In this study, the authors examine the relationship between abusive supervision and employee workplace deviance. The authors conceptualize abusive supervision as a type of aggression. They use work ...on retaliation and direct and displaced aggression as a foundation for examining employees' reactions to abusive supervision. The authors predict abusive supervision will be related to supervisor-directed deviance, organizational deviance, and interpersonal deviance. Additionally, the authors examine the moderating effects of negative reciprocity beliefs. They hypothesized that the relationship between abusive supervision and supervisor-directed deviance would be stronger when individuals hold higher negative reciprocity beliefs. The results support this hypotheses. The implications of the results for understanding destructive behaviors in the workplace are examined.
Sustained life stress and low socioeconomic status are among the major causes of aging-related diseases and decreased life expectancy. Experimental rodent models can help to identify the underlying ...mechanisms, yet very few studies address the long-term consequences of social stress on aging. We conducted a randomized study involving more than 300 male mice of commonly used laboratory strains (C57BL/6J, CD1, and Sv129Ev) chosen for the spontaneous aggression gradient and stress-vulnerability. Mice were exposed to a lifelong chronic psychosocial stress protocol to model social gradients in aging and disease vulnerability. Low social rank, inferred based on a discretized aggression index, was found to negatively impact lifespan in our study population. However, social rank interacted with genetic background in that low-ranking C57BL/6J, high-ranking Sv129Ev, and middle-ranking CD1 mice had lower survival, respectively, implying a cost of maintaining a given social rank that varies across strains. Machine learning linear discriminant analysis identified baseline fat-free mass as the most important predictor of mouse genetic background and social rank in the present dataset. Finally, strain and social rank differences were significantly associated with epigenetic changes, most significantly in Sv129Ev mice and in high-ranking compared to lower ranking subjects. Overall, we identified genetic background and social rank as critical contextual modifiers of aging and lifespan in an ethologically relevant rodent model of social stress, thereby providing a preclinical experimental paradigm to study the impact of social determinants of health disparities and accelerated aging.
Background and Purpose
The endocannabinoid (eCB) system plays an important homeostatic role in the regulation of stress circuits and has emerged as a therapeutic target to treat stress disorders and ...alcohol use disorder (AUD). Extensive research has elucidated a role for the eCB anandamide (AEA), but less is known about 2‐arachidonoylglycerol (2‐AG) mediated signalling.
Experimental Approach
We pharmacologically enhanced eCB signalling by inhibiting the 2‐AG metabolizing enzyme, monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL), in male and female Marchigian Sardinian alcohol‐preferring (msP) rats, a model of innate alcohol preference and stress hypersensitivity, and in control Wistar rats. We tested the acute effect of the selective MAGL inhibitor MJN110 in alleviating symptoms of alcohol drinking, anxiety, irritability and fear.
Key Results
A single systemic administration of MJN110 increased 2‐AG levels in the central amygdala, prelimbic and infralimbic cortex but did not acutely alter alcohol drinking. MAGL inhibition reduced aggressive behaviours in female msPs, and increased defensive behaviours in male msPs, during the irritability test. Moreover, in the novelty‐induced hypophagia test, MJN110 selectively enhanced palatable food consumption in females, mitigating stress‐induced food suppression. Lastly, msP rats showed increased conditioned fear behaviour compared with Wistar rats, and MJN110 reduced context‐associated conditioned fear responses, but not cue‐probed fear expression, in male msPs.
Conclusions and Implications
Acute inhibition of MAGL attenuated some stress‐related responses in msP rats but not voluntary alcohol drinking. Our results provide new insights into the sex dimorphism documented in stress‐induced responses. Sex‐specific eCB‐based approaches should be considered in the clinical development of therapeutics.
For social animals, the genotypes of group members affect the social environment, and thus individual behavior, often indirectly. We used genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to determine the ...influence of individual vs. group genotypes on aggression in honey bees. Aggression in honey bees arises from the coordinated actions of colony members, primarily nonreproductive “soldier” bees, and thus, experiences evolutionary selection at the colony level. Here, we show that individual behavior is influenced by colony environment, which in turn, is shaped by allele frequency within colonies. Using a population with a range of aggression, we sequenced individual whole genomes and looked for genotype–behavior associations within colonies in a common environment. There were no significant correlations between individual aggression and specific alleles. By contrast, we found strong correlations between colony aggression and the frequencies of specific alleles within colonies, despite a small number of colonies. Associations at the colony level were highly significant and were very similar among both soldiers and foragers, but they covaried with one another. One strongly significant association peak, containing an ortholog of the Drosophila sensory gene dpr4 on linkage group (chromosome) 7, showed strong signals of both selection and admixture during the evolution of gentleness in a honey bee population. We thus found links between colony genetics and group behavior and also, molecular evidence for group-level selection, acting at the colony level. We conclude that group genetics dominates individual genetics in determining the fatal decision of honey bees to sting.
Aggressive behavior is a major public health issue for which there are few efficacious treatments. Although much of information processing is automatic, there are few studies of early-stage decoding ...biases (e.g., attention bias to threat) and aggressive behavior, potentially resulting in missed opportunities for identifying targets of intervention. Previous studies are limited by indirect measures of attention bias and little consideration of proximal factors like state fear, which organizes perception and motivates defensive behaviors. We used laboratory methods (i.e., eye-tracking, idiographic mood induction, and the Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm), to examine the association between attention bias to physical and negative evaluation threat and in vivo defensive responding (i.e., aggression and escape) and the potential moderating role of state fear among 74 undergraduate students. As predicted, attention bias to threat was positively associated with in vivo aggression. Fear did not potentiate aggression or modify the relationship between attentional bias to threat and aggression; however, in the fear condition, greater attentional bias to threat was associated with less escape behavior. Findings add to the sparse literature identifying early-stage decoding processes as possible risk factors of aggression and suggest a need for additional research on freeze behavior in response to threat and provocation.
