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Children’s interpretations of events play a significant role in childhood anxiety, and research shows that the parenting environment, in particular, is an important contributor to the manner in which children interpret their experiences. This study examined associations between parental use of punitive and minimization reactions to children’s displays of negative affect, child interpretation biases (self-reports and computerized assessments), and child anxiety symptom severity in a clinical sample of children with anxiety disorders. Forty-four children between 8–12 years of age (M = 9.60, SD = 1.30; 52 % girls; 52 % African American) and their mothers (M = 38.48, SD = 6.86; 57 % married) participated in this study. Child interpretation biases were significantly associated with child-reported anxiety symptoms. Moderation analyses revealed a positive relation between self-reported interpretation biases and anxiety symptoms for children of low-minimization and low-punitive mothers. Likewise, a positive relation between computerized interpretation biases and mother-reported child anxiety symptoms was found for children of low-minimization and low-punitive mothers. However, a negative relationship between computerized interpretation biases and mother-reported child anxiety symptoms was found for children of high-minimization and high-punitive mothers. Findings and implications are discussed in the context of how these parental reactions may be addressed and incorporated in childhood anxiety treatments.

The present study sought to explicate the time-course of posttraumatic stress (PTS)-related attentional bias to threat (ABT) by examining differences in attention bias variability (ABV; a measure which accounts for the temporal dynamics of ABT). A dot-probe task with four presentation durations was used to capture both subliminal and supraliminal stages of processing. Task stimuli consisted of neutral and threat images. Attentional control (AC) was examined as a moderator of the relationship between PTSD and ABV. At an experimental session, participants (PTSD = 11, trauma control = 18) completed questionnaires, a modified dot-probe task, and a stimulus-response task measuring AC. Individuals in the PTSD group exhibited greater ABV compared to trauma control participants. AC moderated this relationship, with participants with PTSD and poor AC exhibiting significantly greater ABV than trauma-exposed control participants with poor AC. These effects remained significant after accounting for traditionally calculated ABT scores and variability on trials for which only neutral stimuli were present, thus ensuring that the observed effects were specific to the presence of threat stimuli and not merely a function of general variability in response times. Findings implicate AC as a buffering mechanism against threat-related attentional dyscontrol among those with PTSD. Clinical implications will be discussed.

Despite extensive evidence linking childhood exposure to adverse parenting and subsequent substance use, the extant research literature is more limited regarding individual difference factors that may moderate this association. This study examines the moderating role of anxiety sensitivity (AS) in the association between childhood exposure to parental threatening behaviors and substance use in a sample of late adolescents with clinical anxiety. One hundred fifty-one late adolescents with clinical levels of anxiety (18.61 years old; SD = 0.91) completed measures assessing childhood exposure to parental threatening behaviors, AS, alcohol/tobacco and illicit substance use frequency, negative affect, and history of negative life events. A significant moderating effect of AS in the association between childhood exposure to parental threatening behaviors and both average and illicit drug use was found—even after controlling for participants' age and history of negative life events. Specifically, for ind...

The purpose of the present study was to identify subgroups of participants who may be at particularly high risk for anxiety pathology based on specific combinations of demographic characteristics and higher-order cognitive abilities in a population at disproportionate risk for deficits in cognitive abilities (i.e., smokers within the criminal justice system). Participants (N = 495) provided demographic information, were administered a semi-structured diagnostic interview, and completed a number of measures assessing cognitive abilities. A receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) model using signal detection theory indicated that the strongest predictor of anxiety disorder diagnosis was race, with White participants having a 30.6% likelihood of diagnosis and participants in the non-White category (97% of which identified as Black/African American) having a 18.9% likelihood of diagnosis. Interestingly, the individual risk profile associated with the highest probability of having a current anxiety disorder was characterized by White participants with impaired response inhibition (58.6%), and the lowest probability of having a current anxiety disorder was among non-White males (13.9%). The findings, which indicated that White individuals with impaired response inhibition are at a disproportionately high risk for anxiety disorders, suggest a potential target for prevention and intervention.

