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Research snapshot

Research snapshot : COVID-19 protective behaviours

November 2020

Brits were quick to take up protective behaviours in the early stages of the pandemic.

In a nationally representative sample, 1000 British adults were surveyed in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic regarding the adoption of recommended protective behaviours prior to the pandemic and more recently. There was a large increase in proactive behaviours between behaviours before and after the pandemic was declared, including etiquette around coughing and sneezing, handwashing, and avoiding contact with symptomatic people. For example, 66 per cent of participants reported avoiding touching their face with unwashed hands, compared to only 14 per cent avoiding this before the pandemic. Men were less likely than women to follow protective measures and were more likely to think that their own individual action would not make a difference in reducing the spread of COVID-19. Men also tended to have a lower level of belief in their own and British residents’ abilities to follow protective measures. People with prior higher frequency of social contacts were also found to engage in fewer protective measures during the pandemic than people with fewer social contacts. This research is part of a three-wave study of adoption of protective behaviours during the pandemic.

https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12235 

Research snapshot : Marathon runners

November 2020

Marathon running may improve resilience and emotion-regulation skills.

Australian researchers examined the resilience and personality traits of ultra-marathon runners by comparing differences between 20 runners and 20 people who were not runners (controls). Self-report responses to surveys and physiological responses to a computerised emotion-regulation task were obtained. Compared to the control participants, the ultra-marathon runners showed higher resilience, greater likelihood of engaging in positive reappraisal to regulate emotions and smaller physiological responses to emotionally negative stimuli. This suggests that running may improve emotion regulation skills and resilience. Ultra-marathon runners were also found to be less extroverted than control participants in terms of expression of social warmth. The researchers suggested that while runners may be less included to form close social connections outside of running, other research suggests that marathon running itself can be a very social experience. 

https://doi.org/10.1111/ajpy.12287

Research snapshot : Playfulness in adults

November 2020

Completing short exercises to stimulate playfulness may improve wellbeing.

Adult playfulness is a personality trait that has been linked to positive outcomes. Researchers examined the impact of stimulating playfulness on happiness and depressive symptoms. In a randomised controlled trial, 533 participants from mostly European nationalities were assigned to complete one of three playfulness exercises or a placebo-controlled exercise. The playfulness exercises involved adapting online positive psychology interventions and included thinking about three playful things that had happened during the day, using playfulness in a different way or writing about playful experiences that had happened during the day. The placebo activity involved writing about early childhood memories. For all three interventions there were small and short-term improvements in wellbeing and decreases in depressive symptoms. The authors concluded that playfulness can be stimulated through short exercises which may have benefits for improving psychological functioning, but that further research is needed.

https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12220

Research snapshot : Pain attenuation through touch

September 2020

Social support plays a role in pain reduction.

Social support has been found to reduce self-reported pain intensity and unpleasantness. These effects are likely reinforced by touch, however, the mechanisms by which this occurs is not well understood. Researchers hoping to shed light on this effect of social support on touch recruited 51 romantic couples into a study. Couples had been together 4.84 years on average and self-reported high relationship satisfaction (M = 92.45 on a scale from 0–100). Participants were subject to heat stimulation to different areas of their lower leg, while their romantic partner was directed to provide varying levels of social support (gentle stroking of the forearm, hand-holding and being present without touch, combined with pre- and post-manipulation measurements). Participants’ physiological activity (as measured by conductance response) and moment-by-moment pain intensity ratings were recorded. An analysis found that interpersonal support decreased perceived pain intensity, unpleasantness and perceived pain-related physiological responses overall. Relative to the other interventions, hand-holding had a particularly calming effect and couple’s physiological responses were found to be similar while hand-holding.

https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaa048

Research snapshot : Memory and physical stress

September 2020

Occupational stress is associated with poorer memory and smaller hippocampal volume.

Jobs can provide crucial support for cognitive functioning through intellectual and social enrichment. They are also associated with poorer cognitive ability in midlife and retirement through physical and psychological stress. This study used the Brain Aging: Occupational Stimulation and Stress (BOSS) model in a randomised controlled exercise trial in order to relate occupational characteristics to hippocampal volume and cognitive function in healthy aging. Participants (N = 247) aged between 60 and 80 years completed a series of demographic, health, neuroimaging, cognitive and cardiorespiratory assessments. Physical stress – operationalised as physical demands and work conditions – was associated with smaller hippocampal volume and poorer memory performance. These results were found to be independent of socioeconomic factors, early-life education, job title and income. The researchers recommended considering occupational experiences in order to understand individual trajectories of cognitive and brain ageing.

doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2020.00266

Research snapshot : Happiness and health

September 2020

Subjective wellbeing enhances self-reported physical health, but what does the body say?

