Examining well-being, anxiety, and self-deception in university students

Sheridan, Zachariah; Boman, Peter; Mergler, Amanda; Furlong, Michael J.

doi:10.1080/23311908.2014.993850

Cited by 45 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 94 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Importantly, we found that trait optimism mediated the influence of the fALFF in the right OFC and OFC‐SMC connectivity on anxiety. Previous investigations have consistently suggested that trait optimism is strongly associated with anxiety among different populations (Dooley et al, ; Griva et al, ; Morton et al, ; Rajandram et al, ; Schweizer et al, ; Sheridan et al, ; Siddique et al, ; Yu et al, ; Zenger et al, 2010). In our dataset, we confirmed the association between trait optimism and anxiety ( r = −0.34, p < .001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…These psychological constructs have been found to be the crucial prerequisites for reducing anxiety (Cisler, Olatunji, Feldner, & Forsyth, ; Hjemdal et al, ; Kennedy, Duff, Evans, & Beedie, ; Ng, Ang, & Ho, ). Evidence from numerous empirical investigations has confirmed that trait optimism can predict anxious symptoms among both clinical and healthy populations (e.g., Dooley, Fitzgerald, & Giollabhui, ; Griva, & Anagnostopoulos, 2010; Morton, Mergler, & Boman, ; Rajandram et al, ; Schweizer, Beck‐Seyffer, & Schneider, ; Sheridan, Boman, Mergler, & Furlong, ; Siddique et al, ; Yu et al, ; Zenger et al, ). In the current study, we used resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS‐fMRI) to examine the functional brain bases of trait optimism and then explore how trait optimism reduces anxiety in the brain.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The optimistic brain: Trait optimism mediates the influence of resting‐state brain activity and connectivity on anxiety in late adolescence

Wang

Zhao

Cheng

et al. 2018

Human Brain Mapping

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

As a hot research topic in the field of psychology and psychiatry, trait optimism reflects the tendency to expect positive outcomes in the future. Consistent evidence has demonstrated the role of trait optimism in reducing anxiety among different populations. However, less is known about the neural bases of trait optimism and the underlying mechanisms for how trait optimism protects against anxiety in the healthy brain. In this investigation, we examined these issues in 231 healthy adolescent students by assessing resting-state brain activity (i.e., fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations, fALFF) and connectivity (i.e., resting-state functional connectivity, RSFC). Whole-brain correlation analyses revealed that higher levels of trait optimism were linked with decreased fALFF in the right orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and increased RSFC between the right OFC and left supplementary motor cortex (SMC). Mediation analyses further showed that trait optimism mediated the influence of the right OFC activity and the OFC-SMC connectivity on anxiety. Our results remained significant even after excluding the impact of head motion, positive and negative affect and depression. Taken together, this study reveals that fALFF and RSFC are functional neural markers of trait optimism and provides a brain-personality-symptom pathway for protection against anxiety in which fALFF and RSFC affect anxiety through trait optimism.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The optimistic brain: Trait optimism mediates the influence of resting‐state brain activity and connectivity on anxiety in late adolescence

Wang

Zhao

Cheng

et al. 2018

Human Brain Mapping

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Moreover, other research has demonstrated an association between curiosity and gray matter density in the precuneus [21] or frontal GMV [48]. Grit has also been found to be positively associated with successful completion of a training course, job, or study continuity [22]; academic and/or career success [22][23][24][25]; and overall life satisfaction and happiness [49], and negatively associated with anxiety [50] and depression [51]. In the field of neuroscience, it has been suggested that grit leads to higher academic performance through the neural link of the right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, a highly associative center in the frontal cortex [23,52].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between Behavioral Ambidexterity and Brain Health

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Appropriately handling and switching exploration of novel knowledge and exploitation of existing knowledge is a fundamental element of genuine innovation in society. Moreover, a mounting number of studies have suggested that such “ambidexterity” is associated not only with organizational performance but also with the human brain. Among these reports, however, there have not been any definitive MRI-based parameters that objectively and easily evaluate such ambidexterity. Therefore, an MRI-based index derived from gray matter volume, called the gray-matter brain healthcare quotient (GM-BHQ), was used to measure the association between ambidexterity and the entire human brain. For this purpose, 200 healthy adults were recruited as subjects to undergo structural T1-weighted imaging and to answer multiple psychological questionnaires. Ambidexterity was evaluated using two scales: the Curiosity and Exploration Inventory II and the Short Grit Scale, as exploration–exploitation indicators of curiosity and grit, respectively. Additionally, to enrich the understanding of these associations, three additional positive thinking scales were used—the General Self-Efficacy Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Life Orientation Test—to evaluate self-efficacy, self-esteem, and optimism, respectively. The authors discovered the GM-BHQ was weakly associated with curiosity, grit, and self-efficacy individually after controlling for age and sex. Furthermore, the GM-BHQ was directly associated with curiosity but indirectly associated with grit in the path model. However, no significant association was found between the GM-BHQ and the other outcome indicators (i.e., self-esteem and optimism). These results suggest that brain health is weakly associated with ambidexterity evaluated using psychological tests.

show abstract

“…Research on personality strengths has found that optimism, self‐efficacy, gratitude, purpose in life, and goal‐directed thinking all exhibit strong correlations with grit (Hill et al, ; Sheridan et al, ; Vainio & Daukantaitė, ). Perseverance of effort may relate more strongly to goal‐directed thinking because perseverance directly relates to goal pursuit, whereas consistency of interests does not imply one's interests are tied to a goal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1.2 | Well-being, strengths, and grit Grit has been predominantly studied in the context of achievement and performance outcomes (e.g., Eskreis-Winkler, Shulman, Beal, & Duckworth, 2014), but research suggests grit is also associated with healthy functioning (Hill, Burrow, & Bronk, 2016;Salles, Cohen, & Mueller, 2014;Sheridan, Boman, Mergler, & Furlong, 2015;Singh & Jha, 2008). Although the effect size differences between grit facets when predicting performance outcomes are large, the differences for satisfaction outcomes are even larger (Crede et al, 2017).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%