All eyes on me?! Social anxiety and self-directed perception of eye gaze

To date, only little is known about the self-directed perception and processing of subtle gaze cues in social anxiety that might however contribute to excessive feelings of being looked at by others. Using a web-based approach, participants (n=174) were asked whether or not briefly (300 ms) presented facial expressions modulated in gaze direction (0°, 2°, 4°, 6°, 8°) and valence (angry, fearful, happy, neutral) were directed at them. The results demonstrate a positive, linear relationship between self-reported social anxiety and stronger self-directed perception of others' gaze directions, particularly for negative (angry, fearful) and neutral expressions. Furthermore, faster responding was found for gaze more clearly directed at socially anxious individuals (0°, 2°, and 4°) suggesting a tendency to avoid direct gaze. In sum, the results illustrate an altered self-directed perception of subtle gaze cues. The possibly amplifying effects of social stress on biased self-directed perception of eye gaze are discussed.

Hope as a resource for self-directed career management: Investigatiing mediating effects on proactive career behaviors, life and job satisfaction

ABSTRACT Hope is increasingly recognized as an important psychological resource for career development, yet the empirical research on its functioning in this domain is sparse. This paper describes an investigation of how dispositional hope is related to career decidedness, career planning, and career self-efficacy beliefs and whether these more proximal career attitudes mediate the effects of hope on proactive career behaviors, life satisfaction, and job satisfaction. This investigation was conducted using two independent samples of university students (N = 1,334) and working professionals (N = 233). The results showed that in both samples, hope was significantly related but empirically distinct from career variables. In both samples, hope had a direct effect on proactive career behaviors, partially mediated by more career planning. Hope had significant direct and indirect effects on life satisfaction among students, mediated by the three career development attitudes. Although hope was significantly correlated with job satisfaction among employees, no direct effect of hope was found in the mediation model, but an indirect effect through career decidedness was found. The results suggest that hope is an important resource for proactive career development at different career stages and that the positive relation of hope to life and job satisfaction can partially be attributed to the positive relation between hope and favorable career development attitudes.

Self-assessment insufficiently predicts performance in emergency skills

Background: Residents demonstrate a broad range of performance levels for clinical skills, with some at an inadequate level. Adequate self-assessment is important for life long learning. However, its accuracy is questioned extensively. The aim of this study was to evaluate how far the residents’ self-assessment predicts their performance in an expert assessment of emergency skills. Summary of work: Twelve skills were identified as being relevant for the emergency duties of residents in smaller hospitals. Fifteen first-year residents from the departments of internal medicine and general surgery at a district hospital rated their performance on a questionnaire (self-assessment). This was followed by a structured, practical in vivo assessment by an anaesthesiologist (expert assessment). For both, a visual analogue scale from 0 to 10 was used, on which 0 stands for novice and 10 for expert. Predictive validity was described by Spearman’s correlation, which was significant in 3 out of 12 skills only. Median correlation (r) was 0.50 (range 0.16 to 0.93). Conclusion: At the beginning of postgraduate training, self-assessment alone is not sufficient to guide self-directed learning. Take-home message: At the beginning of their residency, physicians need structured feedback in emergency skills which can be offered by anaesthesiologists.

Gaze perception in social anxiety and social anxiety disorder

Clinical observations suggest abnormal gaze perception to be an important indicator of social anxiety disorder (SAD). Experimental research has yet paid relatively little attention to the study of gaze perception in SAD. In this article we first discuss gaze perception in healthy human beings before reviewing self-referential and threat-related biases of gaze perception in clinical and non-clinical socially anxious samples. Relative to controls, socially anxious individuals exhibit an enhanced self-directed perception of gaze directions and demonstrate a pronounced fear of direct eye contact, though findings are less consistent regarding the avoidance of mutual gaze in SAD. Prospects for future research and clinical implications are discussed.

