Coronavirus disease 2019 has negatively affected the general population, and especially university undergraduates. Attending to and being aware of the present moment in an open, accepting and...Show moreCoronavirus disease 2019 has negatively affected the general population, and especially university undergraduates. Attending to and being aware of the present moment in an open, accepting and compassionate manner (i.e. mindfulness) has been shown to decrease depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms, and increase positive affect. In our present study, we used network analysis to examine the associations between anxiety, depression, stress, mindfulness and joy. An observational research design was used with a convenience sample of 66 undergraduate students aged 18 to 34 years who completed an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) on their phones. They were asked eight questionsーtwo psychological constructs and six subclinical psychopathology symptomsーfour times a day for two weeks. Network analysis resulted in temporal and contemporaneous network models, indicating that mindfulness at time t does not significantly predict any variable at later time t+1 on the temporal level. At the contemporaneous level, mindfulness is associated with depression, anxiety, stress, and joy. Given the limitations of the present study and the hypothesis generating nature of network analysis, we conclude that the significant partial correlations between mindfulness, psychological well-being and joy in the contemporaneous network may indicate potential causal relations worth following up on in future research.Show less
Background. Student populations show higher prevalence rates of procrastination and symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression compared to the general population. Previous research found evidence...Show moreBackground. Student populations show higher prevalence rates of procrastination and symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression compared to the general population. Previous research found evidence for an association between mental health and procrastination. The current study investigated the association of procrastination with mental health problems using the network perspective and dealt with the question whether procrastination is a state or a trait. Methods. We used Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) to collect data from 79 undergraduate students from Dutch universities. Our participants answered questions concerning procrastination and symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression four times a day over a time course of two weeks. We estimated contemporaneous and temporal networks to gain insight in the dynamic connections between these constructs. Moreover, we assessed procrastination with a questionnaire before and after two weeks and compared both assessments in order to investigate if procrastination categorizes as a state or a trait. Results. We found significant contemporaneous associations of procrastination with symptoms of anxiety and depression and a temporal association between procrastination and anxiety. Pre- and posttest on procrastination did not differ significantly. Conclusions. Symptoms of anxiety and depression co-occur at the same point in time and procrastination is a predictor for anxiety symptoms. The pre- and posttest results indicated no change of procrastination over time. However, the dynamic network analysis indicated fluctuations of procrastination over time and situation. We concluded that procrastination exists at trait and state level. It is important to mention that data collection took place during the Covid-19 outbreak.Show less
Previous research has investigated the association between hunger and mental health. Although constructs such as stress, anxiety and depression have been indeed found to be related to appetite,...Show morePrevious research has investigated the association between hunger and mental health. Although constructs such as stress, anxiety and depression have been indeed found to be related to appetite, results are often contradictory and point to different causal directions. The present study investigates such associations in a student population of 84 individuals, by means of an Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) method. Participants’ perceived levels of stress, anxiety, depression and hunger were recorded four times per day, during a two-weeks period. In addition, before accessing the study, students had to fill in a baseline assessment, which allowed for a further investigation of the relationship between trait and state hunger. A network approach was utilized for the first statistical analysis, allowing for the depiction of contemporaneous, temporal and between-subjects network, whilst a linear regression analysis was used to compare hunger data at baseline and during EMA. Results failed to replicate previous findings concerning appetite and mental health, as for all networks, hunger was not associated with any other variable of interest. However, we were able to identify a linear relationship between trait and state hunger, with the former being a significant positive predictor of the latter.Show less
Background: Research indicates that probiotics, specific strains of beneficial bacteria, are beneficial against anxiety and depression. There are indications that a potential mechanism behind this...Show moreBackground: Research indicates that probiotics, specific strains of beneficial bacteria, are beneficial against anxiety and depression. There are indications that a potential mechanism behind this might be that probiotics alter interoception and the way we respond to our body needs, which is reflected in interoception. Both critically influence anxiety and depression. Objective: The present study aimed to test whether administering probiotics over a period of four weeks increases the degree of interoception and adaptive responding to body needs in healthy individuals. Also, anxiety and depression were measured. Confirming an increase in the degree of interoception and adaptive responding would show that probiotics trigger a mechanism that reduces anxiety and depression. Design: The study was set up as a randomized, tripleblinded, placebo-controlled within/between subject (placebo versus probiotics), pre- and postintervention assessment design. 89 healthy participants without diagnosed mood or anxiety disorders, aged 18-35 years, received multispecies (diverse strains) probiotics or placebo supplementation over four weeks. In the pre- and post-intervention, degree of interoceptive awareness, adaptive responses, depression, and anxiety. Results: There were no significant changes on any measure, but one unexpected decrease in adaptive responding for the probiotics group. Conclusion: It cannot be concluded that probiotics increase the degree of interoceptive awareness and adaptive responding. Moreover, the results suggest that anxiety and depression are not influenced by probiotics in a healthy sample. However, insights from other research suggests that the effect might be stronger in a depressed and anxious sample. Further research is needed to see whether probiotics might affect interoception and adaptive responding differently in depressed and anxious individuals.Show less
