Mindfulness witnessed a substantial popularity surge in the past decade, especially as digitally self-administered interventions became available at relatively low costs. Yet, it is uncertain whether they effectively help reduce stress. In a preregistered (OSF https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/UF4JZ ; retrospective registration at ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06308744 ) multi-site study (nsites = 37, nparticipants = 2,239, 70.4% women, Mage = 22.4, s.d.age = 10.1, all fluent English speakers), we experimentally tested whether four single, standalone mindfulness exercises effectively reduced stress, using Bayesian mixed-effects models. All exercises proved to be more efficacious than the active control. We observed a mean difference of 0.27 (d = -0.56; 95% confidence interval, -0.43 to -0.69) between the control condition (M = 1.95, s.d. = 0.50) and the condition with the largest stress reduction (body scan: M = 1.68, s.d. = 0.46). Our findings suggest that mindfulness may be beneficial for reducing self-reported short-term stress for English speakers from higher-income countries.

• MeSH
• Bayesova věta MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• psychický stres * terapie   prevence a kontrola   MeSH
• všímavost * metody   MeSH
• Check Tag
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• multicentrická studie MeSH
• randomizované kontrolované studie MeSH

INTRODUCTION: This study explores the emotional impact of virtual forest therapy delivered through audio-visual recordings shown to patients in the oncology waiting rooms, focusing on whether simulated forest walks can positively influence patients' emotional states compared to traditional waiting room stimuli. METHODS: The study involved 117 participants from a diverse group of oncology patients in the outpatient clinic waiting room at the Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute. Using a partially randomized controlled trial design, the study assessed basic emotional dimensions-valence and arousal-as well as specific psychological states such as thought control, sadness, anxiety, and pain. This assessment used the Self-Assessment Manikin and the modified Emotional Thermometer before and after participants watched three video types (forest, sea, news). Baseline stress levels were measured using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6). RESULTS: Participants exposed to forest and sea videos reported significant improvements in emotional valence and reduced arousal, suggesting a calming and uplifting effect. No significant changes were observed in the control and news groups. Secondary outcomes related to anxiety, sadness, and pain showed no significant interaction effects, though small but significant main effects of time on these variables were noted. DISCUSSION: The findings suggest that videos of forest and sea can be a beneficial intervention in the oncology waiting rooms by enhancing patients' emotional well-being. This pilot study underscores the potential for integrating virtual mental health support elements into healthcare settings to improve patient care experience.

• Klíčová slova
• arousal, emotional well-being, forest therapy, psycho-oncology, stress reduction, valence, virtual waiting room,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Objective: Body image disturbances and the attendant negative emotions are two of the major clinical symptoms of eating disorders. The objective of the present experimental study was to shed more light on the degree of association or dissociation between the physiological and emotional response to mirror exposure in patients with restrictive mental anorexia, and on the relationships between the physiological response and characteristics connected with emotional processing. Materials and Methods: Thirty adolescent girls with the restrictive type of anorexia and thirty matched healthy controls underwent bilateral measurement of skin conductance (SC) during rest, neutral stimulus exposure, and mirror exposure, and completed a set of measures focused on emotion regulation competencies, affectivity, and eating disorder pathology. Results: Compared to healthy controls, girls with restrictive anorexia rated mirror exposure as a subjectively more distressful experience. Differences in skin conductance response (SCR) were not significant; however, variance in SCR was substantially greater in the group of anorexia patients as compared to healthy controls. The overall skin conductance level (SCL) was lower in anorexia patients. Increase in SCR during mirror exposure, as opposed to exposure to neutral stimuli, was positively related to the tendency to experience negative emotions, interoceptive sensitivity, body dissatisfaction and suppression, but not to other symptoms of eating pathology or emotional awareness. A post hoc analysis suggested that physiological reactivity might be associated with interoceptive sensitivity to mirror exposure especially in anorectic patients. Conclusion: The study seems to demonstrate some degree of dissociation between psychophysiological reactivity and subjective response to body exposure in patients with restrictive anorexia. Factors affecting differences in psychophysiological responsiveness to body exposure in anorectic patients require further exploration.

