Applied & preventive psychology : journal of the American Association of Applied and Preventive Psychology最新文献

Cognitive inhibition is a key mechanism in the regulation of emotion. There is emerging evidence that depression is characterized by deficits in the inhibition of mood-congruent material. These deficits could result in prolonged processing of negative, goal-irrelevant aspects of presented information thereby hindering recovery from negative mood and leading to the sustained negative affect that characterizes depressive episodes. Indeed, it has been suggested that deficits in cognitive inhibition lie at the heart of memory and attention biases in depression, and set the stage for ruminative responses to negative events and negative mood states. A ruminative response style results in a heightened vulnerability to experience episodes of major depression. Recent research has demonstrated that deficient inhibition of negative material is associated with heightened rumination. In this article, we review the depression literature with a focus on studies that investigate cognitive inhibition in depressed participants and in participants who report a history of major depressive episodes. In addition, we summarize neurobiological findings that indicate a strong relation between depression and deficits in inhibition and we take a closer look at the relation of inhibition, rumination and mood regulation.

One of the core deficits that characterizes schizophrenia is an increase in distractibility and disinhibition at all levels of information processing. Patients with schizophrenia seem unable to focus attention on the relevant events while ignoring the irrelevant stimuli. This pattern of behavior is also observed in unmedicated schizotypal individuals who may carry liability for schizophrenia. In this review, we focus on studies of attentional inhibition, as assessed by the negative priming paradigm, to elucidate the relationships among deficits in inhibition, clinical symptoms and medication effects. We then consider models of the etiology of deficits in negative priming in schizophrenia and schizotypal personality. Finally, we discuss the potential power of utilizing hypothesis-driven cognitive paradigms in psychiatric research.

Contributions to this special issue of Applied & Preventive Psychology richly elucidate connections between a variety of psychological disorders and performance in a number of tasks that are used to reason about inhibitory deficits. This commentary calls attention to the different uses of the concept of inhibition – vernacular, neural, operational, and theoretical – and suggests that the term cognitive control avoids claims about dampened memory representations that are difficult to support. Central findings from the reviews are summarized; evidence concerning suppression-induced forgetting is featured and directions to foster application are discussed.

The neural bases of inhibitory function are reviewed, covering data from paradigms assessing inhibition of motor responses (antisaccade, go/nogo, stop-signal), cognitive sets (e.g., Wisconsin Card Sort Test), and emotion (fear extinction). The frontal cortex supports performance on these paradigms, but the specific neural circuitry varies: response inhibition depends upon fronto-basal ganglia networks, inhibition of cognitive sets is supported by orbitofrontal cortex, and retention of fear extinction reflects ventromedial prefrontal cortex–amygdala interactions. Inhibition is thus neurobiologically heterogeneous, although right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex may support a general inhibitory process. Dysfunctions in these circuits may contribute to psychopathological conditions marked by inhibitory deficits.

Global aspects of emotion have been central to psychosocial theories of health and health behavior for several decades. A growing body of research has documented key roles for several broad affective constructs – notably anxiety, depression, and anger/hostility – in areas ranging from basic physiological processes, health behaviors, and symptom reporting, to screening and detection behaviors and decision making. Despite this growth, however, the emotions-health literature remains scattered. Mechanisms are poorly understood and several key emotions – embarrassment, disgust, guilt and hope – have scarcely been examined. In presenting the advantages of a discrete emotions perspective, the current report reviews and critiques data describing the relations between discrete emotions and health. It presents a developmental-functionalist framework within which to more systematically consider the links between emotions and health. It is suggested that discrete emotions perspectives provide guidance for understanding the physiological, motivational, and cognitive pathways linking emotions and health and thus their impact on health outcomes.

Results of existing literature suggest that the relationship between acculturation and mental health is complex. Some studies have found a beneficial association between increased acculturation and mental health, whereas others have found a detrimental association or no relationship at all. We reviewed literature on acculturation and mental health in Hispanics/Latino Americans, Asians/Asian Americans, and other ethnic groups. Results indicate that greater acculturation is associated with increased substance use and abuse. Findings for other disorders and symptoms demonstrate considerable heterogeneity and potential reasons for this variation are provided. Acculturation involves a complex set of processes that appear to have differential impact on mental health outcomes. Critical issues in the measurement of acculturation are discussed, and recommendations for future research are offered.

I provided a more personal view of Wachtel's (1980) article. I began by discussing the extent to which my own research program complied with his distinctive recommendations. After offering a different take on the impact of high productivity, I focused on (a) the negative effects of the quest for extramural funding and (b) the positive effects of a better balance between theoretical and empirical contributions. I then turn to some of my own theoretical and empirical studies of the place that theory has in successful science. This research suggests that theory only has a beneficial effect when it is integrative in function and when it is closely constrained by available data. I end with a speculation regarding the value of having theories that are maximally formal, even mathematical.

In this commentary on a classic article by Paul Wachtel on the importance of theoretical work in empirical research, the author expresses agreement that reward structures discourage the kind of theoretical speculation that may lead to new understandings of existing data and, even more critically, to new ways of formulating questions to be addressed in controlled research. Our students in particular need to be encouraged to reflect on what their own empirical research really means within the larger framework of trying to understand the world in psychological terms. New theories and paradigms do not emerge inevitably from a body of data. Rather, they represent creative insights whose sources are poorly understood and yet are overlooked at our risk.