This study investigates the effectiveness of the 'i-Sleep & BioClock' digital cognitive-behavioral therapy intervention in reducing insomnia severity and anxiety symptoms among university...Show moreThis study investigates the effectiveness of the 'i-Sleep & BioClock' digital cognitive-behavioral therapy intervention in reducing insomnia severity and anxiety symptoms among university students with self-reported sleep problems. Utilizing a Single-Arm Open Pilot Trial design, 216 participants from Dutch universities, aged ≥ 16 years were included. Participants followed the intervention over five weeks and 64 participants answered the post-test questionnaire in week 7. Standardized questionnaires assessed insomnia severity (Insomnia Severity Index), anxiety symptoms (Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale), and chronotype (Munich Chronotype Questionnaire) at baseline and post-intervention. Results indicate significant reductions in insomnia severity and anxiety symptoms from baseline to post-intervention, with large and small to moderate effect sizes, respectively. Although the moderating role of chronotype was nonsignificant, findings suggest that individuals with intermediate chronotypes experienced the most significant change in insomnia symptoms. Limitations include the absence of a control group and a notable dropout rate. This study underscores the promising efficacy of digital interventions for addressing sleep and anxiety issues among university students, advocating for further research to optimize intervention strategies and enhance treatment outcomes.Show less
In this research the effects of childhood scarcity on adult inhibition and task switching while being in a current scarcity mindset, were explored. The hypotheses were based on the life history...Show moreIn this research the effects of childhood scarcity on adult inhibition and task switching while being in a current scarcity mindset, were explored. The hypotheses were based on the life history theory, an evolutionary perspective on learning adaptive behaviors in the childhood environment to adjust to similar situations in later life, and previous research by Mittal et al (2015). Mittal et al. (2015) observed positive effects of childhood unpredictability on switching scores. In this current research it was hypothesized that childhood scarcity has a main effect on inhibition scores, such that high childhood scarcity is related to lower performance on an inhibition task. It was also hypothesized that childhood scarcity has a main effect on switching scores, such that high childhood scarcity is related to higher performance on a switching task. Furthermore, these effects were expected to be moderated by whether a scarcity mindset is activated. This moderation effect was indicated by participants having experienced childhood scarcity to perform better on switching, but worse on inhibition tasks only with an activated current scarcity mindset. This effect was not expected when a current scarcity mindset is not activated. All hypotheses were rejected: no effect of childhood scarcity on adult switching and inhibition was found, and no moderation for this effect was detected.Show less
Background. The elderly population affected by dementia is rapidly increasing, and this rise may lead to more requests for end-of-life interventions like euthanasia, a debated topic worldwide....Show moreBackground. The elderly population affected by dementia is rapidly increasing, and this rise may lead to more requests for end-of-life interventions like euthanasia, a debated topic worldwide. Despite legal restrictions, studies show diverse views on euthanasia acceptability among Japanese and US physicians. Factors like country of practice, religious beliefs, and attitudes toward death have been associated with euthanasia acceptability. Thus, this research aimed to investigate the relationship between country of practice, religion, and attitudes towards death in relation to euthanasia acceptability, while accounting for the influence of age and gender. Methods. The study used a cross-cultural mixed-method design and included 75 participants aged 26 to 71 years. Three separate logistic regression analyses were conducted to measure the influence of these factors on euthanasia acceptability separately. Additionally, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis examined whether the relationship between country of practice and euthanasia acceptability was moderated by religion. Results. The results did not reveal any significant associations between country of practice, religion, attitudes towards death, and euthanasia acceptability. However, there was a significant association between gender and euthanasia acceptability, and results showed that males were more likely to not accept euthanasia as an end-of-life intervention compared to females. Moreover, results showed that the relationship between country of practice and euthanasia acceptability was not moderated by religion. Conclusion. In conclusion, this study suggests that country of practice, attitudes towards death and religiousness, may not be decisive factors in determining euthanasia acceptability, while gender could play a more influential role. These findings serve as an initial step toward understanding the diverse effects of cultural factors on euthanasia acceptability across different countries.Show less
