Previous research on assessment of mindfulness by self-report suggests that it may include five component skills: observing, describing, acting with awareness, nonjudging of inner experience, and nonreactivity to inner experience. These elements of mindfulness can be measured with the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). The authors investigated several aspects of the construct validity of the FFMQ in experienced meditators and nonmeditating comparison groups. Consistent with predictions, most mindfulness facets were significantly related to meditation experience and to psychological symptoms and well-being. As expected, relationships between the observing facet and psychological adjustment varied with meditation experience. Regression and mediation analyses showed that several of the facets contributed independently to the prediction of well-being and significantly mediated the relationship between meditation experience and well-being. Findings support the construct validity of the FFMQ in a combination of samples not previously investigated.

The current study examined the relations between impulsivity-related traits (as assessed by the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale) and aggressive behaviors. Results indicated that UPPS-P Lack of Premeditation and Sensation Seeking were important in predicting general violence. In contrast, UPPS-P Urgency was most useful in predicting intimate partner violence. To further explore relations between intimate partner violence and Urgency, a measure of autonomic response to pleasant and aversive stimuli and facets of Neuroticism from the NEO PI-R were used as control variables. Autonomic responsivity was correlated with intimate partner violence at the zero-order level, and predicted significant variance in intimate partner violence in regression equations. However, UPPS-P Urgency was able to account for unique variance in intimate partner violence above and beyond measures of Neuroticism and arousal. Implications regarding the use of a multifaceted conceptualization of impulsivity in the prediction of different types of violent behavior are discussed.Much research has focused on the origins of aggression, and a host of relevant factors has been identified (Anderson & Bushman, 2002). Although individual violent behavior is undoubtedly a result of a complex series of thoughts, emotions, and contexts, personality characteristics play an important role in predisposing individuals to aggression. Previous research in the traits associated with aggression has focused on several candidate areas, including hypermasculinity (Parrott & Zeichner, 2003), narcissism (Bushman & Baumeister, 1998), entitlement (Campbell, Bonacci, Shelton, Exline, & Bushman, 2004), and self-control (Caspi, 2000;DeWall, Baumeister, Stillman, & Gailliot, 2007; Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). Meta-analytic results indicate robust associations with the broad personality dimensions of Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness from the Five Factor Model (Bettencourt, Talley, Benjamin, & Valentine, 2006;Miller & Lynam, 2001).Given the robust relations to aggressive and delinquent behaviors, early appearance in development, and overlap with domains of general personality, increasing attention is turning to the area of trait impulsivity as a predictor of aggressive behavior (Caspi, 2000;Krueger, Caspi, Mofitt, White, & Stouthamer-Loeber, 1996;Murphy & Eisenberg, 1997). New, multifaceted conceptualizations of impulsivity have recently been introduced, which have proved useful in predicting a variety of risky behaviors (Cyders & Smith, 2010;Whiteside & Lynam, 2001;Zapolski, Cyders, & Smith, 2009). Despite considerable work in this area, little research has attempted to understand how various aspects of impulsivity are Corresponding Author: Karen J. Derefinko, University of Kentucky, Department of Psychology, 115 Kastle Hall, Lexington, FAX: (859) 323-1979. kjdere2@uky.edu.. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptAggress Behav. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2012 May 1. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript ass...

BACKGROUND: Recent attention has focused on the negative effects of chemotherapy on the cognitive performance of cancer survivors. The current study examined modification of this risk by catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) genotype based on evidence in adult populations that the presence of a Val allele is associated with poorer cognitive performance. METHODS: Breast cancer survivors treated with radiotherapy (n ¼ 58), and/or chemotherapy (n ¼ 72), and 204 healthy controls (HCs) completed tests of cognitive performance and provided saliva for COMT genotyping. COMT genotype was divided into Val carriers (Valþ; Val/Val, Val/Met) or COMT-Met homozygote carriers (Met; Met/ Met). RESULTS: COMT-Valþ carriers performed more poorly on tests of attention, verbal fluency, and motor speed relative to COMT-Met homozygotes. Moreover, COMT-Valþ carriers treated with chemotherapy performed more poorly on tests of attention relative to HC group members who were also Valþ carriers. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that persons treated with chemotherapy for breast cancer who also possess the COMT-Val gene are susceptible to negative effects on their cognitive health. This research is important because it strives to understand the factors that predispose some cancer survivors to more negative quality-of-life outcomes.