• Klíčová slova
• anorexia nervosa, emotion awareness, interoceptive awareness, mirror exposure, skin conductance,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

BACKGROUND: Measuring implicit attitudes is difficult due to social desirability (SD). A new method, the Emotion Based Approach (EBA), can solve this by using emotions from a display of faces as response categories. We applied this on an EBA Spirituality tool (EBA-SPT) and an Actual Situation tool (EBA-AST). Our aim was to assess the structure, reliability and validity of the tools and to compare two EBA assessment approaches, i.e., an explicit one (only assessing final replies to items) and an implicit one (assessing also the selection process). METHODS: We obtained data on a sample of Czech adults (n = 522, age 30.3±12.58; 27.0% men) via an online survey; cortisol was assessed in 46 participants. We assessed the structure and psychometric properties (internal consistency and test-retest reliability; convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity) of the EBA, and examined the differences between explicit vs. implicit EBA approaches. RESULTS: We found an acceptable-good internal consistency reliability of the EBA tools, acceptable discriminant validity between them and low (neutral expression) to good (joy) test-retest reliability for concrete emotions assessed by the tools. An implicit EBA approach showed stronger correlations between emotions and weaker convergent validity, but higher criterion validity, than an explicit approach and standard questionnaires. CONCLUSION: Compared to standard questionnaires, EBA is a more reliable approach for measuring attitudes, with an implicit approach that reflects the selection process yielding the best results.

• MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• emoce klasifikace   MeSH
• fotografování metody   MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• obličej MeSH
• postoj MeSH
• průzkumy a dotazníky MeSH
• psychometrie metody   MeSH
• reprodukovatelnost výsledků MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• výraz obličeje * MeSH
• Check Tag
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

In the present study we examined the positive effects of a healthcare clown intervention on children undergoing surgeries, and the role parent-child relationships may play in their effectiveness. Children between 5 and 12 years, who were scheduled to undergo elective surgical procedures in a large university hospital, were randomly assigned to an intervention group (IG; n = 35) that was visited by a healthcare clown, and a control group (CG; n = 27) that received treatment as usual (i.e., company of parents before the surgery). Children in both groups were videotaped and the videos were later used to rate their activity, arousal, emotional expressivity, and vocalizations. Additionally, children and parents rated their mood and perceived quality of life at several points during the procedure, and parents reported their perceptions of the relationship with their children. Results showed that children in the IG showed more positive emotions and vocalizations than children in the CG. Parents of children in the IG also reported more positive mood than parents of children in the CG. In contrast, children in the CG reported higher quality of life than children in the IG. Importantly, analyses showed considerable effects of the parent-child relationship on all outcome measures. Results of the present study demonstrate that a healthcare clown intervention had some positive effects on behaviors and mood of hospitalized children and their parents. Importantly, our findings also suggest that we need to consider the pre-existing "relationship microcosmos" that the clowns enter when assessing their effectiveness in the hospital.

• Klíčová slova
• healthcare clowns, humor, parent-child relationship, pediatric surgery, positive emotions, well-being,
• MeSH
• dítě hospitalizované MeSH
• dítě MeSH
• kvalita života * MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• operační sály * MeSH
• poskytování zdravotní péče MeSH
• úzkost MeSH
• Check Tag
• dítě MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• randomizované kontrolované studie MeSH

Cardiac autonomic dysregulation has been implicated in the comorbidity of major psychiatric disorders and cardiovascular disease, potentially through dysregulation of physiological responses to negative stressful stimuli (here, shortened to stress response). Further, sex differences in these comorbidities are substantial. Here, we tested the hypothesis that mood- and sex-dependent alterations in brain circuitry implicated in the regulation of the stress response are associated with reduced peripheral parasympathetic activity during negative emotional arousal. Fifty subjects (28 females) including healthy controls and individuals with major depression, bipolar psychosis and schizophrenia were evaluated. Functional magnetic resonance imaging and physiology (cardiac pulse) data were acquired during a mild visual stress reactivity challenge. Associations between changes in activity and functional connectivity of the stress response circuitry and variations in cardiovagal activity [normalized high frequency power of heart rate variability (HFn)] were evaluated using GLM analyses, including interactions with depressed mood and sex across disorders. Our results revealed that in women with high depressed mood, lower cardiovagal activity in response to negative affective stimuli was associated with greater activation of hypothalamus and right amygdala and reduced connectivity between hypothalamus and right orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus. No significant associations were observed in women with low levels of depressed mood or men. Our results revealed mood- and sex-dependent interactions in the central regulation of cardiac autonomic activity in response to negative affective stimuli. These findings provide a potential pathophysiological mechanism for previously observed sex differences in the comorbidity of major depression and cardiovascular disease.