A team of American and Canadian researchers set out to examine the effects of long-term increases in subjective wellbeing on physical health in a sample of 155 healthy adults. Two versions of a 12-week positive psychological intervention (Enduring Happiness and Continued Self-Enhancement) were evaluated; an online self-directed version and a clinician directed group program. For both versions participants were randomly allocated to receive the program or to act as a waitlist control. Participants completed assessments at the start and end of the program and three months after completion, as well as weekly surveys around their health and wellbeing. Treatment participants reported higher levels of subjective wellbeing and reported fewer days during which they felt sick compared with participants in the waitlist control group. However, the intervention did not have any effects on objective measures of health including BMI and blood pressure. The researchers suggested that future longitudinal studies need to extend the period of assessment from months to years to measure the full impact of happiness on physical health.

doi.org/10.1177/0956797620919673

Research snapshot : Embracing complexity

September 2020

Simplified models of mental health are useful, but professionals need to embrace complexity.

Simplified models (schematics) of mental health and its treatment are often used to convey scientific content to the general public. These can increase the health literacy of the population, but at the same time run the risk of oversimplifying complex research findings. Australian researchers reviewed the application of a number of popular models of mental health in order to highlight how this oversimplification may impede health professionals, policymakers and researchers from accurately translating and advancing the ideas within. An example given was Huppert’s (2005) schematic of the mental health spectrum, which has been inappropriately applied at the individual level, ignoring the complicated relationship between mental illness and positive mental health outcomes and symptoms within individuals. In addition, neither single-factor nor dual-factor models of mental illness manage to capture the interrelations between positive and negative factors on one another and on overall mental health status. It was suggested that we use simple models and schematics only as a starting point for opening up conversations between professionals and those who are not familiar with the characteristics of mental wellbeing.

doi.org/10.1111/ap.12440

Research snapshot : The intercultural context

April 2020

Exploring Indigenous experiences in mainstream Australian organisations.

This qualitative study explored the experiences of Indigenous employees working in Australian workplaces. Employment and retention rates for Indigenous workers are disproportionately lower than those found in the broader Australian population. A team of researchers examined the potential impacts of the intercultural workplace context. Ten Indigenous participants from a metropolitan area who are, or have been, employed in mainstream workplaces took part in in-depth interviews using a grounded theory methodology. Their responses were then coded to identify themes. The results indicate that some Indigenous employees experience mainstream workplaces as interculturally complex environments. These employment settings therefore present an array of psychosocial hurdles with regards to their employment and retention. The theory of intercultural code-switching between mainstream and minority groups is suggested as a potential element at play. Namely, the intercultural environment of these workplaces may mean Indigenous employees have to display higher levels of cultural agility to achieve successful employment and retention outcomes. The researchers propose that broader governmental initiatives to improve Indigenous employment outcomes are unlikely to end in increases in respective employment and retention rates for Indigenous workers unless the intricate, intercultural factors are taken into consideration. Both practice and further research implications in the field of organisational and intercultural psychology are also discussed.

https://doi.org/10.1111/ajpy.12286

Research snapshot : Simulating competence?

April 2020

When assessing clinical competence, is the provision of written material better than a video?

Australian researchers studied the overall impact of simulation-based education on psychology students’ clinical competence and confidence when compared with case-based education. In a mixed-methods study, 12 first-year clinical psychology students took two structured, objective clinical tests in which their clinical competence was evaluated using the Global Rating Scale and Cognitive Therapy Scale – Revised. After the first test, participants were randomly allocated to either the simulation- or case-based education conditions, where they interacted with video or written case studies. Post-intervention clinical competence was assessed, and participants took part in a follow-up focus group. Participants who took part in the simulation-based education condition rated their confidence higher in applying knowledge learned to real-world settings than those from the case-based education condition. The simulation-based education group also showed increased competence as rated on the scale. This increase, however, was not better overall than the case-based education group. A range of themes emerged from the qualitative data collected during the study, and suggested students felt a sense of disconnect between case-based materials and clinical practice. So too, the role of explicit instructions in shaping the learning experience for students was found to be key. From a student perspective, simulation-based is preferable to case-based as a clinical education approach. However, there is no clear evidence that simulation-based education enhances clinical skill performance over and above that of traditional case-based education.

https://doi.org/10.1111/cp.12209

Research snapshot : Tolerating uncertainty

April 2020

When it comes to worrying, are some types more susceptible than others?

The intolerance of uncertainty model (IUM) of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) outlines four components which can add to both the development and maintenance of worry in GAD. They are intolerance of uncertainty (IU), positive beliefs about worry, negative problem orientation, and cognitive avoidance. Recent studies report that the relationship between IU and worry is mediated by positive beliefs about worry and negative problem orientation. This study looked at whether these mediation relationships appear when the two subtypes of IU, prospective and inhibitory IU, are examined separately. One hundred and sixty Australians from an convenience sample took an online survey to check each IUM component, worry, and depression. The results suggest positive beliefs about worry and negative problem orientation mediated the relationship between IU and worry. Only positive beliefs about worry mediated the relationship between prospective IU and worry, and only negative problem orientation mediated the relationship between inhibitory IU and worry. On the whole, this indicates that the two IU subtypes influence worry along varied pathways. The implications for these findings may mean there are ways to target elements of the IUM in people with GAD and other anxiety disorders.

https://doi.org/10.1111/ap.12421

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