In this observational study, the psychological ability to recognize the others' fearful expressions in Italian individuals during the pandemic COVID-19 lockdown was explored through a behavioral task ...performed online. An implicit version of the traditional facial emotion recognition task, grounded on the attentional and unconscious mechanism of the
, was used. The experiment was scripted through the free software OpenSesame (Mathôt et al., 2012) and published on the Internet through the free software Jatos (Lange et al., 2015). The Reaction Time and level of Accuracy in detecting fearful expressions were computed. Overall, the data of 86 Italian individuals were collected. When their performance was scored in terms of Reaction Time, the redundant target effect did not emerge; instead, the expected effect was observed when the level of Accuracy was considered. Overall, the performance registered in this Italian sample in terms of accuracy was in line with previous results reported in Scarpina et al. (2018), in which a long extended version of the same behavioral task was used in a traditional experimental setting. This study might offer some considerations regarding the adoption of online experiments - together with self-report surveys - to assess the psychological and behavioral functioning during social restriction measures.
Previous research about body size estimation in obesity reported heterogeneous results. This might be related to the fact that the tasks adopted explored different body representations. Classifying ...the previous studies according to the specific body representation probed (i.e. implicit, explicit or both) might clarify discordant findings. A systematic review and meta-analysis of research articles assessing body size estimation in individuals affected by obesity compared with healthy weight individuals were performed in PubMed and Web of Science. Additional records were identified by reference lists inspection. The last search was run in May 2021. Two independent authors performed data extraction according to predefined criteria. Both groups either overestimated or underestimated the implicit body representation depending on the task used and the body part considered. Conversely, the explicit representation of the body was mainly overestimated by both individuals with obesity and healthy weight. In tasks relying on both these representations, overestimation and underestimation were reported in both groups, possibly depending on the degree of which each procedure relied on the explicit and/or implicit representation of the body. According to the meta-analysis, individuals with obesity tended to be significantly less accurate in body size estimations than participants with healthy weight. We confirmed that heterogeneous findings in body size estimation in obesity are related to the adoption of different tasks, which likely involve different body representations. We discussed the role of body dissatisfaction and altered somatosensation in the lower accuracy observed in obesity.
Introduction
Pleasant and comforting bodily contacts characterized intimate and affective interactions. Affective touch informs us about others’ emotions and intentions, sustains intimacy and ...closeness, protecting from loneliness and psychological distress. Previous evidence points to an altered experience of affective touch in clinical populations reporting interpersonal difficulties. However, there is no investigation of affective touch in obesity, which is often associated with negative affective-relational experiences since childhood.
Methods
This study aimed to provide the first evidence about the experience of affective touch in obesity by comparing 14 women with obesity with 14 women with healthy weight. Participants rated the pleasantness of both imagined and actual tactile stimuli, which consisted of (
i
) soft-brush strokes, (
ii
) touches of the experimenter’s hand, and (
iii
) of a plastic stick (as control, non-affective, stimulation). Participants should report the pleasantness of each kind of touch. Moreover, we explored lifespan experiences of affective touch and interpersonal pleasure in social contexts through self-report questionnaires.
Results
No differences emerged for the pleasantness of affective touch (in both the real and imagery task) between the two groups. However, participants with obesity reported less frequent and less satisfying early experiences of affective touch when compared with the controls.
Discussion
Our results spoke in favor of a preserved experience of affective touch when experimentally probed in obesity, despite a limited early exposure to bodily affective contacts. We interpreted our results in the light of the
social reconnection hypothesis
. Nevertheless, we provided crucial methodological considerations for future research, considering that both the experimenter’s and the brush touch may not resemble adequately real-life experiences, in which affective touch involves intimate people.
The Stroop Color and Word Test Scarpina, Federica; Tagini, Sofia
Frontiers in psychology,
04/2017, Letnik:
8
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT) is a neuropsychological test extensively used to assess the ability to inhibit cognitive interference that occurs when the processing of a specific stimulus ...feature impedes the simultaneous processing of a second stimulus attribute, well-known as the Stroop Effect. The aim of the present work is to verify the theoretical adequacy of the various scoring methods used to measure the Stroop effect. We present a systematic review of studies that have provided normative data for the SCWT. We referred to both electronic databases (i.e., PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar) and citations. Our findings show that while several scoring methods have been reported in literature, none of the reviewed methods enables us to fully assess the Stroop effect. Furthermore, we discuss several normative scoring methods from the Italian panorama as reported in literature. We claim for an alternative scoring method which takes into consideration both speed and accuracy of the response. Finally, we underline the importance of assessing the performance in all Stroop Test conditions (word reading, color naming, named color-word).
Objective
To verify the impact of altered cognitive functioning and higher levels of mental fatigue, both reported after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), on rehabilitation treatment outcomes.
...Methods
In this real-practice retrospective pre–post intervention cohort study, cognitive functioning, measured through standardized neuropsychological measures, and individual levels of fatigue, depression and anxiety symptoms, were evaluated at admission to a rehabilitation program in individuals who had been hospitalized for COVID-19. The rehabilitation program effectiveness was measured through the Functional Independence Measure.
Results
Among the patient sample (n = 66), 87.88% reported experiencing high levels of fatigue at admission, while 16.67% reported depressive symptoms, and 22.73% reported anxiety symptoms. After rehabilitation, the sample displayed a significant decrease in the level of disability, in both the motor and cognitive subscales. Neuropsychological and psychological functioning did not play a predictive role. The 45 patients who received mechanical ventilation during intensive care, representing 68.18% of the sample, benefited more from rehabilitation treatment.