Sonic intelligence as a virtual therapeutic environment

This paper reports on the results of a research project, on comparing one virtual collaborative environment with a first-person visual immersion (first-perspective interaction) and a second one where the user interacts through a sound-kinetic virtual representation of himself (avatar), as a stress-coping environment in real-life situations. Recent developments in coping research are proposing a shift from a trait-oriented approach of coping to a more situation-specific treatment. We defined as real-life situation a target-oriented situation that demands a complex coping skills inventory of high self-efficacy and internal or external "locus of control" strategies. The participants were 90 normal adults with healthy or impaired coping skills, 25-40 years of age, randomly spread across two groups. There was the same number of participants across groups and gender balance within groups. All two groups went through two phases. In Phase I, Solo, one participant was assessed using a three-stage assessment inspired by the transactional stress theory of Lazarus and the stress inoculation theory of Meichenbaum. In Phase I, each participant was given a coping skills measurement within the time course of various hypothetical stressful encounters performed in two different conditions and a control group. In Condition A, the participant was given a virtual stress assessment scenario relative to a first-person perspective (VRFP). In Condition B, the participant was given a virtual stress assessment scenario relative to a behaviorally realistic motion controlled avatar with sonic feedback (VRSA). In Condition C, the No Treatment Condition (NTC), the participant received just an interview. In Phase II, all three groups were mixed and exercised the same tasks but with two participants in pairs. The results showed that the VRSA group performed notably better in terms of cognitive appraisals, emotions and attributions than the other two groups in Phase I (VRSA, 92%; VRFP, 85%; NTC, 34%). In Phase II, the difference again favored the VRSA group against the other two. These results indicate that a virtual collaborative environment seems to be a consistent coping environment, tapping two classes of stress: (a) aversive or ambiguous situations, and (b) loss or failure situations in relation to the stress inoculation theory. In terms of coping behaviors, a distinction is made between self-directed and environment-directed strategies. A great advantage of the virtual collaborative environment with the behaviorally enhanced sound-kinetic avatar is the consideration of team coping intentions in different stages. Even if the aim is to tap transactional processes in real-life situations, it might be better to conduct research using a sound-kinetic avatar based collaborative environment than a virtual first-person perspective scenario alone. The VE consisted of two dual-processor PC systems, a video splitter, a digital camera and two stereoscopic CRT displays. The system was programmed in C++ and VRScape Immersive Cluster from VRCO, which created an artificial environment that encodes the user's motion from a video camera, targeted at the face of the users and physiological sensors attached to the body.

The career resources model: An integrative framework for career counsellors

Changes in the nature of work and organizations have led to an increased need for self-directed career management (SDCM). However, there is no consensus in the literature of what constitutes SDCM and many related concepts have been proposed. Integrating previous research across different conceptualizations of SDCM, the paper proposes four critical career resources which are essential for career development in the modern context: human capital resources, social resources, psychological resources, and identity resources. Implications of this framework for counselling practice are presented.

Assessment of smoking behaviour in the dental setting. A study comparing self-reported questionnaire data and exhaled carbon monoxide levels

The present study validated the accuracy of data from a self-reported questionnaire on smoking behaviour with the use of exhaled carbon monoxide (CO) level measurements in two groups of patients. Group 1 included patients referred to an oral medicine unit, whereas group 2 was recruited from the daily outpatient service. All patients filled in a standardized questionnaire regarding their current and former smoking habits. Additionally, exhaled CO levels were measured using a monitor. A total of 121 patients were included in group 1, and 116 patients were included in group 2. The mean value of exhaled CO was 7.6 ppm in the first group and 9.2 ppm in the second group. The mean CO values did not statistically significantly differ between the two groups. The two exhaled CO level measurements taken for each patient exhibited very good correlation (Spearman's coefficient of 0.9857). Smokers had a mean difference of exhaled CO values of 13.95 ppm (p < 0.001) compared to non-smokers adjusted for the first or second group. The consumption of one additional pack year resulted in an increase in CO values of 0.16 ppm (p = 0.003). The consumption of one additional cigarette per day elevated the CO measurements by 0.88 ppm (p < 0.001). Based on these results, the correlations between the self-reported smoking habits and exhaled CO values are robust and highly reproducible. CO monitors may offer a non-invasive method to objectively assess current smoking behaviour and to monitor tobacco use cessation attempts in the dental setting.

