective, motivational, and behavioral responses associated with witnessing virtuous actions of others is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three online studies assessed a new approach for increasing help seeking among people with depressive symptomatology (i.e. a positive emotion infusion, PEI). A PEI refers to the induction of positive emotion such that people’s mindsets – including perceptions of help-seeking – are temporarily altered. Study 1 (n = 382) indicated that help-seeking intentions are negatively correlated with depressive symptomatology and positively correlated with elevation and gratitude. Studies 2 and 3 implemented fully randomized experimental designs. In Study 2, two elevation-based (Study 2a, n = 285) and two gratitude-based (Study 2b, n = 338) emotion inductions increased levels of elevation and gratitude, respectively. Results of Study 3a (n = 390) indicate a causal relationship between experiencing the story-based elevation induction and increased help-seeking intentions. The two gratitude-based PEIs (Study 3b, n = 466) were unsuccessful at influencing help-seeking; auxiliary analyses indicate the possibility of iatrogenic effects. Overall, the potential of PEIs was indicated, as was need for caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mental illness (MI) affects one in four people in their lifetime and a failure to seek help for MI can have grave consequences. To decrease stigma and increase help seeking, prior campaigns have promoted the biological origins of MI. Even though some research supports the efficacy of this approach, other research does not. We propose cultural differences as a partial explanation for these inconsistent results. The current study assessed ethnic differences in the relationship between perceived causes of MI, shame associated with MI and perceived family support for help seeking. White and South Asian American (SAA) undergraduate students completed an online survey (n = 177). Results indicated that SAAs were significantly more likely than whites to perceive character deficits as the cause of MI. Further, among those who had sought help for MI, ethnic differences emerged in perceptions of MI based on perceived cause. SAAs who believed that MI had biological origins perceived more shame and less family support for seeking help compared to SAAs who believed MI was due to character deficits. The converse was true for whites – those who believed that MI had biological origins perceivedlessshame andmorefamily support for help seeking compared to whites who believed MI was due to character deficits. The results of the current study illuminate the role that culture plays in perceptions of MI. Further, these results have implications for interventions targeting South Asian populations and for mental health outreach in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars across multiple domains have identified the presence of inconsistency-arousing information in direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertisements and have suggested that these appeals, which highlight differences between people's actual and desired lives, may create psychological disequilibrium. However, experimental assessment of the distinct influence of inconsistency-arousing information in this domain is rare. Guided by goal disruption theory—a framework that outlines people's reactions to goal expectation violations—we created direct-to-consumer advertisements designed to make people's life inconsistencies salient. The influence of these ads on people's perceptions of, and intentions to use, prescription drugs was then assessed. Results from a structural equation modeling analysis supported the proposed model, indicating that compared to a control ad, an ad containing a goal expectation violation manipulation resulted in higher levels of psychological disequilibrium; in turn, psychological disequilibrium led to positive evaluations of the ad and the drug, positive outcome expectations of the drug, increased purposive harm endurance, and increased usage intentions. The current results suggest a psychological pathway that begins with a negative goal expectation violation and ends with increased usage intentions and a greater willingness to endure harm to make use possible. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Campaigns seeking to help people with depression can be effective, but they can also backfire. Psychological reactance is proposed as a partial explanation. Two experimental studies examined the effect of two depression messages (i.e., autonomy-supportive language, controlling language) for participants (n = 2027,n = 777) with varying levels of depressive symptomatology. For Study 1, two versions of a print public service announcement about seeking help for depression served as the experimental stimulus. Study 2 used an existing video public service announcement about seeking help for depression, but the text was altered to create the two conditions. In both studies, increased depressive symptomatology was associated with reduced help-seeking attitudes and intentions, as well as greater state reactance to a public service announcement about depression. Increased state reactance mediated the relationship between increased depressive symptomology and unfavorable help-seeking outcomes. Further, across the two studies, participants with high levels of depressive symptomatology who were exposed to the autonomy-supportive language ad reported either as much, or more, state reactance than participants with high levels of depressive symptomatology who were in the control condition. These results warn that language perceived as autonomy-supportive by people without depression might be perceived as controlling among people with depression. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Elevation has garnered empirical support as the emotional response to witnessing moral beauty. The current studies investigated elevation’s construct validity by experimentally testing whether feelings of elevation are distinct from gratitude, another moral and ‘other-praising’ emotion. Study 1 demonstrated that feelings of elevation are distinct from gratitude, serenity (i.e. a secondary comparison condition), and boredom (i.e. a control condition). Study 2 added a behavioral outcome measure in the form of monetary donations to a moral charity. The third study expanded on Study 2 by randomly assigning participants to an elevation or gratitude mood induction and then randomly assigning them to have the opportunity to donate to either a moral or an amoral charity. Together, these studies support Haidt’s conceptualization of elevation, clarify Algoe and Haidt’s qualitative assessment of the emotional differences between elevation and gratitude, and reveal that elevation results in different behavioral responses than gratitude. