No abstract

Narrowly defined, AIM appears to be at greatest risk for bipolar I patients. Our haplotype analysis of SLC6A4 suggests that future pharmacogenetic studies should not only focus on the SLC6A4 promotor variation but also investigate the role of other variants in the gene.

Do perfectionists try harder? Previous research on perfectionism and effort has used self-report items and task performance as indicators of effort. The current study investigated whether individual differences in perfectionism predicted effort-related cardiac activity during a mental effort task. Based on past research that suggests adaptive perfectionism is associated with higher effort, it was hypothesized that self-oriented perfectionism (SOP) would predict increased effort on the task. One hundred and eleven college students completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS) and a self-paced parity task in which they received a small cash reward (3 cents) for each correct response. Impedance cardiography was used to assess autonomic reactivity, and regression models tested whether SOP and socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP) explained autonomic reactivity. Overall, participants showed both sympathetic (faster pre-ejection period; PEP) and parasympathetic activation (elevated high-frequency heart rate variability; HRV) during the task, reflecting higher effort and engagement. Contrary to predictions, individual differences in perfectionism did not moderate cardiac reactivity. These findings draw attention to the importance of assessing physiological components of effort and motivation directly rather than inferring them from task performance or self-reported effort.

Research on depression and effort has suggested “depressive blunting”—lower cardiovascular reactivity in response to challenges and stressors. Many studies, however, find null effects or higher reactivity. The present research draws upon motivational intensity theory, a broad model of effort that predicts cases in which depressive symptoms should increase or decrease effort. Because depressive symptoms can influence task-difficulty appraisals—people see tasks as subjectively harder—people high in depressive symptoms should engage higher effort at objectively easier levels of difficulty but also quit sooner. A sample of adults completed a mental effort challenge with four levels of difficulty, from very easy to difficult-but-feasible. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the CESD and DASS; effort-related cardiac activity was assessed via markers of contractility (e.g., the cardiac pre-ejection period [PEP]) obtained with impedance cardiography. The findings supported the theory’s predictions. When the task was relatively easier, people high in depressive symptoms showed higher contractility (shorter PEP), consistent with greater effort. When the task was relatively harder, people high in depressive symptoms showed diminished contractility, consistent with quitting. The results suggest that past research has been observing a small part of a larger trajectory of trying and quitting, and they illustrate the value of a theoretically grounded analysis of depressive symptoms and effort-related cardiac activity.

Deficits in self-regulation and motivation are central to depression. Using motivational intensity theory (Brehm & Self, 1989), the present research examined how depressive anhedonia influences effort during a piece-rate appetitive task. In piece-rate tasks, people can work at their own pace and are rewarded for each correct response, so they can gain rewards more quickly by expending more effort. A sample of community adults (n = 78) was evaluated for depressive anhedonia using a structured clinical interview, yielding depressive anhedonia and control groups. Participants completed a self-paced cognitive task, and each correct response yielded a cash reward (3 cents or 15 cents, manipulated within-person). Using impedance cardiography, effort-related physiological activity was assessed via the cardiac pre-ejection period (PEP). The results indicated lower reward responsiveness in the anhedonia group. Compared to the control group, the depressive anhedonia group showed significantly less baseline-to-task change in PEP, and they performed marginally worse on the task. The experiment supports the predictions made by applying motivational intensity theory to depression and offers a useful paradigm for evaluating anhedonic effects on effort while people are striving for appealing rewards.

This study examined whether romantic relationship functioning was associated with mental health treatment utilization in male and female veterans. Veterans (N = 760) enrolled in a longitudinal registry completed self-report measures and a diagnostic interview for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Mental health treatment utilization data procured from Veterans Affairs administrative records were analyzed over 12 months. For men with PTSD, greater romantic relationship dysfunction was associated with more total mental health visits, medication management visits, and group psychotherapy visits. For women with PTSD, romantic relationship dysfunction was negatively associated with total mental health, individual psychotherapy, and group therapy visits. For women without PTSD, greater relationship dysfunction was associated with fewer total mental health visits and group therapy visits. For men, relationship difficulties appear to be positively related to mental health service use; however, for women, relationship difficulties appear to have no relation or a negative relation to mental health service use.

Results have implications for enhancing social support in behavioral weight management interventions that are developmentally relevant for adolescents.

Research on effort and motivation commonly assesses how the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system affects the cardiovascular system. The cardiac pre-ejection period (PEP), assessed via impedance cardiography, is a common outcome, but assessing PEP requires identifying subtle points on cardiac waveforms. The present research examined the psychometric value of the RZ interval (RZ), which has recently been proposed as an indicator of sympathetic activity, for effort research. Also known as the initial systolic time interval (ISTI), RZ is the time (in ms) between the ECG R peak and the dZ/dt Z peak. Unlike PEP, RZ involves salient waveform points that are easily and reliably identified. Data from two experiments evaluated the suitability of RZ for effort paradigms and compared it to a popular automated PEP method. In Studies 1 (n = 89) and 2 (n = 71), participants completed a standard appetitive task in which each correct response earned a small amount of cash. As expected, incentives significantly affected PEP and RZ in both experiments. PEP and RZ were highly correlated (all rs ≥ .89), and RZ consistently yielded a larger effect size than PEP. In Study 3, a quantitative synthesis of the experiments indicated that the effect size of RZ's response to incentives (Hedges's g = .432 [.310, .554]) was roughly 15% larger than PEP's effect size (g = .376 [.256, .496]). RZ thus appears promising for future research on sympathetic aspects of effort-related cardiac activity.