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(https://www.psypost.org/reflecting-on-calorie-consumption-from-past-drinking-lowers-desire-for-alcohol-in-women/) Reflecting on calorie consumption from past drinking lowers desire for alcohol in women
Oct 27th 2024, 10:00

A recent study published in (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2024.105283) Food Quality and Preference explored how recalling a past drinking experience may influence future alcohol consumption desires in women. Researchers found that when female participants remembered a previous episode of alcohol consumption, especially when asked to estimate the calories involved, their motivation to drink again was notably reduced.
Given the wide-ranging health risks associated with excessive drinking, from liver disease to certain cancers, finding simple, practical methods to reduce alcohol consumption is a critical public health goal. Many people continue to drink above recommended limits despite known risks, so researchers aimed to see if memory could play a role in influencing drinking behavior.
Previous research has shown that memory can impact food consumption. For example, studies found that when people were reminded of a past meal, they often ate less in a subsequent meal. Building on this idea, researchers from the University of Portsmouth and Oxford Brookes University wondered if recalling a drinking episode, especially when focusing on the caloric intake, could similarly reduce motivation for alcohol.
“We were interested as excess alcohol consumption increases the risk for a number of diseases and is a substantial burden to health care resources,” said study author (https://www.port.ac.uk/about-us/structure-and-governance/our-people/our-staff/lorenzo-stafford) Lorenzo D. Stafford, an associate professor in psychobiological psychology at the University of Portsmouth. “The effects of alcohol on memory are well known but less so from the opposite perspective; hence we explored whether memory could be used to reduce alcohol desire. Theoretically this links to similar work in the food domain but had never been examined in alcohol.”
The study included 50 female participants between the ages of 18 and 46, recruited from a university participant pool. Each participant was required to be a regular drinker, consuming between two and 40 UK alcohol units per week, with a low to moderate score on the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) to exclude those with more serious drinking problems.
Participants were divided into two groups: one group received an “Alcohol Cue,” in which they were asked to recall a recent drinking experience and estimate the calories consumed, and the other received a “Neutral Cue,” where they recalled a recent car journey.
Afterward, each participant was given an alcoholic drink—a 275ml vodka-based beverage equivalent to one UK alcohol unit—and asked to consume it at a comfortable pace. The researchers recorded how long it took each participant to finish the drink, using the duration as a measure of their motivation to consume alcohol.
To add further insights, the researchers included assessments of participants’ thirst and fullness to account for factors that might influence drinking motivation. Mood was also recorded using a questionnaire, as it can influence drinking behavior. After drinking, participants were asked to estimate how many additional glasses they would drink if they could only consume the same drink for the rest of the evening. Lastly, participants completed a quiz on alcohol calorie knowledge to gauge their understanding of calorie content in alcoholic beverages.
The study showed that participants who recalled a recent drinking experience took longer to consume the provided alcoholic drink than those who thought about a neutral experience. This finding suggests that memory may indeed reduce motivation to consume alcohol in the short term. Interestingly, though participants in the “Alcohol Cue” group reported a lower estimated prospective intake (the number of additional drinks they would consume), this difference was not statistically significant, indicating that drink duration might be a more sensitive measure of immediate motivation to drink.
The researchers also found that participants with higher scores on the AUDIT scale, indicating a greater risk of alcohol misuse, tended to drink faster and reported a higher desire for more alcohol, regardless of the memory cue. This highlights that individuals at higher risk for alcohol misuse may respond differently to memory cues, potentially needing more targeted interventions.
“The main takeaway message is that the findings here suggest that actively thinking about a previous drinking episode can lead to a reduced desire for alcohol,” Stafford told PsyPost. “However, since the sample was restricted to females, further work is needed to understand whether this also works for males.”
The study, “(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S095032932400185X) Recollecting a previous drinking episode reduces subsequent motivation for alcohol in females,” was authored by Lorenzo D. Stafford, Charlie Gould, David Kelly, Matthew O. Parker, Jennifer Seddon, and James Clay.