Parenting behaviors – specifically behaviors characterized by high control, intrusiveness, rejection, and overprotection – and effortful control have each been implicated in the development of anxiety pathology. However, little research has examined the protective role of effortful control in the relation between parenting and anxiety symptoms, specifically among adults. Thus, we sought to explore the unique and interactive effects of parenting and effortful control on anxiety among adults (N = 162). Results suggest that effortful control uniquely contributes to anxiety symptoms above and beyond that of any parenting behavior. Furthermore, effortful control acted as a moderator of the relationship between parental overprotection and anxiety, such that overprotection is associated with anxiety only in individuals with lower levels of effortful control. Implications for potential prevention and intervention efforts which specifically target effortful control are discussed. These findings underscore the importance of considering individual differences in self-regulatory abilities when examining associations between putative early-life risk factors, such as parenting, and anxiety symptoms.

Drawing on a gender roles theory of emotion regulation, we examined the specific facets of emotion regulation difficulties through which higher-order cognitive abilities may be related to anxiety. Participants ( N = 225) completed self-report measures of emotion regulation difficulties and anxiety, and were administered neuropsychological tests assessing abstract reasoning and inhibition. PROCESS (Hayes, 2012) was used to estimate the direct and indirect effects of both inhibition and abstract reasoning on anxiety symptoms, with six dimensions of emotion regulation difficulties serving as multiple mediators operating in parallel. Results suggest that the relation between higher-order cognitive abilities and anxiety operate through distinct, sex-dependent emotion dysregulation mechanisms. For females, higher levels of inhibition and abstract thinking were associated with poorer clarity of emotions, which in turn, was associated with higher levels of anxiety symptoms. As such, over-attentiveness to, or over-analysis of, emotions may be particularly detrimental among females who have relatively higher abstract reasoning abilities. For males, higher inhibition was associated with greater perceived effectiveness in regulating negative emotions, which in turn, was associated with lower levels of anxiety symptoms. This finding suggests that mood regulation expectancies may be particularly important in understanding the pathogenesis of anxiety in males.

Self-discrepancy theory postulates that negative affective states (e.g., depression and anxiety) may be a consequence of discrepancies between individuals' goals and their self-perceptions. one theoretical construct that has been hypothesized to influence the magnitude of the association between self-discrepancies and negative affect is goal strength, or how cognitively accessible individuals' goals are. the current study employed a computerized lexical decision task to measure goal strength. we hypothesized that goal strength would moderate the discrepancy-negative affect association, even after controlling for general mental processing speed. over the course of two assessment sessions, participants (N = 162) completed self-report measures assessing self-discrepancies, depression, and anxiety symptoms, and were administered a lexical decision task which assessed the strength, or accessibility, of their self-identified goals. Consistent with hypotheses, results suggest that goal strength is a moderator of...

Distress tolerance is inversely associated with a number of negative outcomes, including multiple forms of psychopathology. Research suggests that difficulties accessing effective emotion regulation (ER) strategies may adversely affect the willingness and/or ability to tolerate distress. Additionally, research has shown that attentional control (i.e., the skillful control of higher-order executive attention in regulating bottom-up emotional responses) can be used to effectively regulate distress. Using a community sample of adults (N = 93), the present study sought to examine whether attentional control moderates the relationship between difficulties accessing effective ER strategies and distress tolerance. As predicted, difficulties accessing effective ER strategies was inversely related to behaviorally-indexed distress tolerance, but only among individuals with relatively lower attentional control. Results suggest that attentional control may be a protective factor against distress intolerance. Clinically, findings suggest that attention training interventions may be helpful in reducing risk for psychopathology among individuals with less access to effective ER strategies.

Self-discrepancy theory (SDT) is one framework for understanding how goal failure is associated with depressive symptoms. The present studies sought to examine the variance in depressive symptoms explained by actual:ideal discrepancies, beyond what is accounted for by actual-self ratings. Additionally, gender and grade were examined as potential moderators in the relationship. In Study 1 ( N = 228), discrepancies accounted for additional variance in the level of depressive symptoms beyond what was explained by actual-self ratings in a college sample. In Study 2 ( N = 192), while similar global patterns were found, gender and grade differences emerged. For boys, the relationship between actual:ideal discrepancies and depressive symptoms was due to actual-self ratings. For girls, a developmental pattern suggested that actual:ideal discrepancies become more important to the prediction of depressive symptoms among older girls. Implications for the emergence of the discrepancy–depression association are discussed.

