Mid Sweden University

Background: Child maltreatment (CM), i.e. neglect and abuse of children by their caregivers, has been linked to reduced psychological safety and a sense of disrupted body boundaries (DBB), both of which have been proposed to impair social functioning. However, evidence-based interventions to increase psychological safety and to reduce DBB are lacking. Objectives: We conducted two experiments across two separate studies. Study I examined the effect of a brief (60-minute) body-oriented intervention, derived from Somatic Experiencing (SE), on psychological safety. Study II investigated the effect of the same intervention on DBB. Methods: In both studies, adults with varying levels of CM exposure, based on total self-report scores across subtypes, were randomized to an SE group or to a psychoeducation control group. Study I included participants with a lack of psychological safety (n = 89); Study II included participants with DBB (n = 55). Results: In Study I, compared to controls, the SE group showed an increase in psychological safety (d = -.95, p <.001). SE group-specific changes were also found for different types of positive and negative affect and for social connectedness. Heart Rate (HR) decreased, and Heart Rate Variability (HRV) increased across groups. In Study II, compared to controls, the SE group showed a reduction in DBB (d = 1.13, p <.001) and an increase in interoceptive awareness, a proposed mechanism of action. Conclusions: A brief, SE-based intervention can facilitate momentary states of perceived safety and improve social connectedness in adults with different levels of CM. Future research should explore longer-lasting positive effects of SE. 

Generative AI is rapidly reshaping higher education, and in this article we investigate how it can enhance learning rather than erode. In this paper we report findings from five discipline-specific pilots (computer engineering, law, mathematics, psychology, and teacher education) at Mid Sweden University guided by the university’s policy for ethical AI use. Each pilot explored AI as a student-centred learning tool and education tool, but from different perspectives and conditions based on subject. Across the pilots, we have found that these new tools can scaffold reflection, self-regulation, and engagement when integrated into course tasks. As well as need for clarity towards the students are important, to show when and how they can use these tools. We conclude that AI, when framed by robust pedagogy and clarity, can act as a catalyst for deeper learning and improved throughput. Future work will examine long-term retention and pathways to scaling these approaches university-wide. 

Anxiety and depression commonly occur together resulting in worse health outcomes than when they occur in isolation. We aimed to determine whether the genetic liability for comorbid anxiety and depression was greater than when anxiety or depression occurred alone. Data from 12,792 genotyped twins (ages 38–85) were analysed, including 1,986 complete monozygotic and 1,594 complete dizygotic pairs. Outcomes were prescription of antidepressant and anxiolytic drugs, as defined by the World Health Organization Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System (ATC) convention, for comorbid anxiety and depression (n = 1028), anxiety only (n = 718), and depression only (n = 484). Heritability of each outcome was estimated using twin modelling, and the influence of common genetic variation was assessed from polygenic scores (PGS) for depressive symptoms, anxiety, and 40 other traits. Heritability of comorbid anxiety and depression was 79% compared with 41% for anxiety and 50% for depression alone. The PGS for depressive symptoms likewise predicted more variation in comorbid anxiety and depression (adjusted odds ratio per SD PGS = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.43–1.63; ΔR2 = 0.031, ΔAUC = 0.044) than the other outcomes, with nearly identical results when comorbid anxiety and depression was defined by International Classification of Diseases (ICD) diagnoses (adjusted odds ratio per SD PGS = 1.70, 95% CI = 1.53–1.90; ΔR2 = 0.036, ΔAUC = 0.051). Individuals in the highest decile of PGS for depressive symptoms had over 5 times higher odds of being prescribed medication for comorbid anxiety and depression compared to those in the lowest decile. While results on a predominant role of depressive symptoms may have been biased by the size and heterogeneity of available data bases, they are consistent with the conclusion that genetic factors explain substantially more variation in comorbid anxiety and depression than anxiety or depression alone.