Alcohol use and perceived social support are both predictors of cognitive performance in adolescents. However, it is unclear how these predictors influence cognitive performance in adolescents who...Show moreAlcohol use and perceived social support are both predictors of cognitive performance in adolescents. However, it is unclear how these predictors influence cognitive performance in adolescents who have a parent with a mood disorder. The objective of the study is to better understand these predictors in the offspring of parents with mood disorders, in order to improve future interventions to enhance cognitive performance in high-risk offspring. Hypotheses posited a negative association between alcohol use and cognitive performance, a positive association between perceived social support and cognitive performance, and the idea that social support would attenuate alcohol's negative impact on cognition. This observational study had a cross-sectional design. The study included 104 participants with an age range of 13 to 25 years old. It was known that 57 participants had a parent with a mood disorder, which were called the ‘high-risk’ sample. At the time of the study, it was still unknown if the remaining participants had a parent with a mood disorder or not. Therefore, all hypotheses were tested for the whole group and a sensitivity analysis was conducted as well, comprising the high-risk sample. Cognitive performance was measured with a subtask from the WISC-V and WAIS-IV. Alcohol use and perceived social support were measured using self-report questionnaires. Three hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed to assess all three hypotheses in the whole sample and in the high-risk sample. In the whole sample, our results showed no significant association between alcohol use and cognitive performance, no significant association between perceived social support and cognitive performance, and a higher perceived social support did not attenuate the effect alcohol use had on cognitive performance. Subsequently, we also conducted the sensitivity analysis and our results showed no significant associations in all three hierarchical multiple regressions as well. This means that the current study did not find evidence that alcohol use and perceived social support are associated with cognitive performance in high-risk offspring. This inconclusive evidence implicates the need for thorough methodology and design set-up when researching predictors of cognitive performance.Show less
Reading and writing are important skills in life. However, children with dyslexia, a neurodevelopmental learning disorder with a genetic basis, have difficulty with these skills. Dynamic assessment...Show moreReading and writing are important skills in life. However, children with dyslexia, a neurodevelopmental learning disorder with a genetic basis, have difficulty with these skills. Dynamic assessment might be a better predictor of children’s cognitive abilities and reading and writing skills than static tests. Dynamic assessment is based on the idea that learning is a social proces and uses feedback. This study investigated the effectiveness of dynamic assessment on reading and writing performance, specifically phonemic awareness, prosodic awareness and spelling, and whether there were group differences between dyslexic and non dyslexic children, and boys and girls. The participants included 91 children aged seven to nine, with 45.1% diagnosed with dyslexia. The participants were divided in an experimental condition with a pretest-training-posttest design, and a control condition with a pretestposttest-training design. It was found that the children in the experimental condition improved more over time than the children in the control condition on prosodic awareness. No group differences were found in the effectiveness of the dynamic test. These results show that the dynamic test can be an effective tool in education for increasing the reading and writing skills in children and examining their learning potential.Show less
The behavioural overlap observed between developmental dyslexia and other neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) such as ADHD and ASD is an ongoing topic of research. The complexity of these...Show moreThe behavioural overlap observed between developmental dyslexia and other neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) such as ADHD and ASD is an ongoing topic of research. The complexity of these conditions, coupled with the overlap in behavioural characteristics, contributes to the challenge of accurately diagnosing dyslexia. Consequently, there is a prevalent tendency for learning disabilities such as dyslexia to be underdiagnosed. This study aims to examine whether there are specific cognitive impairments attributable to dyslexia, that are not observed in NDDs in general. The answer to this question was examined by comparing the cognitive profile of children diagnosed with a NDD and dyslexia to children diagnosed with a NDD but not dyslexia. The WISC-V was administered to 57 children aged between 7 and 16 years. The findings of this study showed no differences in the frequency of a deviant IQ profile between children with a NDD, with or without (suspected) dyslexia. In addition, the results showed no stronger relative weakness on the indexes of working memory, verbal comprehension, and processing speed for children with dyslexia compared to children with a NDD but not dyslexia. To conclude, the current study found no evidence for specific cognitive impairments attributable to dyslexia. Due to the small sample size in this study, further conclusions cannot be drawn from these results. Since the obtained results contradict the results of previous studies, a follow-up study to gain more knowledge about the cognitive profile of dyslexia in co-occurrence with other NDDs is advised.Show less