• MeSH
• amygdala MeSH
• depresivní porucha unipolární * MeSH
• hipokampus MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• magnetická rezonanční tomografie * MeSH
• mozek diagnostické zobrazování   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural MeSH

Clinical motor and non-motor effects of deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in Parkinson's disease (PD) seem to depend on the stimulation site within the STN. We analysed the effects of the position of the stimulation electrode within the motor STN on subjective emotional experience, expressed as emotional valence and arousal ratings to pictures representing primary rewards and aversive fearful stimuli in 20 PD patients. Patients' ratings from both aversive and erotic stimuli matched the mean ratings from a group of 20 control subjects at similar position within the STN. Patients with electrodes located more posteriorly reported both valence and arousal ratings from both the rewarding and aversive pictures as more extreme. Moreover, posterior electrode positions were associated with a higher occurrence of depression at a long-term follow-up. This brain-behavior relationship suggests a complex emotion topography in the motor part of the STN. Both valence and arousal representations overlapped and were uniformly arranged anterior-posteriorly in a gradient-like manner, suggesting a specific spatial organization needed for the coding of the motivational salience of the stimuli. This finding is relevant for our understanding of neuropsychiatric side effects in STN DBS and potentially for optimal electrode placement.

• MeSH
• elektrody MeSH
• emoce fyziologie   MeSH
• hluboká mozková stimulace metody   MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nucleus subthalamicus metabolismus   fyziologie   MeSH
• Parkinsonova nemoc metabolismus   patofyziologie   terapie   MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

BACKGROUND: Oral diseases, such as early childhood caries (ECC), have a complex etiology with common, behaviour-related risk factors. Appropriately targeted behavioural intervention using effective tools can help to eliminate risk behaviour leading to ECC. The aim of this study was to ascertain which visual stimuli with a supporting text evoke the strongest emotional response in infants' mothers and, therefore, are suitable candidates for inclusion in behavioural interventions within the prevention of ECC. METHODS: Thirty-nine mothers of one-year-old children who filled out an originally designed electronic questionnaire, containing 20 visual stimuli with accompanying texts related to dental caries (10/10 with positive/negative intended emotional response), were included in this cross-sectional study. The emotional impact of each stimulus in the mothers was evaluated using the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) technique, which represents three emotional dimensions: valence, arousal, and dominance. RESULTS: Each of the stimuli was assessed by the mothers of infants based on its emotional impact. The real emotional response (evaluated according to the median of valence) was in line with the primarily intended response in 90% of cases (p < 0.05). The text with a warning evoked a greater emotional response (evaluated according to the median of arousal) in mothers than only the informative instruction (p < 0.05). The relationship between arousal and valence (r = - 0.99; p < 0.05) indicates that the more aversive stimuli raise higher arousal. The significant correlation between valence and dominance shows that the more positive the stimuli, the higher feeling of control over the evoked emotion the mothers have (r = 0.83; p < 0.05), and, on the contrary, the lowest control over emotion is correlated with higher arousal (r = - 0.85; p < 0.05). Generally, mothers rated themselves as in high control of their emotions over the individual stimuli. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study proved that negative pictorial and text warnings about the risks of developing caries had the potential to evoke strong emotional responses in the mothers of infants. We identified three visual stimuli that could be included in future extensive motivation material in an attempt to affect the preventive behaviour of mothers, and thus the oral health of their infants.

• Klíčová slova
• Behavioural intervention, Dental caries, Early childhood caries, Prevention, Primary dentition,
• MeSH
• arousal MeSH
• dítě MeSH
• emoce * MeSH
• kojenec MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• pilotní projekty MeSH
• předškolní dítě MeSH
• průřezové studie MeSH
• zubní kaz * MeSH
• Check Tag
• dítě MeSH
• kojenec MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• předškolní dítě MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