Background: White blood cells or leukocytes, which have a variety of immunological functions, have been shown to migrate in and out of the blood stream in response to different types of stressors (Davis et al., 2008). Hence, leukocyte profiling can be used to measure stress related immune activation. In the present study we employed a psychosocial stress task to assess whether emotional arousal cause leukocyte migration. Methods: We used the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) to induce psychosocial stress. Emotional arousal was assessed with ECG, self-report measures, and blood sampling. Results: We found an increase in heart rate from baseline throughout the TSST (p < .001) and increased blood cortisol levels directly and 30 minutes after the TSST compared to baseline (p < .001). We found an increase in total Leukocyte count after the stress task (p < .001) with a return to baseline at 30, 60 and 90 minutes after (p < .001). Conclusion: The results of our study indicate that psychosocial stress triggers a physiological response manifesting as increased heart rate, cortisol levels, and leukocyte count. Our findings suggest that emotional arousal might be a key factor in inducing an immune response under stressful conditions. It is important to note that the leukocyte count returned to baseline levels within 30 minutes following the stress task, suggesting a transient and adaptive response of the immune system to social stress. Our findings support the idea that the body's physiological and immune responses to stress are interconnected and influenced by emotional states.

Background

Polygenic scores (PGSs) harness the potential to provide an overall measure of individuals’ genetic liability to develop a disease (Torkamani et al., 2018), though much research is still needed. The aim of the present study was to predict prescription of pharmacological treatment of anxiety or depression from PGSs.

Methods

The target sample comprised two cohorts of genotyped Swedish twins (n = 11037). Cases were defined as individuals prescribed pharmacological treatment of depression (n = 1129) or anxiety (n = 1446). We constructed 6 PGSs based on GWAS on MDD diagnosis, Anxiety, Schizophrenia, Neuroticism scores, the GAD-7 scale, and the PHQ-9. Data were analyzed by logistic regression models with change in pseudo-R2 (above the baseline model with sex, age, cohort, and 20 ancestral PCs) following the inclusion of PGSs to predict the risk of anxiety or depression medication. All results corrected for multiple comparisons.

Results

Predictive performance was estimated to ΔR2depression = 0.028; ΔR2anxiety = 0.025 when all PGSs were included in the same model, with PGS for MDD being the single best predictor for both anxiety and depression. Individuals in the top 10% of the PGS distribution had greater odds of drug prescription (ORdepression = 1.82; CI95% = 1.53—2.17; ORanxiety = 1.65; CI95% = 1.40—1.95), while the bottom 10% had decreased risk (ORanxiety = 0.56; CI95% = 0.45—0.70; ORdepression = 0.58; CI95% = 0.45—0.74) compared to the remaining 90% of the distribution.

Conclusions

PGSs can predict drug prescription for anxiety and depression in an independent sample.

Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified several common variants associated with depression (Howard et al. 2019; Levey et al. 2021) and anxiety disorders (Levey et al. 2020; Meier et al. 2019; Purves et al. 2020), and these findings have been harnessed to develop polygenic scores (PGS) in order to provide an overall measure of individuals’ genetic liability to develop a disease (Torkamani et al. 2018). Research on the utility of PGSs as predictors of risk for disease is gaining traction, with studies on somatic illness showing that disease risk increases sharply in the right tail of the PGS distribution (Khera et al. 2018). Thus, PGS stratification could be of clinical relevance if it provides an opportunity to target those in need of preventive interventions with increased precision. The current potential of PGS stratification for depression and anxiety disorders remains an open question. In the current study, we applied 36 predefined PGSs from the polygenic index repository (Becker et al. 2021) on a target sample of 11,210 genotyped twins. Cases were defined as those with prescribed medication, where the prescription explicitly stated that a drug was ordinated for indication of depression or anxiety, respectively. Drugs included antidepressants (SSRI and SNRI), Benzodiazepines, Antihistamines, Buspirone, and Betablockers.

Road hazard perception is considered the most prominent higher-order cognitive skill related to traffic-accident involvement. Regional cultures and social rules that govern acceptable behavior may influence drivers’ interpretation of a traffic situation and, consequently, the correct identification of potentially hazardous situations. Here, we aimed to compare hazard perception skills among four European countries that differ in their traffic culture, policies to reduce traffic risks, and fatal crashes: Ukraine, Italy, Spain, and Sweden. We developed a static hazard perception test in which driving scenes with different levels of braking affordance were presented while drivers’ gaze was recorded. The test required drivers to indicate the action they would undertake: to brake vs. to keep driving. We assessed 218 young adult drivers. Multilevel models revealed that the scenes’ levels of braking affordance (i.e., road hazard) modulated drivers’ behavior. As the levels of braking affordance increased, drivers’ responses became faster and their gaze entropy decreased (i.e., visual search strategy became less erratic). The country of origin influenced these effects. Ukrainian drivers were the fastest and Swedish drivers were the slowest to respond. For all countries, the decrement in response times was less marked in the case of experienced drivers. Also, Spanish drivers showed the most structured (least erratic) visual search strategy, whereas the Italians had the most rigid (most constant) one. These results suggest that road hazard perception can be defined cross-culturally, with cultural factors (e.g., traffic climate, legislation) modulating response times and visual search strategies. Our results also support the idea that a multimodal assessment methodology is possible for mass testing of road hazard perception and its outcomes would be relevant to understand how different traffic cultures shape driving behavior. 