(https://www.psypost.org/depressed-individuals-mind-wander-over-twice-as-often-study-finds/) Depressed individuals mind-wander over twice as often, study finds
Oct 27th 2024, 08:00

A new study has found that individuals with major depressive disorder report mind wandering over twice as often as healthy adults. These individuals saw their mind wandering as more negative. Mind wandering was more frequent in depressed individuals who reported experiencing more negative and less positive moods. The research was published in the (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.08.111) Journal of Affective Disorders.
Mind wandering is the spontaneous shift of attention away from a current task or external environment to internal thoughts or daydreams. It typically occurs when people are engaged in routine or low-demand activities. During mind wandering, people think about their past, future, or unrelated topics. Mind wandering can foster creativity and problem-solving, but frequent or excessive mind wandering has been linked to negative outcomes, including rumination and poor emotional regulation.
In individuals with depression, mind wandering tends to focus on negative thoughts, regrets, or worries, contributing to a persistently low mood and feelings of hopelessness. Studies suggest that people with depression experience more frequent and uncontrollable mind wandering, which can exacerbate symptoms. This tendency to ruminate increases cognitive load and interferes with concentration and productivity.
Study author Matthew S. Welhaf and his colleagues aimed to better understand the frequency of mind wandering in individuals with major depressive disorder in everyday life compared to healthy individuals. They also aimed to explore the content of mind wandering. Unlike most previous studies that relied on formal scales and assessments, this study applied an experience sampling design, having participants report their experiences several times per day.
The authors hypothesized that individuals with major depressive disorder would mind-wander more frequently, focusing more on the past. Additionally, they expected the frequency of mind wandering to be associated with negative moods.
Study participants included 106 adults, all native English speakers and up to 40 years old. Fifty-three were healthy controls with no history of mental health disorders, and the other 53 had been diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Participants with major depressive disorder were slightly older, with an average age of 28, compared to 25 years among the healthy participants. Approximately 70% of participants in both groups were women.
The study authors provided participants with a handheld electronic device with the Experience Sampling Program 4.0 installed. Over 7–8 days, participants were randomly prompted eight times a day (between 10:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.) to report on their current experiences, amounting to a maximum of 56 prompts throughout the period. On average, participants completed around 43–44 prompts, with similar numbers in both groups.
The prompts required participants to report whether they were mind wandering at the time of the prompt (“At the time of the beep, my mind had wandered to something other than what I was doing”), their positive and negative emotions (“I feel happy/excited/alert/active right now” and “I feel sad/anxious/angry/frustrated/ashamed/disgusted/guilty right now”), and to complete a shortened assessment of rumination (based on the Ruminative Response Scale).
Results showed that participants with major depressive disorder reported mind wandering over twice as often as healthy controls. These individuals reported mind wandering in 37% of prompts, compared to only 17% for healthy controls. Differences in the frequency of mind wandering among individuals with major depressive disorder were much larger than among healthy controls.
However, there was no difference between the groups in the temporal focus of their mind wandering—healthy participants thought about the past as often as depressed individuals during these experiences.
Mind wandering among individuals with major depressive disorder also had a negative tone much more frequently. These individuals reported that their mind wandering had a negative valence (negative emotional tone) in 42% of cases, compared to only 10% among healthy participants. Depressed individuals mind wandered more often when experiencing a higher negative mood and a lower positive mood, but this association between mood and mind wandering was absent in healthy individuals.
Current mind wandering predicted future positive mood levels in depressed individuals, but not in healthy participants. In contrast, current mood, whether negative or positive, did not predict future mind wandering. This may indicate that mind wandering affects mood, particularly positive mood, rather than vice versa.
“Individuals with MDD [major depressive disorder] frequently report engaging in mind wandering in everyday life, and this appears to be coupled with affect. Mind wandering may have maladaptive effects in MDD and could serve as a target for intervention,” study authors concluded.
The study sheds light on the mind wandering experiences in depression. However, the study focused only on some aspects of mind wanders and task-unrelated thoughts. They did not ask how freely-moving participants’ thoughts were at the time. Therefore, it remains unknown whether these mind wanderings are unintentional or not. Additionally, study participants were all relatively young adults. Results on older groups might not be identical.
The paper, “(https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.08.111) Mind-wandering in daily life in depressed individuals: An experience sampling study,” was authored by Matthew S. Welhaf, Jutta Mata, Susanne M. Jaeggi, Martin Buschkuehl, John Jonides, Ian H. Gotlib, and Renee J. Thompson.