•Laboratory methods were used to examine attention biases, state fear, and aggression.•Aggression was associated with biases to physical and negative evaluation threats.•During fear, threat bias was linked to less escape (freezing), not more aggression.•Attention bias to threat may be a viable target of intervention for aggression.
Bullying has been understudied among preschool children, especially those from Chinese American families. Previous research has also neglected the dimensional effects of psychological control on ...child bullying development. This study examined two psychological control dimensions, love withdrawal and guilt induction, and their effects on children's bullying aggressive behavior using a longitudinal design. Participants were first-generation Chinese American mothers (N = 133; mean age Mage = 37.82) and their preschool children (Mage = 4.48). Chinese immigrant mothers reported their psychologically controlling parenting and teachers rated children's bullying aggressive behaviors in the school setting. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to establish the psychometric properties and cross-wave measurement equivalence of the study constructs. Cross-lagged structural equation modeling analysis indicated that maternal love withdrawal prospectively predicted more bullying aggressive behavior, whereas guilt induction predicted less bullying aggressive behavior in children 6 months later. These results held after controlling for the initial level of children's problem behaviors and demographic variables (child age, gender, and maternal education). For child effects, child bullying aggressive behavior predicted more maternal guilt induction over time but not love withdrawal. Our findings highlight the importance of construct specificity and cultural context in understanding associations between parenting and child development.
Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, an introduced ascomycete fungus and primary causal agent of European ash dieback, was investigated on Fraxinus mandshurica trees in its native range in Primorye region of Far ...East Russia. This evidence is the first report of H. fraxineus on healthy, asymptomatic F. mandshurica trees. High-throughput sequencing revealed 49 distinct fungal taxa associated with leaves of F. mandshurica, 12 of which were identified to species level. Phyllosphere fungal assemblages were similar among sites despite being largely geographically distant. Many organisms comprising the foliar fungal community on F. mandshurica in Far East Russia have similarity to those reported inhabiting F. excelsior in Europe based on previous studies. However, Mycosphaerella sp., the most dominant species in this study and detected in nearly all samples, was associated only with F. mandshurica. Genetic diversity of H. fraxineus was significantly higher in the Far East Russian population than in Europe. In contrast to its aggressive behaviour on Fraxinus excelsior in Europe, H. fraxineus appears to be a benign associate of indigenous F. mandshurica that initially induces quiescent and asymptomatic infections in healthy trees prior to active host colonization normally associated with modification of host tissue during senescence.
Research has demonstrated the prevalence of men's victimization in intimate relationships (Archer, 2000; Bates, Graham-Kevan, & Archer, 2014), but little research has explored these experiences in a ...non-help-seeking sample. The aim of this study was to qualitatively explore men's experience of intimate partner violence from their female partners. An online questionnaire was utilized with a series of open-ended questions that explored experiences of verbal, physical, and sexual aggression, as well as different aspects of coercive controlling behavior. Results revealed that the men within this sample experienced a range of aggression that was both severe and injurious at times; however, their most impactful experiences were from the control their female partners exerted over them. This included gaslighting, isolating from friends and family, control over basic freedom, and the fear or uncertainty of living with the abuse in day-to-day life. Findings are discussed in line with men's help-seeking behavior, and current policy and practice.
Public Significance Statement
This paper is of public significance because it highlights that men experience intimate partner violence at serious and significant rates. Specifically, it contributes new understandings about this vulnerable group and their experience of coercive control in particular.
Objective: The study examined the effects of therapeutic alliance (TA; relational bond, task collaboration) on externalizing behavior outcomes, how TA can operate differently when children are seen ...in individual versus group sessions, and how therapist-child disagreement in perceptions of TA affects outcomes. Method: Three hundred sixty children (Ages 9.2-11.8; 65% male; 78.1% Black) identified as having high rates of aggressive behavior by the fourth-grade teachers, and their 20 elementary schools were randomized to group versus individual delivery of the cognitive behavioral intervention, Coping Power. TA ratings were collected from children and therapists at mid and end of intervention using the Therapeutic Alliance Scale for Children. Teacher ratings of children's externalizing and internalizing behavior problems were collected prior to intervention and at 1-year follow-up after intervention using the Behavior Assessment System for Children. Results: Children receiving the intervention individually reported significantly higher trait-like levels of task collaboration than did children seen in groups. Independent of intervention format, higher trait-like levels of therapist-rated bond and task collaboration predicted reduced levels of externalizing problems, and higher trait-like levels of child- and therapist-rated task-collaboration and therapist-rated bond predicted reduced levels of internalizing problems. Differences between therapist and child reports of bond predicted weaker reductions in internalizing behavior for children seen in groups. Conclusions: It is essential to train therapists to develop and assess for TA by midintervention with children with aggressive behavior problems, especially if they are seen in small groups, and to determine if therapists may misperceive the strength of TA.
What is the public health significance of this article?
Therapeutic alliance affects outcomes for children with aggressive behavior and findings add to the strength of the evidence-base for cognitive behavioral intervention. Therapeutic alliance is stronger in individual delivery of intervention to these children. Group-based delivery likely requires intensive training to assist therapists to establish strong task collaboration.
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