INTRODUCTION Racial and gender disparities for smoking cessation might be accounted for by differences in expectancies for tobacco interventions, but few studies have investigated such differences or their relationships with motivation to quit and abstinence self-efficacy. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, 673 smokers (African American: n = 443, 65.8%; women: n = 222, 33.0%) under criminal justice supervision who enrolled in a clinical smoking cessation trial in which all received bupropion and half received counseling. All participants completed pretreatment measures of expectancies for different tobacco interventions, motivation to quit, and abstinence self-efficacy. The indirect effects of race and gender on motivation to quit and abstinence self-efficacy through expectancies for different tobacco interventions were evaluated. RESULTS African Americans' stronger expectancies that behavioral interventions would be effective accounted for their greater motivation to quit and abstinence self-efficacy. Women's stronger expectancies for the effectiveness of pharmacotherapy accounted for their greater motivation to quit, whereas their stronger expectancies for the effectiveness of behavioral treatments accounted for their greater abstinence self-efficacy. CONCLUSIONS Findings point to the mediating role of expectancies for treatment effectiveness and suggest the importance of exploring expectancies among African Americans and women as a way to augment motivation and self-efficacy.

Objectives: Interpersonal difficulties have been implicated in both anxiety and depression. However, much less is known about whether interpersonal difficulties may account for, in part, the high level of comorbidity between mood and anxiety symptoms. This study examined whether various interpersonal difficulties, assessed with the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems, Short Circumplex (IIP-SC), were underlying mechanisms in the relationship between anxiety and depression symptoms in a high-risk sample of late adolescents with clinical levels of anxiety. Methods: 144 late adolescents with clinical levels of anxiety (mean age = 18.63 years; SD = 0.92) reported on their trait anxiety, worry, anxiety and depressive symptoms, and interpersonal problems. Results: Consistent with hypotheses, the IIP-SC overly nurturant subscale partially accounted for the relationship between anxiety and depression. The IIP-SC non-assertive and social avoidant subscales did not significantly account for the anxiety-depression relationship. Conclusions: Findings suggest that interpersonal behaviours characterised by excessive attempts to please and accommodate others may ultimately contribute to our understanding of the anxiety-depression association. We discuss the implications of our findings and how they may be applied to evidence-based assessment and treatment of anxiety problems.

The present study sought to clarify the cognitive correlates of emotion regulation difficulties (ERD). Further, because prior evidence suggests sex differences in emotion regulation, sex was examined as a moderator of associations between cognitive abilities and ERD. Participants (N = 154) completed self-report measures of ERD, and were administered neuropsychological tests assessing crystallized and fluid intelligence, as well as various components of executive functioning. Bivariate correlations and results from regression analyses suggested sex-dependent associations among cognitive processes and ERD. For men, inhibition of dominant response tendencies was associated with lower ERD, whereas for women, a host of executive abilities (e.g., greater inhibition, cognitive flexibility, semantic processing, abstract reasoning) were associated with greater ERD. Implications for the neurocognitive conceptualization of emotion dysregulation will be discussed.

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) and the tendency to avoid emotions have both been identified as vulnerability factors for the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Furthermore, both cross-sectional and prospective research have provided evidence that emotional avoidance and AS interact to predict anxiety symptoms, such that AS may only be associated with anxiety-related pathology among those who exhibit a tendency to avoid their emotions. The purpose of the present study was to determine if this moderator model extends to PTSD within a sample of substance dependent patients. Specifically, this study examined if AS is associated with PTSD only among individuals with high (vs. low) levels of negative emotional avoidance. As predicted, results of a logistic regression analysis revealed a significant interaction between negative emotional avoidance and AS in predicting PTSD status. Follow-up analyses revealed a significant positive association between AS and PTSD status for participants high in negative emotional avoidance; however, AS was not associated with PTSD for those low in negative emotional avoidance. This finding remained even when relevant covariates were included in the model. Results confirm hypotheses and are consistent with the extant anxiety-risk literature.