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mentoring is a prosocial behavior in which an experienced person guides someone with less experience. Elevation refers to the responses elicited when a person witnesses others upholding the highest standards of moral virtue. Three experimental studies bring these two domains together. For all three studies, participants were randomly assigned to either read a story of someone exhibiting moral excellence or to a control condition. Participants in the elevation condition reported feeling more elevated, more positive attitudes toward mentoring, less negative attitudes toward mentoring, greater intentions to become a mentor (Study 1); an increased proclivity to gather information about becoming a mentor (Study 2a); and, an increased tendency to engage in mentoring directly via submitting advice to students (Study 2b). In their totality, the current studies link another prosocial outcome with elevation and demonstrate a condition under which individuals are more likely to be motivated to become a mentor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This quasi-experimental secondary analysis, funded by NIDA, employed data from a national sample of 1,968 US adolescents, collected from 1999 to 2003, self-classified as resolutely anti-marijuana on the first two yearly assessments (T1 and 2). At T3, respondents remained resolute non-users, or had moved to vulnerable non-use or use. Analysis of variance indicated that users at T3 were significantly heavier users of tobacco and alcohol, and reported significantly less intense parental monitoring, than those who did not initiate marijuana use. Furthermore, categorizing non-users as either resolute or vulnerable revealed behavioral patterns that otherwise would have been unidentified. Implications for prevention are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, vested interest theory categorized individuals as highly vested if the attitude object affected the attitude holder directly. The predictive reach of the theory might be increased by explicitly expanding the definition of vested interest to include circumstances in which individualsindirectlyaffected by the issue under consideration are defined as vested. This expansion was prompted by research on interpersonal relationships indicating that as interpersonal closeness increases, so too does inclusion-of-the-other-in-the-self. Two experiments focusing on different issues using different modes of data collection and disparate participant samples supported the proposed theoretical expansion. Study 1 showed the range of the construct could be amplified by expanding the definition of vested interest to encompass individuals who were indirectly affected by the attitude object. Study 2 replicated this result and showed that interpersonal closeness moderated the attitude–behavior relationship, consistent with expectations based on the vested interest model. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Approximately 36% of HIV cases are related to substance abuse. Substance abusers, including non-injection drug users, are at a high-risk for contracting HIV due to risky behaviors, including unprotected sex. Due to these behavioral and infection risks, feasible interventions that focus on condom use within this population are imperative. The current study involved the development of brief intervention designed to increase implementation intentions (situation-linked action plans) to use condoms in convicted non-violent drug offenders participating in drug diversion programs in Southern California. Participants (n= 143) were randomized at the individual level to either waitlist control or experimental conditions. The randomized waitlist control group received the HIV survey for the pre-test before the intervention, while the experimental group received a neutral, non-HIV-related, survey at pre-test. The experimental group received the HIV survey as the post-test after the intervention (waitlist control group received the neutral, non-HIV-related, survey). One-tailed Mann Whitney U tests were used to compare the waitlist control and experimental groups. The experimental group was more likely to report stronger implementation intentions to use condoms (p<0.001). These results indicate in the short term that a brief, easily disseminated HIV intervention can be effective for increasing implementation intentions to use condoms in an extremely high HIV-risk population. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Elevation refers to the feeling experienced when a moral act is witnessed. The current study sought to illuminate elevation by examining conditions under which elevation is amplified. Study 1 demonstrated that the character of the recipient of the moral deed moderates the relationship between witnessing a moral deed and experiencing elevation. Study 2 replicated the first and included a behavioral outcome measure: donation behavior. Study 3 considered an additional factor: the immoral act. Finally, to ensure the character of the recipient is not the sole moderator, Study 4 experimentally tested a second moderating variable (i.e. the effort required for completing the moral act). As a whole, these four studies consistently support Haidt’s conceptualization of elevation, open the door for a new path of theoretical exploration, and introduce a new line of applied research seeking to maximize prosocial behavior by exposing people to acts of morality. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With an eye toward future primary prevention efforts, this study explores perceptions of inhalant utility among young adolescents in the United States. The study makes use of data gathered via nine focus groups conducted in Tucson, Arizona in 2004 (N = 47, mean age = 13.2 years). Three main themes emerged concerning the perceived utility of inhalant use: (1) Inhalant use as a means of mental escape, (2) Inhalant use as a social tool, and (3) Inhalant use as a parental relations tool. Additionally, participants discussed an interaction hypothesis regarding inhalant use and popularity. Implications for future research are suggested and limitations described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]