Assessment of smoking behaviour in a dental setting: a 1-year follow-up study using self-reported questionnaire data and exhaled carbon monoxide levels.

OBJECTIVES This study analyses the changes in smoking habits over the course of 1 year in a group of patients referred to an oral medicine unit. MATERIALS AND METHODS Smoking history and behaviour were analysed at baseline and after 1 year based on a self-reported questionnaire and on exhaled carbon monoxide levels [in parts per million (ppm)]. During the initial examination, all smokers underwent tobacco use prevention and cessation counselling. RESULTS Of the initial group of 121 patients, 98 were examined at the follow-up visit. At the baseline examination, 33 patients (33.67 %) indicated that they were current smokers. One year later, 14 patients (42.24 % out of the 33 smokers of the initial examination) indicated that they had attempted to stop smoking at least once over the follow-up period and 15.15 % (5 patients) had quit smoking. The mean number of cigarettes smoked per day by current smokers decreased from 13.10 to 12.18 (p = 0.04). The exhaled CO level measurements showed very good correlation with a Spearman's coefficient 0.9880 for the initial visit, and 0.9909 for the follow-up examination. For current smokers, the consumption of one additional cigarette per day elevated the CO measurements by 0.77 ppm (p < 0.0001) at the baseline examination and by 0.84 ppm (p < 0.0001) at the 1-year follow-up. CONCLUSIONS In oral health care, where smoking cessation is an important aspect of the treatment strategy, the measurement of exhaled carbon monoxide shows a very good correlation with a self-reported smoking habit. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Measurement of exhaled carbon monoxide is a non-invasive, simple and objective measurement technique for documenting and monitoring smoking cessation and reduction.

Posttraumatic anger in crime victims: Directed at the perpetrator and at the self

This study investigated the targets of anger that are most strongly involved in posttraumatic anger. Using a sample of 218 crime victims, the authors assessed the levels of anger at potential targets (perpetrator, criminal justice system, third persons, and the self ) and their association with severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. The results revealed that anger was most strongly directed at the perpetrator and at the self, and that anger at other targets was low. Moreover, anger at the perpetrator and at the self showed strong associations with PTSD symptoms, whereas the associations of anger at other targets with PTSD symptoms were low.

Coordination-directed self-assembly of a simple benzothiadiazole-fused tetrathiafulvalene to low-bandgap metallogels

Coordination-driven gelation of a benzothiadiazole-fused tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) is demonstrated. This is the first work reporting highly stable metallogels based on a donor-acceptor conjugate with such a simple structure for the construction of new low-bandgap materials with various functional properties and novel nanostructures.

"Self" and "nonself" manipulation of interferon defense during persistent infection: bovine viral diarrhea virus resists alpha/beta interferon without blocking antiviral activity against unrelated viruses replicating in its host cells

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), together with Classical swine fever virus (CSFV) and Border disease virus (BDV) of sheep, belongs to the genus Pestivirus of the Flaviviridae. BVDV is either cytopathic (cp) or noncytopathic (ncp), as defined by its effect on cultured cells. Infection of pregnant animals with the ncp biotype may lead to the birth of persistently infected calves that are immunotolerant to the infecting viral strain. In addition to evading the adaptive immune system, BVDV evades key mechanisms of innate immunity. Previously, we showed that ncp BVDV inhibits the induction of apoptosis and alpha/beta interferon (IFN-alpha/beta) synthesis by double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). Here, we report that (i) both ncp and cp BVDV block the induction by dsRNA of the Mx protein (which can also be induced in the absence of IFN signaling); (ii) neither biotype blocks the activity of IFN; and (iii) once infection is established, BVDV is largely resistant to the activity of IFN-alpha/beta but (iv) does not interfere with the establishment of an antiviral state induced by IFN-alpha/beta against unrelated viruses. The results of our study suggest that, in persistent infection, BVDV is able to evade a central element of innate immunity directed against itself without generally compromising its activity against unrelated viruses ("nonself") that may replicate in cells infected with ncp BVDV. This highly selective "self" and "nonself" model of evasion of the interferon defense system may be a key element in the success of persistent infection in addition to immunotolerance initiated by the early time point of fetal infection.