Individuals in the U.S. criminal justice system now represent over 12% of all current U.S. smokers. With smoking banned in most U.S. jails and prisons, the cessation focus for this population has shifted to individuals who are under community correction supervision (e.g., probation, parole). The aim of this study was to examine predictors of successful smoking cessation among criminal justice individuals supervised in the community.Five hundred participants under community corrections supervision were randomized to receive either four sessions of smoking cessation counseling or no counseling in conjunction with 12weeks of bupropion treatment plus brief physician advice to quit. Logistic regression analyses examined associations of smoking variables with medication adherence and successful abstinence. Mediation analysis evaluated the indirect effects of medication adherence on smoking abstinence.The strongest associate of medication adherence was previous use of bupropion, while the strongest associate of smoking abstinence was medication adherence. Mediation analysis indicated that previous use of bupropion indirectly increased cessation rates through the pathway of increased medication adherence.These results highlight the importance of medication adherence for smoking cessation among community corrections smokers. Providing exposure to medication may be a promising intervention to increase medication adherence and subsequent cessation rates in this population.

The use of antibiotic resistance analysis (ARA) for microbial source tracking requires the generation of a library of isolates collected from known sources in the watershed. The size and composition of the library are critical in determining if it represents the diversity of patterns found in the watershed. This study was performed to determine the size that an ARA library needs to be to be representative of the watersheds for which it will be used and to determine if libraries from different watersheds can be merged to create multiwatershed libraries. Fecal samples from known human, domesticated, and wild animal sources were collected from six Virginia watersheds. From these samples, enterococci were isolated and tested by ARA. Based on cross-validation discriminant analysis, only the largest of the libraries (2,931 isolates) were found to be able to classify nonlibrary isolates as well as library isolates (i.e., were representative). Small libraries tended to have higher average rates of correct classification, but were much less able to correctly classify nonlibrary isolates. A merged multiwatershed library (6,587 isolates) was created and was found to be large enough to be representative of the isolates from the contributing watersheds. When isolates that were collected from the contributing watersheds approximately 1 year later were analyzed with the multiwatershed library, they were classified as well as the isolates in the library, suggesting that the resistance patterns are temporally stable for at least 1 year. The ability to obtain a representative, temporally stable library demonstrates that ARA can be used to identify sources of fecal pollution in natural waters.

Background The use of heroin and prescription opioids has increased over the past decade. The concurrent use of opioids with other depressants such as benzodiazepines increases the risk of overdose death compared with use of either drug alone. This study examined factors associated with concurrent use of opioids and benzodiazepines in a criminal justice sample in the state of Alabama. Methods The Addiction Severity Index (ASI) and urine drug screen results from 28,570 individuals who were under community corrections supervision from 2002–2012 were examined for independent or concurrent opioid and benzodiazepine use. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine associations between socio-demographic characteristics and drug use. Results Concurrent use was detected in 11.5% of the sample. Concurrent use of opioids and benzodiazepines or use of either drug alone was associated with being White, female, married, prescribed psychiatric medications, having seen a physician in the past two years, cannabis use, and having a drug-related offense. Concurrent users were more likely to be unemployed or disabled and have received counseling, and less likely to have completed college, live with relatives or friends, have a history of hallucinations, or have an offense against a person relative to nonusers. Discussion While significant overlap of risk factors exists between individuals with concurrent use versus sole use of opioids or benzodiazepines, individuals with concurrent use generally have more social dysfunction than individuals who tested for either substance alone. Concurrent users may need more psychosocial resources and intensive treatments to promote recovery.

Anxiety and substance use problems are common and often comorbid, and past research has shown that young adults in particular are especially at risk for developing these disorders. To further delineate the relationship between anxiety and substance use, the current study evaluated anxiety sensitivity (AS)-a cognitive vulnerability factor-as a moderator of the association between trait anxiety and illicit substance use in a large sample of young adults (N = 845; M = 18.7 years, SD = 1.0). It was hypothesized that AS would moderate the association between trait anxiety and illicit substance use, such that trait anxiety would significantly predict illicit substance use among those with high, but not low, AS. Consistent with prediction, a significant trait Anxiety × AS interaction was found, χ²(5) = 29.38, p < .001. Specifically, analyses of simple slopes revealed that for the high-AS group, as trait anxiety increased, so did frequency of illicit substance use (odds ratio [OR] = 1.03, p = .005; 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.01, 1.06]). The slope for the low AS was not significant (OR = 0.98, p = .100; 95% CI [0.95, 1.01]). Results also showed significant moderation effects for the AS physical concerns and cognitive concerns facets but not AS social concerns. These findings suggest that AS may be an important cognitive vulnerability that may help to identify those at particular risk for substance use, and that interventions should target AS reduction in anxiety-prone individuals to reduce and prevent substance abuse.