Empathy is known as a multidimensional construct, and it is found to be highly important in parenting. Parents have been found to experience different empathic responses towards their children,...Show moreEmpathy is known as a multidimensional construct, and it is found to be highly important in parenting. Parents have been found to experience different empathic responses towards their children, including differences in emotional reactions, understanding their children’s feelings, and abilities in providing support and care in times of distress. Less is known about how parents’ mental well-being influences their levels of empathic distress towards their adolescent children. This study explored the relationship between parental well-being, specifically levels of anxiety and depression, and empathic distress experienced by parents in response to the suffering of their adolescent children. Additionally, the moderating influence of parental gender on this relationship was taken into account. A multiple linear regression analysis was employed. Significantly, maternal gender played a more prominent role in predicting empathic distress, regardless of the anxiety and depression scores. This highlights the notion that mothers and fathers may respond differently to empathic distress cues. These results emphasize the complexity of parental empathic distress and the multifaceted factors influencing its expression. This study contributes to the understanding of parental empathic responses and their connection to parental well-being and gender. These findings hold implications for mental health interventions aiding family dynamics, offering insights into gender roles, and how parents’ mental well-being is linked to their empathic responses.Show less
Optimizing cognitive functions has become increasingly popular with new measures, such as prolonged fasting, while these often lack scientific support. Fasting causes the body to switch from...Show moreOptimizing cognitive functions has become increasingly popular with new measures, such as prolonged fasting, while these often lack scientific support. Fasting causes the body to switch from glucose as the primary energy supply to ketones, setting into motion a chain of alterations of underlying mechanisms affecting cognition. Here, it has been hypothesized that cognitive functions decrease when fasting while the metabolic switch is incomplete, however, once the switch is complete, cognitive functions increase. Furthermore, the influence of physical features has been hypothesized to modulate cognitive functions via mechanisms impacting prolonged fasting. Using an online task-switching task, changes in task-switching abilities throughout a 72-hour fast have been investigated, as well as the impact of physical features on performance assessed via questionnaires. Results showed differences in reaction times and error rates between fasting and control participants at baseline but not at later time points, indicating no effect of fasting on task performance. Similarly, investigations of switch cost and congruency effect failed to indicate effects of the fasting intervention. Thus, these results could not confirm the hypothesis but also did not show negative effects of prolonged fasting. Although the current study provided inconclusive results regarding the effects of prolonged fasting on task-switching abilities, this project was able to demonstrate a strong interest and willingness of individuals to participate in prolonged fasting experiments. Thereby, the current study laid the foundation for further research indicating the pitfalls and potentials of prolonged fasting studies.Show less
In the context of decision-making and rational behaviour, the decoy effect serves as a frequent example of how the introduction of an inferior option to a choice set can influence choice preference...Show moreIn the context of decision-making and rational behaviour, the decoy effect serves as a frequent example of how the introduction of an inferior option to a choice set can influence choice preference. To investigate the evolutionary origin of this effect and the context in which it occurs, comparative studies need to be conducted. However, existing paradigms do not facilitate comparative research on the decoy effect and do not thoroughly assess the effect of a stressful context on its occurrence. The current field study (N=81) utilizes a virtual foraging environment to explore these methodological and knowledge gaps utilizing a within-subjects design. By constructing an ecologically valid choice set involving trade-offs between effort and amount of food and employing auditive stimuli to elicit stress, this study could offer a promising avenue for future comparative studies with non-human primates such as chimpanzees. The first research question explores the virtual paradigm’s potential for studying the decoy effects by investigating whether alterations of choice preference occur and whether the common characteristic of more prominent decoy effect for larger and delayed rewards in comparison to sooner and smaller rewards can be replicated. The second research question explores the validity of the stress-inducted-to-deliberation (SIDI) model, which posits acute stress increases the decoy effect due to a relative shift towards System 1 decision-making. Moreover, eye-tracking data (N=50) is used to assess the SIDI models default-interventionist proposition of reduced System 2 adjustments under acute stress. Due to the within-subjects nature of the study, a combination of statistical methods was employed including a Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test and two GLMM models to account for participant-level variation in the data. The results show the decoy effect indeed occurs in the paradigm and a more prominent for larger and delayed rewards was found. Conversely, acute stress did not lead to a higher occurrence decoy effect, nor was the default-interventionist account validated. The findings suggest that ecologically valid VE paradigms hold promise for future decoy studies. However, they also highlight the need for further studies on the relationship between acute stress and the decoy effect. In particular, future research should consider employing validated methods of stress elicitation or, in the case of non-validated methods of stress elicitation, consider utilizing relatively objective stress measures such as biomarkers.Show less