BACKGROUND: Maladaptive responses to negative affective stimuli are pervasive, including clinically ill and healthy people, and men and women respond differently at neural and hormonal levels. Inspired by the Research Domain Criteria initiative, we used a transdiagnostic approach to investigate the impact of sex and dysphoric mood on neural-hormonal responses to negative affective stimuli. METHODS: Participants included 99 individuals with major depressive disorder, psychosis and healthy controls. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was complemented with real-time acquisition of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and -gonadal (HPG) hormones. fMRI data were analyzed in SPM8 and task-related connectivity was assessed using generalized psychophysiological interaction. RESULTS: Across all participants, elevated cortisol response predicted lower brain activity in orbitofrontal cortex and hypothalamus-amygdala connectivity. In those with worse dysphoric mood, elevated cortisol response predicted lower activity in hypothalamus and hippocampus. In women, elevated cortisol response was associated with lower activity in medial prefrontal cortex and low hypothalamo-hippocampal connectivity. In women with high dysphoric mood, elevated cortisol response was associated with low hypothalamo-hippocampal connectivity. There were no interactions with diagnosis or medication. LIMITATIONS: There was limited power to correct for multiple comparisons across total number of ROIs and connectivity targets; cortisol responses were relatively low. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the pathophysiology in neural-hormonal responses to negative affective stimuli is shared across healthy and clinical populations and varies as a function of sex and dysphoric mood. Our findings may contribute to the development of hormonal adjunctive therapeutics that are sex-dependent, underscoring the importance of one's sex to precision medicine.

• Klíčová slova
• Cortisol response, Dysphoric mood, FMRI, Negative affect, RDoC, Sex differences,
• MeSH
• afekt fyziologie   MeSH
• amygdala patofyziologie   MeSH
• depresivní porucha unipolární diagnostické zobrazování   patofyziologie   psychologie   MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• hipokampus patofyziologie   MeSH
• hydrokortison fyziologie   MeSH
• hypothalamus patofyziologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• magnetická rezonanční tomografie MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• prefrontální mozková kůra patofyziologie   MeSH
• psychotické poruchy diagnostické zobrazování   patofyziologie   psychologie   MeSH
• sexuální faktory * MeSH
• systém hypofýza - nadledviny fyziologie   MeSH
• systém hypotalamus-hypofýza fyziologie   MeSH
• Check Tag
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• hydrokortison MeSH

Negative affective stimuli elicit behavioral and neural responses which vary on a continuum from adaptive to maladaptive, yet are typically investigated in a dichotomous manner (healthy controls vs. psychiatric diagnoses). This practice may limit our ability to fully capture variance from acute responses to negative affective stimuli to psychopathology at the extreme end. To address this, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging study to examine the neural responses to negative valence/high arousal and neutral valence/low arousal images as a function of dysphoric mood and sex across individuals (n = 99) who represented traditional categories of healthy controls, major depressive disorder, bipolar psychosis, and schizophrenia. Observation of negative (vs. neutral) stimuli elicited blood oxygen-level dependent responses in the following circuitry: periaqueductal gray, hypothalamus (HYPO), amygdala (AMYG), hippocampus (HIPP), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and greater connectivity between AMYG and mPFC. Across all subjects, severity of dysphoric mood was associated with hyperactivity of HYPO, and, among females, right (R) AMYG. Females also demonstrated inverse relationships between severity of dysphoric mood and connectivity between HYPO - R OFC, R AMYG - R OFC, and R AMYG - R HIPP. Overall, our findings demonstrated sex-dependent deficits in response to negative affective stimuli increasing as a function of dysphoric mood state. Females demonstrated greater inability to regulate arousal as mood became more dysphoric. These findings contribute to elucidating biosignatures associated with response to negative stimuli across disorders and suggest the importance of a sex-dependent lens in determining these biosignatures. Hum Brain Mapp 37:3733-3744, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

• Klíčová slova
• International Affective Picture System, Research Domain Criteria, dysphoric mood state, functional magnetic resonance imaging, generalized psychophysiological interaction, negative affect, sex,
• MeSH
• afekt fyziologie   MeSH
• bipolární porucha diagnostické zobrazování   patofyziologie   psychologie   MeSH
• depresivní porucha unipolární diagnostické zobrazování   patofyziologie   psychologie   MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• faktorová analýza statistická MeSH
• kyslík krev   MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• magnetická rezonanční tomografie MeSH
• mapování mozku MeSH
• mozek diagnostické zobrazování   patofyziologie   MeSH
• mozkový krevní oběh fyziologie   MeSH
• nervové dráhy diagnostické zobrazování   patofyziologie   MeSH
• pohlavní dimorfismus * MeSH
• psychotické poruchy diagnostické zobrazování   patofyziologie   psychologie   MeSH
• schizofrenie (psychologie) MeSH
• schizofrenie diagnostické zobrazování   patofyziologie   MeSH
• úzkost diagnostické zobrazování   patofyziologie   MeSH
• Check Tag
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural MeSH
• srovnávací studie MeSH
• Názvy látek
• kyslík MeSH