Introduction Confirming abstinence during smoking cessation clinical trials is critical for determining treatment effectiveness. Several biological methods exist for verifying abstinence (e.g., exhaled carbon monoxide [CO], cotinine), and while cotinine provides a longer window of detection, it is not easily used in trials involving nicotine replacement therapy. The Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco's Subcommittee on Biochemical Verification cite 8-10 parts per million (ppm) for CO as a viable cutoff to determine abstinence; however, recent literature suggests this cutoff is likely too high and may overestimate the efficacy of treatment. Methods This study examined the relationship between CO and cotinine in a sample of 662 individuals participating in a smoking cessation clinical trial. A receiver operating characteristics curve was calculated to determine the percentage of false positives and false negatives at given CO levels when using cotinine as confirmation of abstinence. Differences were also examined across race and gender. Results A CO cutoff of 3 ppm (97.1% correct classification) most accurately distinguished smokers from nonsmokers. This same cutoff was accurate for both racial and gender groups. The standard cutoffs of 8 ppm (14.0% misclassification of smokers as abstainers) and 10 ppm (20.6% misclassification of smokers as abstainers) produced very high false-negative rates and inaccurately identified a large part of the sample as being abstinent when their cotinine test identified them as still smoking. Conclusions It is recommended that researchers and clinicians adopt a more stringent CO cutoff in the range of 3-4 ppm when complete abstinence from smoking is the goal.

Background and objectives: Emotional avoidance has been found to be associated with higher levels of anxiety. However, no research to date has differentiated between the avoidance of positive and negative emotions in relation to anxiety. Additionally, no studies have examined the extent to which attentional control moderates the relation between the avoidance of emotions and anxiety. Thus, the purpose of this study was to (a) clarify relations between both positive and negative emotional avoidance and anxiety, and (b) examine attentional control as a moderator of the relations between both positive and negative emotional avoidance and anxiety. Methods: A community sample of adults (N ¼ 93) completed a series of questionnaires, as well as a laboratory-based measure of attentional control. Results: Greater avoidance of both positive and negative emotions was associated with higher levels of anxiety. Additionally, attentional control moderated the relationship between negative (but not positive) emotional avoidance and anxiety. Specifically, the avoidance of negative emotions was associated with higher levels of anxiety for those with lower attentional control. Limitations: Limitations include a cross-sectional design, use of self-report measures, and the examination of hypotheses within a non-clinical sample. Conclusion: Findings are consistent with a growing body of research demonstrating the moderating role of attentional control in the relation between risk factors and negative outcomes. Findings also suggest that empirically-based treatment approaches that contain attention-based components may be beneficial for emotionally avoidant individuals with poor attentional control abilities.

Individual differences in higher-order cognitive abilities may be an important piece to understanding how and when self-discrepancies lead to negative emotions. In the current study, three measures of reasoning abilities were considered as potential moderators of the relationship between self-discrepancies and depression and anxiety symptoms. Participants (N = 162) completed measures assessing self-discrepancies, depression and anxiety symptoms, and were administered measures examining formal operational thought, and verbal and non-verbal abstract reasoning skills. Both formal operational thought and verbal abstract reasoning were significant moderators of the relationship between actual:ideal discrepancies and depressive symptoms. Discrepancies predicted depressive symptoms for individuals with higher levels of formal operational thought and verbal abstract reasoning skills, but not for those with lower levels. The discussion focuses on the need to consider advanced reasoning skills when examining self-discrepancies.

Objective This investigation used a bicycling simulator to examine how preadolescent temperament is related to risky behavior. Methods Children aged 10 and 12 years (N ¼ 109) rode a bicycle through a virtual environment where they crossed intersections with continuous cross traffic. Mothers filled out the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised. Results Older children and male participants timed their entry into the intersection more precisely than did younger children and female participants, as did 10-year-old children higher in inhibitory control and 10-year-old boys higher in aggression. However, only 10-year-old children higher in inhibitory control had more time to spare when they cleared the intersection. For 10-year-old boys higher in aggression, cutting in more closely behind the lead vehicle was accompanied by less stopping at intersections, less waiting before crossing, and choosing smaller gaps to cross. Conclusions The Discussion section focuses on inhibitory control as a protective factor and aggression as a risk factor for car–bicycle collisions.