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BackgroundIntranasal oxytocin (OT) has been shown to improve social communication functioning of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and, thus, has received considerable interest as a potential ASD therapeutic agent. Although preclinical research indicates that OT modulates the functional output of the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system that processes rewards, no clinical brain imaging study to date has examined the effects of OT on this system using a reward processing paradigm. To address this, we used an incentive delay task to examine the effects of a single dose of intranasal OT, versus placebo (PLC), on neural responses to social and nonsocial rewards in children with ASD.MethodsIn this placebo-controlled double-blind study, 28 children and adolescents with ASD (age: M = 13.43 years, SD = 2.36) completed two fMRI scans, one after intranasal OT administration and one after PLC administration. During both scanning sessions, participants completed social and nonsocial incentive delay tasks. Task-based neural activation and connectivity were examined to assess the impact of OT relative to PLC on mesocorticolimbic brain responses to social and nonsocial reward anticipation and outcomes.ResultsCentral analyses compared the OT and PLC conditions. During nonsocial reward anticipation, there was greater activation in the right nucleus accumbens (NAcc), left anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), bilateral orbital frontal cortex (OFC), left superior frontal cortex, and right frontal pole (FP) during the OT condition relative to PLC. Alternatively, during social reward anticipation and outcomes, there were no significant increases in brain activation during the OT condition relative to PLC. A Treatment Group × Reward Condition interaction revealed relatively greater activation in the right NAcc, right caudate nucleus, left ACC, and right OFC during nonsocial relative to social reward anticipation during the OT condition relative to PLC. Additionally, these analyses revealed greater activation during nonsocial reward outcomes during the OT condition relative to PLC in the right OFC and left FP. Finally, functional connectivity analyses generally revealed changes in frontostriatal connections during the OT condition relative to PLC in response to nonsocial, but not social, rewards.ConclusionsThe effects of intranasal OT administration on mesocorticolimbic brain systems that process rewards in ASD were observable primarily during the processing of nonsocial incentive salience stimuli. These findings have implications for understanding the effects of OT on neural systems that process rewards, as well as for experimental trials of novel ASD treatments developed to ameliorate social communication impairments in ASD.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s11689-018-9228-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

There are few reliable predictors of response to antidepressant treatments. In the present investigation, we examined pretreatment functional brain connectivity during reward processing as a potential predictor of response to Behavioral Activation Treatment for Depression (BATD), a validated psychotherapy that promotes engagement with rewarding stimuli and reduces avoidance behaviors. Thirty-three outpatients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 20 matched controls completed two runs of the monetary incentive delay task during functional magnetic resonance imaging after which participants with MDD received up to 15 sessions of BATD. Seed-based generalized psychophysiological interaction analyses focused on task-based connectivity across task runs, as well as the attenuation of connectivity from the first to the second run of the task. The average change in Beck Depression Inventory-II scores due to treatment was 10.54 points, a clinically meaningful response. Groups differed in seed-based functional connectivity among multiple frontostriatal regions. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that improved treatment response to BATD was predicted by greater connectivity between the left putamen and paracingulate gyrus during reward anticipation. In addition, MDD participants with greater attenuation of connectivity between several frontostriatal seeds, and midline subcallosal cortex and left paracingulate gyrus demonstrated improved response to BATD. These findings indicate that pretreatment frontostriatal functional connectivity during reward processing is predictive of response to a psychotherapy modality that promotes improving approach-related behaviors in MDD. Furthermore, connectivity attenuation among reward-processing regions may be a particularly powerful endophenotypic predictor of response to BATD in MDD.

Although self-report measures of dispositional mindfulness have good psychometric properties, a few studies have shown unexpected positive correlations between substance use and mindfulness scales measuring observation of present-moment experience. The current study tested the hypothesis that the relationship between present-moment observation and substance use is moderated by the tendency to be nonjudgmental and nonreactive toward the observed stimuli. Two hundred and ninety-six undergraduates completed the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), a calendar measuring periods of substance use, and a measure of the Five-Factor Model of personality. Controlling for FFMQ and personality subscales, significant interactions between the observing and nonreactivity subscales indicated that the observing subscale was negatively associated with substance use at higher levels of nonreactivity but positively associated with periods of substance use at lower levels of nonreactivity. Results support the use of statistical interactions among FFMQ subscales to test for the presence of interactive effects of different aspects of mindfulness.