According to the WHO, depression is one of the major causes of disability worldwide. However, the understanding of the disorder remains incomplete. Recently, antibiotic use has been associated with...Show moreAccording to the WHO, depression is one of the major causes of disability worldwide. However, the understanding of the disorder remains incomplete. Recently, antibiotic use has been associated with the onset of mood disorders. It is assumed that microbiota-gut-brain interactions are partly managed by the immune system. Accordingly, this study aimed to clarify the correlations between antibiotic-induced microbial dysbiosis, cognitive reactivity to sad mood (CRSM), and concentration of the antibody secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA). Participants, which finished an antibiotic treatment within the past three months (n = 47), were compared to control participants (n = 60). Participants’ CRSM was measured using the Leiden Index of Depression Sensitivity (LEIDS-R). Antibody levels of salivary sIgA were investigated by obtaining saliva samples from the participants. Results indicated that antibiotic use was not associated with remarkable differences in sIgA concentration or depression sensitivity, i.e. CRSM. However, based on exploratory observations the preliminary idea of antibiotic use resulting in sex-specific responses was developed and is proposed valuable to be investigated in future research. Moreover, it was examined if antibiotic use can be considered a moderator in the relation between sIgA concentration and CRSM. Antibiotic use did not display a moderating role and CRSM was not predicted by sIgA concentration. The findings within this study were limited by a reduced dataset of sIgA concentrations. Ultimately, in contrast to the hypothesized outcome antibiotic-induced microbial dysbiosis was not associated with a decreased sIgA concentration or increased depression sensitivity of healthy individuals within this study. To clarify the correlation between the microbiota-immune-brain axis, antibiotic use, and mental health future research is needed.Show less
Background. Anger is experienced in various mental disorders. Based on increased mental health problems in students and the adversity of the coronavirus pandemic, (1) the relations between anger,...Show moreBackground. Anger is experienced in various mental disorders. Based on increased mental health problems in students and the adversity of the coronavirus pandemic, (1) the relations between anger, depression, anxiety, stress, and being occupied with COVID-19 were explored. As traits predict interpersonal events and states identify events under situational control, it was investigated (2) if baseline trait anger predicted average state anger during a period of self-isolation to test if anger levels were determined by general tendencies, and (3) if trait and average state anger differed within and between men and women to test if the groups were affected differently by situational factors. Methods. (1) Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) data was collected from 79 undergraduates from Dutch universities, with surveys prompted via smartphone four times daily for 14 days. Contemporaneous, temporal, and between-subjects networks were computed. (2) In a multiple regression analysis, average EMA state anger was regressed on trait anger while controlling for gender, age, depression, anxiety, and stress. (3) A mixed-design analysis of covariance included standardized type of anger as a within-factor and gender as a between-factor while controlling for differences in mental health. Results. (1) Contemporaneously, anger was positively associated with irritability, feeling nervous and anhedonia. Temporally, anger and irritability positively predicted each other. Anger positively predicted difficulty to relax and itself. Between-subjects, anger was positively associated with irritability and feeling nervous but negatively with being occupied with COVID-19. (2) Trait anger did not significantly predict average EMA anger, whereas the covariate stress did. (3) Despite significantly lower trait anger compared to women, men displayed significantly increased average EMA anger in relation to their trait levels. Trait and average EMA anger did not differ within women. Conclusion. EMA anger was persistently related to stress, less likely to be the source or recipient of activation compared to other constructs, not strongly linked to trait, and increased in relation to trait levels only in the male group. Differences between our healthy participants and a clinical sample encourage an investigation of anger in phase transitions towards psychopathology and its potentially adaptive effects in healthy individuals.Show less
Although ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is increasingly used in clinical and research settings due to its high ecological validity, low compliance rates still hinder its full fruition....Show moreAlthough ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is increasingly used in clinical and research settings due to its high ecological validity, low compliance rates still hinder its full fruition. Inconsistency in which predictors interfere with EMA compliance persists. As students frequently suffer from mental health problems, we as a Bachelor project group conducted an EMA study measuring mental health and related behaviors in 84 Bachelor students of Dutch universities via a smartphone application. The study consisted of a baseline assessment, a two-week-long EMA with four measurements per day, and a post-assessment. My goal was to explore whether mental health and self-efficacy predict EMA compliance and whether self-efficacy mediates the relationship between mental health and compliance? I computed a multiple linear regression model and mediation analysis with bootstrapping using the program “PROCESS” (Hayes, 2009) on IBM SPSS Statistics, version 24. The dependent variable was compliance, derived from the percentage completed EMA surveys, and the independent variables were mental health and self-efficacy at baseline, where the latter ran as the mediator between mental health and compliance. I added age and gender as covariates. Results depicted a mean EMA compliance rate of 83.9% with minimal time variations. No predictor was significantly related to EMA compliance (R 2 = 0%). The mediation analysis showed non-significant direct and indirect paths with compliance. This demonstrates that students generally complied well with the EMA and did not systematically miss EMA reports based on their mental health and self-efficacy, which is promising for future EMA use.Show less
Background: It is well established that social contact is related to mental health. Previous research has shown that the quantity and quality of social interactions are associated with the...Show moreBackground: It is well established that social contact is related to mental health. Previous research has shown that the quantity and quality of social interactions are associated with the development, course and severity of mental disorders, such as anxiety and depression. Less is known about the psychological effects of social contact during a pandemic. Method: The current study investigates the dynamic associations among offline social interactions, depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms in undergraduates from a Dutch university (N=79; 75.95% female; MAge =20.37) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) was used for the data collection. A short online questionnaire was prompted via smartphone four times a day for two consecutive weeks. Multilevel vector autoregressive models were used for the network analysis and centrality indices were calculated. Results: We found significant dynamic associations among the duration of offline social contact and depression symptoms only. The absence of pleasure was associated with less offline social interactions, and vice versa. Having nothing to look forward to was predictive of less offline social contact three hours later. Social contact scored the lowest on centrality indices in our sample. Conclusion: Altogether, we found the duration of offline social contact to be partially related to mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results, strengths and limitations are discussed. Examining the dynamic associations among mental health and social contact can provide novel insights into the development and maintenance of mental health issues.Show less