(https://www.psypost.org/surprising-link-between-childhood-adversity-and-malevolent-creativity-revealed-in-new-study/) Surprising link between childhood adversity and malevolent creativity revealed in new study
Oct 27th 2024, 06:00

A recent study published in (https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13120961) Behavioral Sciences investigates the potential link between early childhood adversity and harmful forms of creativity in young adulthood. The findings suggest that social support and empathy might help prevent this form of malevolent creativity.
“I am fascinated by the term ‘malevolent creativity’ because I think it’s a great descriptor for situations in which people use their powers of creativity to harm others for whatever reason,” said study author Natalie A. Ceballos, a professor and chair of the Department of Psychology at Texas State University.
“I don’t believe that creativity itself is negative or positive, necessarily. So, I was interested to explore how a person’s life history might influence how they express their creativity and whether or not it takes a dark turn. One of my frequent collaborators, Dr. Toni Watt, is an expert on the effects of adverse childhood experiences, and so we worked together on this paper.”
The researchers gathered data from 524 college students enrolled in psychology and sociology courses at a Hispanic-serving institution in Texas. A significant majority of these participants identified as female (78%), and they ranged in age and cultural background, with the sample being mostly non-white. All participants completed an anonymous online survey that assessed their childhood experiences, creativity, empathy, social support, and coping strategies.
To measure adverse childhood experiences, participants responded to questions about experiences of abuse, neglect, or other family challenges (like divorce or substance abuse) that they faced before turning 18. Participants were then categorized based on the number of adverse experiences they reported: those with four or more types of adversity were considered a high-risk group, while those with fewer than four were considered lower risk. This threshold is significant in psychological research, as past studies have shown that individuals who experience four or more adverse events are at a notably higher risk of negative physical and mental health outcomes.
The study also included a specific tool to measure malevolent creativity, the Malevolent Creativity Behavior Scale. This scale helps quantify how often individuals might use creative thinking to engage in behaviors like lying, playing tricks, or otherwise manipulating situations to harm others. In addition to assessing malevolent creativity, researchers measured participants’ general (positive) creativity using the Kaufman Domains of Creativity Scale, which examines various forms of creativity, such as artistic, scholarly, and mechanical.
To assess psychosocial factors that could potentially impact the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and malevolent creativity, participants were also asked about their empathy levels, social support, and coping strategies. For instance, social support was evaluated through questions about perceived support from family, friends, or a significant other, while coping was measured based on responses to stressful situations.
The researchers found a connection between adverse childhood experiences and an increased tendency toward malevolent creativity. Individuals who reported four or more types of adverse experiences scored higher on the malevolent creativity scale, indicating they were more likely to use their creativity to harm others. This relationship held steady even after accounting for positive creativity and demographic factors.
However, the connection between childhood adversity and malevolent creativity shifted when psychosocial factors were considered. Specifically, individuals with higher levels of social support and empathy were less likely to engage in malevolent creativity, suggesting that these factors can serve as protective elements.
“I think the most important point in our conclusions is that having a history of adverse childhood experiences does not doom anyone to engage in malevolent creativity as an adult,” Ceballos told PsyPost. “We found that empathy and social support disrupted that pathway, and this points to some targets for intervention. In particular, I think that social emotional learning interventions in childhood have great potential here.”
In contrast, coping strategies showed a positive association with malevolent creativity, meaning that individuals who relied more heavily on coping mechanisms were also more likely to engage in harmful behaviors.
“I was surprised that a higher endorsement of coping skills was associated with greater malevolent creativity,” Ceballos said. “However, when you consider that over-reliance on the self might reduce prosocial behaviors in some people, then this connection does make sense.”
While this research provides new insights, it does have certain limitations. The study relies on self-reported data, which can be affected by biases like social desirability and memory inaccuracies. The researchers also highlight an important direction for future research: understanding how different forms of coping may lead to positive or negative outcomes. Since coping strategies were linked to malevolent creativity, understanding which coping methods might encourage prosocial, rather than harmful, behaviors could inform new therapeutic approaches.
“I am very interested in projects that provide more opportunities for positive creativity, especially for adolescents and emerging adults who have experienced early life stress,” Ceballos said. “I think that it’s very important to have positive creative outlets throughout the lifespan, particularly during times of stress.”
The study, “(https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/13/12/961) The Influence of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Malevolent Creativity in Young Adulthood,” was authored by Natalie A. Ceballos and Toni Terling Watt.