In recent decades, there has been a shift in gender roles regarding child rearing responsibilities. This raises questions concerning the specific influence that fathers and mothers might have on...Show moreIn recent decades, there has been a shift in gender roles regarding child rearing responsibilities. This raises questions concerning the specific influence that fathers and mothers might have on the emotional development of their children. The aim of this study was to investigate how experienced care and overprotection by the child in the parent-child relationship influences close relationships when people reach adulthood, and explore potential moderating effects of biological sex in this relationship. For this study participants (n=165; age-range 18 to 29 years old) filled out the Parental Bonding Instrument and the revised version of the Experiences in Close Relationships questionnaire. The results showed that providing care and support while children develop independence is important for their future ability to form healthy relationships. The study highlights the importance of avoiding overprotective parenting behaviors, as they may have negative effects on a child's ability to manage anxiety in close relationships later in life. Furthermore, this study found no significant difference between the influence of mothers' versus fathers' daily caregiving on their children's ability to form and maintain close relationships in adulthood.Show less
This study aimed to investigate the relationship of NOTCH3 variant positions, the causal genetic variant of CADASIL, with executive dysfunction measured at baseline as well as two years later at...Show moreThis study aimed to investigate the relationship of NOTCH3 variant positions, the causal genetic variant of CADASIL, with executive dysfunction measured at baseline as well as two years later at follow-up. This was done by comparing NOTCH3 variant positions in groups (risk categories) associated with a high (N = 104) or moderate (N = 76) risk of developing worse disease outcomes. It was expected that the high risk group would perform significantly worse and decline significantly more than the moderate risk group on neuropsychological tests measuring executive functioning. Executive dysfunction was assessed using the following neuropsychological tests: Trail Making Test, Stroop Color and Word Test, WAIS-R Digit Symbol Substitution Test and WAIS-IV Block Design Test. A Linear Mixed Model (Repeated Measurements) analysis was performed to answer the objectives with a total of 180 included participants. There was no significant difference in performance between the risk categories at baseline, nor in the decline in performance over the two-year follow-up span. In an exploratory follow-up analysis, we examined whether decline was present at all, regardless of risk category. This was only the case for one of four neuropsychological tests. In conclusion, future clinical trials are needed to provide better understanding of how NOTCH3 aggregation impacts executive dysfunction and its development thereof within CADASIL. Subsequently, this could allow for more accurate individualised disease progression predictions.Show less
Placebo effects are known phenomena in medical and psychological research. They illustrate how a strong belief can create positive effects regarding well-being and health. However, a strong enough...Show morePlacebo effects are known phenomena in medical and psychological research. They illustrate how a strong belief can create positive effects regarding well-being and health. However, a strong enough negative belief may also have real effects on an individual. This phenomenon is known as a nocebo effect and research into nocebo effects, particularly related to symptoms of itch, has been sparse. Further understanding nocebo itch and its associated brain regions may help patients with chronic itch or psychosomatic afflictions. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of learning and negative outcome expectations on itch sensitivity. We hypothesized that participants would be conditioned to experience more itch in the presence of a sham electrical pulse compared to its absence, and that significant activity would be measured in the periaqueductal gray, insula, and rolandic operculum, which were studied using fMRI imaging techniques. Healthy participants (49) were involved in a two-phase task to acquire and evoke the nocebo itch. This process was reinforced through an on/off monitor and verbal instructions from researchers. In the acquisition phase, participants learned to associate itch stimuli with an electrical pulse (nocebo stimulus), expecting more itch during nocebo trials and less during control trials. Itch was induced using varying histamine concentrations for both types of trials and the electric pulse was never activated. In the evocation phase, nocebo itch was evoked using equal histamine concentrations in both control and nocebo trials. The nocebo itch was measured through subjective itch ratings and brain activity was measured with a 3T fMRI scanner. Evocation nocebo ratings were significantly higher than evocation control ratings, despite equal histamine concentrations (p < 0.001). However, no significant brain activity was found when data from the nocebo condition was compared with the control condition. The absence of conclusive fMRI data may be due to a possible extinction effect nullifying the measurement of nocebo activation, fMRI analysis of areas that were too broad, or overly conservative analysis methodology. These findings indicate the efficacy of the nocebo itch evocation methodology used in this study and future research into additional brain areas associated with nocebo itch.Show less