Conclusions
The results support the importance of an early rehabilitation program after COVID-19 infection, independent of the initial neuropsychological and psychological functioning. Respiratory assistance may represent a crucial factor for short-term neuropsychological disease after-effects. Future studies on the long-term neuropsychological effect of COVID-19 infection on individual levels of disability are necessary.
Obesity is a clinical condition that impacts severely the physical body. However, evidence related to the mental representation of the body in action is scarce. The few available studies only focus ...on avoiding obstacles, rather than participants imagining their own body. To advance knowledge in this field, we assessed the performance of 22 individuals with obesity compared with 30 individuals with a healthy weight in two tasks that implied different motor (more implicit vs. more explicit) imagery strategies. Two tasks were also administered to control for visual imagery skills, to rule out confounding factors. Moreover, we measured body uneasiness, through a standard questionnaire, as body image negativity could impact on other body representation components. Our findings do not show differences in the motor imagery tasks between individuals with obesity and individuals with healthy weight. On the other hand, some differences emerge in visual imagery skills. Crucially, individuals with obesity did report a higher level of body uneasiness. Despite a negative body image and visual imagery differences, obesity per se does not impact on the representation of the body in action. Importantly, this result is independent from the level of awareness required to access the mental representation of the body.
Women with anorexia nervosa (AN) act as if they have a larger body, as evidenced in obstacle avoidance tasks, where an allocentric perspective is adopted. This alteration emerges not only when they ...perform, but also when they imagine movements. However, no previous study has investigated own body centered tasks. As such, in this study we aim at documenting if women with AN show an altered behaviour also when the task requires a first-person perspective.
We explored the performance of eleven woman affected by AN compared to eighteen matched controls, in two motor imagery tasks based on a self-frame of reference, the Hand Laterality Task and the Mental Motor Chronometry Task. Moreover, two control tasks relative to visual imagery were administered.
In the Hand Laterality Task, affected participants did not adopt a motor strategy to judge hands laterality (i.e. no biomechanical constraints effect). Crucially, they also showed an altered behavior in the control task. Similarly, they did not show the expected isochrony in the Mental Motor Chronometry Task, when actions pertained the left (but not the right) hand, in absence of any difference in the control task.
Our findings reveal altered imagery processes in AN. Specifically, affected participants adopt a third-person, rather than a first-person perspective, even when the task requires to imagine their own body in an internal frame of reference. In other words, participants with AN objectify body stimuli. Different mechanisms (i.e., checking behaviour; mirror self-reflection; altered multisensory integration) can explain such an altered imagery in AN.
•Women with Anorexia Nervosa act as if they have a larger body than their physical one.•We explored bodily actions based on a self-frame of reference through motor imagery in affected women.•They showed altered imagery/motor strategy in the experimental tasks.•Affected participants adopted a third-person, rather than a first-person perspective.•Affected participants tended to objectify body parts.
Objective
Functional impairments after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) constitute a major concern in rehabilitative settings; however, evidence assessing the efficacy of rehabilitation programs ...is lacking. The aim of this study was to verify the clinical characteristics that may represent useful predictors of the short-term effectiveness of multidisciplinary rehabilitation.
Methods
In this real-practice retrospective pre–post intervention cohort study, the short-term effectiveness of a multidisciplinary patient-tailored rehabilitation program was assessed through normalized variations in the Functional Independence Measure in post-acute care patients who had overcome severe COVID-19. Biochemical markers, motor and nutritional characteristics, and the level of comorbidity were evaluated as predictors of functional outcome. Length of stay in the rehabilitation ward was also considered.
Results
Following rehabilitation, all participants (n = 53) reported a significant decrease in the level of disability in both motor and cognitive functioning. However, neither motor and nutritional characteristics nor comorbidities played a significant role in predicting the overall positive change registered after rehabilitation.
Conclusions
The results support the existing sparse evidence addressing the importance of an early rehabilitation program for patients who received intensive care and post-acute care due to severe COVID-19.
Evidence about the psychological functioning in individuals who survived the COVID-19 infectious is still rare in the literature. In this paper, we investigated fearful facial expressions ...recognition, as a behavioural means to assess psychological functioning. From May 15th, 2020 to January 30th, 2021, we enrolled sixty Italian individuals admitted in multiple Italian COVID-19 post-intensive care units. The detection and recognition of fearful facial expressions were assessed through an experimental task grounded on an attentional mechanism (i.e., the redundant target effect). According to the results, our participants showed an altered behaviour in detecting and recognizing fearful expressions. Specifically, their performance was in disagreement with the expected behavioural effect. Our study suggested altered processing of fearful expressions in individuals who survived the COVID-19 infectious. Such a difficulty might represent a crucial sign of psychological distress and it should be addressed in tailored psychological interventions in rehabilitative settings and after discharge.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Facial emotion recognition (FER) is extensively investigated in psychological sciences in healthy individuals and clinical conditions. In this paper, we analyzed those studies in which FER was ...assessed in the case of obesity or fibromyalgia, in relation to the levels of alexithymia. Crucially, these two conditions frequently co-occur; however, no study has explored FER considering both fibromyalgia and obesity. Studies were identified using the electronic search engine of PubMed. The last research was run on 23 July 2021. Two independent lists were generated for the two clinical conditions. Six records were reviewed about obesity, while three records about fibromyalgia. The evidence relative to FER in obesity was not conclusive, whereas the evidence about an altered FER in fibromyalgia seemed more straightforward. Moreover, the role of alexithymia on FER in these clinical conditions was not extensively investigated. In our discussion, we highlighted those factors that should be carefully addressed in investigating FER in these clinical conditions. Moreover, we underlined methodological criticisms that should be overcome in future research.
PDF