(https://www.psypost.org/childhood-adversity-may-contribute-to-addiction-to-short-form-videos-study-finds/) Childhood adversity may contribute to addiction to short-form videos
Oct 26th 2024, 14:00

A recent study published in Computers in Human Behavior has revealed a possible link between negative childhood experiences and the risk of developing an addiction to short-form video platforms, such as TikTok. The study, conducted on a large sample of Chinese college students, found that adverse childhood experiences, including abuse and neglect, could increase a person’s susceptibility to this form of addiction. 
Short-form video platforms are particularly popular among younger users, who are attracted to the fast-paced, highly engaging content. With their addictive features and algorithms that cater to individual preferences, these apps encourage prolonged usage. A significant portion of university students in China spend hours on these apps daily, sometimes even acknowledging that their video consumption has become a problem. 
“We became interested in this topic due to the rapid growth in active users of short-form video platforms such as TikTok and Douyin globally in recent years. In China, short video users now account for 96.4% of the overall internet population,” said study author Hai Huang, an associate professor of psychology at the China University of Geosciences.
“However, many individuals, especially young people, have developed an addiction to these platforms, leading to physical, psychological, and social dysfunctions. This prompted us to investigate the current state of short-form video addiction among Chinese college students.”
“Previous research has shown a link between adverse childhood experiences — a global public health concern — and internet addiction. We were particularly interested in exploring how adverse childhood experiences relate to addiction to new media, such as short-form videos. Therefore, our research primarily examines the association between adverse childhood experiences and short-form video addiction, while also exploring the potential mediating roles of resilience and life satisfaction in this relationship.”
The research team collected data from 11,425 college students in Wuhan, China. This large sample included students with an average age of just over 20 years, balanced in terms of gender and academic backgrounds.
To assess participants’ childhood experiences, the researchers used a detailed survey that categorized these experiences into types such as neglect, abuse, family dysfunction, and exposure to violence outside the family. Each type of experience contributed to a participant’s overall score for adverse experiences. 
Resilience was measured to gauge each participant’s ability to adapt and recover from stress. Life satisfaction was also assessed to understand how participants viewed their lives overall. Finally, the researchers measured short-form video addiction by adapting an established internet addiction questionnaire, which examined behaviors such as craving, withdrawal, and difficulties reducing usage.
The researchers found that students who reported more adverse childhood experiences — particularly neglect and abuse — were more likely to show signs of short-form video addiction. This association held even after adjusting for variables such as academic level and major. Those with five or more types of adverse childhood experiences had up to 4.7 times the risk of addiction compared to those without such experiences.
Furthermore, the study revealed that resilience and life satisfaction played important mediating roles. Specifically, students who had endured adverse childhood experiences tended to report lower levels of resilience and life satisfaction. These lower scores, in turn, were associated with higher rates of short-form video addiction. 
Essentially, resilience and life satisfaction acted as buffers: higher levels of these factors appeared to protect students from relying excessively on short videos as a coping mechanism. When these buffers were low, students were more likely to turn to short videos for instant satisfaction, possibly as a way to cope with unresolved emotional distress from childhood.
“From our findings, people can understand that adverse childhood experiences serve as a significant risk factor for short-form video addiction,” Huang told PsyPost. “Specifically, adverse childhood experiences characterized by violence, abuse, and neglect have a stronger impact compared to other types of adverse childhood experiences. Interventions focusing on the early prevention of adverse childhood experiences, along with promoting resilience and life satisfaction, may prove beneficial in preventing short-form video addiction among young people.”
The study sheds light on how early trauma might drive some young people toward compulsive use of short-form video platforms. However, the study was cross-sectional, meaning it only captured a snapshot in time. Therefore, while it shows strong associations between childhood trauma and video addiction, it does not prove that adverse childhood experiences cause video addiction.
To build on these findings, future research could take a longitudinal approach to observe how childhood experiences affect online behaviors over time. Additionally, expanding the study to include younger individuals and non-students might provide a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between childhood adversity and digital addiction. 
The study, “Adverse childhood experiences and short-form video addiction: A serial mediation model of resilience and life satisfaction,” was authored by Jiao Xue, Hai Huang, Ziyu Guo, Jing Chen, and Wenting Feng.