The present study adds to the evolving literature on the relationship between social mindfulness (SoMi) and environmental concern (EC) on an individual level. Investigating this relationship is...Show moreThe present study adds to the evolving literature on the relationship between social mindfulness (SoMi) and environmental concern (EC) on an individual level. Investigating this relationship is valuable given the suggested implications of SoMi fluctuations for societal and environmental outcomes (e.g., scarcity and natural resources affecting future generations). Building on existing literature by Van Doesum et al. (2021) and Kirkland et al. (2022), we hypothesized a positive correlation between SoMi and EC on an individual level. We operationalized environmental concern across three dimensions based on the Theory of Planned Behavior: Attitude, behavior and intent (i.e., all towards being environmentally conscious), and investigated the expected SoMi-EC relationship per facet separately. Additionally, we examined the potential connection between SoMi and environmentally friendly consumer behavior, also expecting a positive correlation. Results from a survey of N = 108 participants revealed that greater levels of social mindfulness correspond to increased intentions to behave more environmentally conscious, emphasizing the importance of promoting these concepts to mitigate environmental harm. However, we did not observe a similar relationship between social mindfulness and the facets attitude and (consumer)behavior, indicating a gap between the three dimensions. Future research should focus on addressing this gap to gain a more nuanced understanding of the complete SoMi-EC relationship. As environmental concerns grow increasingly urgent, understanding these dynamics are imperative for future decision-making and the development of effective interventions.Show less
Objective: Parental factors play an important role in the development and maintenance of childhood anxiety. However, studies show mixed results when exploring the relationships between parental...Show moreObjective: Parental factors play an important role in the development and maintenance of childhood anxiety. However, studies show mixed results when exploring the relationships between parental anxiety, parental coping and the anxiety of the child. This study will further explore these relationships by looking at children with specific phobias and their parents. We will investigate if there is a relation between child anxiety and parental anxiety, if parental anxiety predicts the treatment outcome, if there is a relation between parental anxiety and parental coping, and if parental anxiety is a mediator between the parental coping style positive reinforcement and the treatment outcome. Methods: The study employed a longitudinal one-group pretest-posttest design with a correlational and experimental approach. Participants were 58 children between the ages of 7 and 14 years with a specific phobia. The treatment consisted of a 3-hour exposure session. The Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV: Child and Parent Versions (ADIS-IV-C/P) was used to assess both the severity of the anxiety of the child and the treatment outcome. Parental anxiety was assessed using the Anxiety subscale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale – 21 (DASS-21). Parental coping styles were assessed using an adapted version of the Child Development Questionnaire (CDQ). The formulated hypotheses were analysed using spearman rank correlation tests, a generalized linear model and a mediation analysis. Results: There was no correlation between parental anxiety and the anxiety of the child at baseline, nor did parental anxiety predict the treatment outcome. Moreover, there was no correlation between parental anxiety and parental coping. Finally, parental anxiety did not mediate between the parental coping style positive reinforcement and the treatment outcome. Conclusions: No relationships were found between the anxiety of children with a specific phobia, parental anxiety and parental coping. These unexpected results and limitations are discussed. Further research is important to examine the potential ways in which parents could contribute to alleviating the anxiety of children with specific phobias.Show less
In recent times, ketamine has gained significant attention in clinical research, particularly for its potential to treat major depressive disorder. However, the mechanisms underlying ketamine’s...Show moreIn recent times, ketamine has gained significant attention in clinical research, particularly for its potential to treat major depressive disorder. However, the mechanisms underlying ketamine’s antidepressant effects are unclear. Previous research has noted that ketamine influences heart rate variability (HRV). Several studies have found ketamine to decrease HRV, while one study observed an increase. It is uncertain whether this is a general effect of ketamine on HRV or whether this was found in individuals because vulnerability to depression strengthened this relationship. In line with this, prior literature established a relationship between HRV and vulnerability to depression. Thus, the current study aims to examine whether ketamine decreases HRV in a healthy (unmedicated) population. Additionally, it is the aim to investigate whether this effect is moderated by a cognitive vulnerability to develop depression. Fifteen female participants, aged 18 to 28 years of age, were analysed using heart rate variability measures and the Leiden Index of depression sensitivity (LEIDS-R). A paired t-test revealed that ketamine significantly decreased HRV 30-40 minutes after infusion. However, vulnerability to depression was not found to significantly moderate the relationship between ketamine and HRV. These findings contribute to the mixed literature on ketamine’s effects on HRV, suggesting variations between healthy and depressed populations. Future research aimed at replicating these findings, exploring cognitive vulnerability in individuals who were once depressed but recovered, and examining the long-term effects of ketamine on HRV is imperative.Show less