Body dissatisfaction is an important factor in the development and maintenance ofeating disorders. The comparison with the thin ideal prevalent in different mediachannels, can be one of the factors that contribute to widespread of dissatisfaction withthe own body. Thus, even people not meeting the criteria for eating disorders, mightshow a very problematic way to cope with their body and food intake. The present studyaimed to investigate the attentional pattern evoked when young women were exposed topictures of female bodies varying in their body shape.Eighty-one women, aged 18 to 37 years, viewed a series of pictures, each onecontaining four photos of women. The photos were generated and manipulated digitallyin order to get different body shapes, ranging from a slim to a heavy body shape. Thephotos were exposed in a 2x2 array during 4 seconds. Body Shape Questionnaire wasused to divide participants into two groups; high and low body dissatisfaction. Thedirection and fixation of the gaze were recorded continuously by means of an eyetracker.In general, an attentional bias in the body dissatisfaction group was observed, i.e.,women looked longer to the slimmest picture in the array. Women in the control group(low body dissatisfaction) showed distributed attention to the four body shapes.These results suggest promising possibilities of using ocular tracking tests in the earlydetection of symptoms associated with eating disorders, and perhaps possibilities ofimproving clinical and preventive interventions.

Many people experience distress from memories of adverse events, so called trauma memories. Trauma interventions are often long and expensive and not easily accessible to, for example, people with sub clinical symptoms or refugees. Based on findings in neurocognitive basic research, a brief method to remedy symptoms related to trauma memories has been developed. The method consists of a one hour psychoeducative session in which individuals learn about distressing traumatic memories and how to handle them. The method aims to teach a way to deploy brain resources during reactivation of a memory in order to reduce fear and anxiety at reconsolidation. Nineteen individuals with difficult and distressing memories participated in a pilot trial. In a one hour session, participants were tought the method and basic knowledge about underlying brain functioning. They were instructed to practice the method during the following week. Pre, post (+1 week), and follow up (+ 5 weeks) measures of symptoms of posttraumatic stress, depression, and anxiety, showed significant decrease on all three scales with a persistant decrease at follow up. In general, results indicate that brief treatment methods can help results indicate that briefer methods can help people suffering from trauma memories.

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to investigate how emotions influence pain, measured by one subjective self-rated measure, the numeric rating scale (NRS), and one objective physiological measure, the number of skin conductance responses (NSCR). Method: Eighteen volunteers were exposed to conditions with pictorial emotional stimuli (neutral, positive, negative), authentic ICU-sound (noise, no-noise) and electrical stimulation (pain, no-pain) individually titrated to induce moderate pain. When using all combinations of picture inducing emotions, sound, and pain, each of these conditions (12 conditions lasting for 60 seconds each) were followed by pain ratings. Ratings of arousal (low to high) and valence (pleasant to unpleasant) were used as indicators of affective state for each condition. Mean NSCR was also measured throughout the experiment for each condition. Results: Even though NRS and NSCR increased during painful stimuli, they did not correlate during the trial. However, NSCR was positively correlated with the strength of the electrical stimulation, r = 0.48, P = 0.046, whereas NRS showed positive correlations with the anxiety level, assessed by affective ratings (arousal, r = 0.61, P < 0.001, and valence, r = 0.37, P < 0.001). Conclusions: The NRS was strongly influenced by affective state, with higher pain ratings during more anxiety-like states, whereas NSCR correlated to the strength of electrical pain stimulation. That reported pain is moderated by anxiety, puts forward a discussion whether reduction of the anxiety level should be considered during analgesia treatment.