(https://www.psypost.org/hyperarousal-peaks-in-the-morning-for-insomniacs/) Hyperarousal peaks in the morning for insomniacs
Oct 26th 2024, 12:00

A recent study published in the (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2024.09.032) Journal of Psychiatric Research suggests that people with insomnia experience heightened levels of hyperarousal—a state of persistent tension or restlessness—compared to those without sleep difficulties, especially in the morning. This arousal was also found to increase more sharply overnight in response to poor sleep quality. Researchers hope that these findings will inspire new treatment approaches that address sleep quality to help reduce daytime hyperarousal in those affected by insomnia.
The researchers conducted the study to better understand hyperarousal, a condition often associated with anxiety, stress, and sleep disorders like insomnia. While hyperarousal is widely recognized as a key symptom in insomnia, it has been inconsistently defined and measured, complicating research on its specific characteristics and effects.
Hyperarousal involves both physiological responses, such as increased cortisol, and psychological responses, like stress and tension. However, its variability over time, especially in response to changes in sleep, has remained unclear. The researchers aimed to pinpoint how hyperarousal fluctuates in real time and its relationship with night-to-night variations in sleep quality among people with insomnia.
“Hyperarousal is assumed to be a key symptom of insomnia – however, researchers talk about wildly different things when speaking of hyperarousal, ranging from feelings of restlessness, to increased stress hormones measured in the saliva to high-frequency brain waves during sleep,” explained study author (https://lararoesler.nl/) Lara Rösler, a postdoctoral researcher at the Sleep and Cognition Group of the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience.
“Additionally, we did not previously know whether being hyperaroused is a constant trait of people with insomnia or whether it fluctuates within and across days and what drives these fluctuations. So we wanted to better understand, using a data-driven approach, which subjective feelings and emotions are characteristic of hyperarousal and which aspects of (poor) sleep contribute to it.”
To achieve their goals, the researchers recruited 207 adults aged 18 to 70, including 169 people diagnosed with insomnia and 38 without sleep problems as a control group. Participants were recruited through the Netherlands Sleep Registry and advertisements, with the criteria for insomnia diagnosis based on standard clinical definitions. Exclusions included participants with certain severe mental or neurological conditions, active treatment for major depression, or specific sleep disorders, among others.
Before starting the nine-day main phase of the study, participants completed several questionnaires assessing sleep habits and emotional well-being. During the nine-day observation period, participants used mobile phones to complete assessments eight times a day when prompted by a beep. They also provided additional entries upon waking up and before bedtime, logging aspects of their emotional state, sleep quality, and overall arousal levels.
To capture objective data, participants wore actigraphy devices on their wrists, which continuously monitored movements and skin temperature as indirect markers of sleep patterns. The wrist device allowed the researchers to measure physical restfulness, duration and quality of sleep, and the timing of core body temperature rhythms, which are influenced by sleep and circadian patterns. The participants also completed a sleep diary each morning, detailing aspects like time spent in bed, the time it took to fall asleep, and their subjective sleep quality.
Through these daily self-reports and actigraphy, the researchers collected and analyzed thousands of individual data points. They used a statistical method called exploratory factor analysis to identify a hyperarousal factor, defined as a distinct emotional state encompassing feelings of tension, stress, and irritability. They then tracked how this hyperarousal factor changed throughout each day and overnight.
The study’s findings revealed several distinct patterns in hyperarousal. First, people with insomnia consistently scored higher on hyperarousal than those without sleep issues. Their hyperarousal levels were elevated at all times of day but were particularly high in the morning and tended to decrease as the day went on. Although all participants showed a peak in hyperarousal in the morning, this overnight increase was much more pronounced for those with insomnia. This finding suggests that people with insomnia may struggle to “wind down” during sleep, leading to elevated tension upon waking.
The researchers also found that nights of poor sleep quality were strongly associated with higher levels of hyperarousal the next morning. Sleep quality was determined both by subjective reports and by the timing of certain physiological indicators like wrist temperature. When participants reported poor sleep quality in the morning, they tended to experience a larger overnight increase in hyperarousal. Specific markers of sleep, such as the amount of time spent asleep and the efficiency of that sleep, also played a role in morning hyperarousal levels.
“Hyperarousal is largely characterized by feelings of stress and restlessness and is consistently higher in people suffering from insomnia than in normal sleepers,” Rösler told PsyPost. “Crucially, hyperarousal is strongest in the morning right upon awakening and our data shows that this is largely driven by perceived sleep quality rather than objective markers of sleep – the more dissatisfied you are with your previous night of sleep, the more hyperarousal you’ll likely be experiencing.”
“We were surprised to see that perceived sleep quality was more strongly associated with hyperarousal than any other individual sleep features, such as total sleep time or the time spent awake after initial sleep onset. So rather than the total hours of sleep you get, the satisfaction with your sleep is what drives your feeling of hyperarousal.”
Despite these new insights, the study has some limitations. The researchers did not use direct, clinical measurements of brain activity during sleep (such as polysomnography), which would have provided more precise data on REM sleep — the sleep stage associated with vivid dreams — and its potential role in hyperarousal. The researchers noted that fragmented REM sleep is often linked with a state of high stress and emotional instability the next day.
“We used sleep diaries and actigraphy watches to evaluate sleep, but this did not allow for the investigation of specific sleep stages,” Rösler explained. “Using EEG wearables would have enabled us to investigate the question whether changes in REM sleep are associate with perceived sleep quality and increased hyperarousal – a hypothesis we are currently exploring in a follow-up study.”
The study sets a foundation for developing treatments focused on enhancing sleep quality as a potential way to alleviate daytime hyperarousal symptoms in people with insomnia.
“We are hoping to get a better understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms that contribute to the link between hyperarousal and poor sleep,” Rösler said. “At the moment, we are studying how noradrenergic medication affects both sleep features and daytime hyperarousal and anxiety symptoms to evaluate to what extent the locus coeruleus, the main hub of noradrenaline in the brain, might be involved in this process.”
The study, “(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022395624005557) Hyperarousal Dynamics Reveal an Overnight Increase Boosted by Insomnia,” was authored by Lara Rösler, Erik-Jan van Kesteren, Jeanne Leerssen, Glenn van der Lande, Oti Lakbila-Kamal, Jessica C. Foster-Dingley, Anne Albers, and Eus J.W. van Someren.

Forwarded by:
Michael Reeder LCPC
Baltimore, MD

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