Gary Christopher

Effects of repeated doses of caffeine on mood and performance of alert and fatigued volunteers

Evidence for behavioural effects of caffeine is well documented in the literature. It is associated with increased subjective alertness, improved reaction time and enhanced encoding of new information. These effects are most prominent in low arousal situations. However, there is an ongoing debate as to whether such changes are in fact improvements or merely a reversal of the negative effects of a period of caffeine withdrawal (e.g. overnight abstinence). To avoid such a confound this study included multiple doses of caffeine which were administered under double-blind conditions to participants who had ingested their normal daily quota of caffeine. In the present study participants were fatigued by carrying out a prolonged testing schedule in the evening. Sixty volunteers, all regular caffeine consumers, took part in the study. They attended for three sessions on separate days. They were instructed to consume normal amounts of caffeinated beverages. Consumption was measured by a diary and saliva samples were taken and caffeine assays conducted. A baseline test session was carried out at 18.00h and following this a double blind placebo controlled caffeine challenge (1.5mg/kg) conducted. The test battery was repeated twice approximately 30 minutes after the caffeine challenge. Following this another drink was administered and the test battery repeated twice more. On one test session volunteers had placebo in both drinks, in another they had caffeine in both drinks and another caffeine in the first and placebo in the second. Order of conditions was balanced across subjects. The results showed that caffeine led to a more positive mood and improved performance on a number of tasks. Different effects of caffeine were seen depending on the person’s level of arousal. Linear effects of caffeine dose were also observed. This is evidence against the argument that behavioural changes due to caffeine are merely the reversal of negative effects of a long period of caffeine abstinence. The findings are discussed in relation to both noradrenergic and cholinergic neurotransmitter systems.

Effects of caffeine in overnight-withdrawn consumers and non-consumers

Abstract Rationale: A number of recent studies have suggested that caffeine only improves mood and cognitive performance in regular caffeine consumers who are caffeine withdrawn at test (the “withdrawal hypothesis”). This can be tested by investigating the effects of caffeine in non-consumers of caffeine. Objectives: To compare the effects of 2 mg/kg caffeine on mood and cognitive performance in overnight-withdrawn consumers and non-consumers of caffeine. Methods: Twenty-five overnight-withdrawn consumers and twenty-five non-consumers of caffeine were tested in a within-subjects design where they were given a drink containing 2 mg/kg caffeine on one test day and placebo on another test day. The order of conditions (caffeine/placebo) was counterbalanced. Mood and performance measures were taken before and after each drink, and pre-drink measures were used as covariates in the analysis of post-drink measures. Results: Analysis of baseline scores revealed no significant effects of caffeine withdrawal. Caffeine generally improved mood and cognitive performance, relative to placebo, in both subjects groups. These effects did not differ significantly between groups apart from three measures (fewer lapses of attention and ratings of alertness and anxiety) where the effects of caffeine were larger in the non-consumers. Conclusions: The present study revealed no negative effects of caffeine withdrawal. Beneficial effects of caffeine were observed in both withdrawn consumers and in non-consumers. Therefore, the withdrawal hypothesis is not an adequate explanation for the effects of caffeine.

Looking age-appropriate while growing old gracefully: A qualitative study of ageing and body image among older adults

Body dissatisfaction can be significantly detrimental to wellbeing. Little is known about older adults’ body image, despite the fact that ageing causes unique bodily changes and that sociocultural pressures to resist these changes abound. We conducted six focus groups with a UK community sample of White British and South Asian older adults aged 65–92 years. Thematic analysis highlighted four themes: appearance indicates capability and identity; physical ability trumps appearance; felt pressures to age ‘gracefully’ while resisting appearance changes; and gender and cultural differences. These findings suggest that older adults’ body image can have important implications for their wellbeing and merits researchers’ attention.

Social problem solving, anxiety, and depression in adult male prisoners

Objectives. Social problem-solving ability has been identified as a significant mediator between stressful life-events and psychological distress in community samples. This study examined the relationships between social problem solving, anxiety, and depression in adult male prisoners. The hypothesis was that a negative problem orientation (NPO) would be the strongest predictor of anxiety and depression. Methods. Participants (N = 68) completed the Social Problem-Solving Inventory- Revised: Short Version (SPSI-R:S) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Results. NPO was found to be the sole predictor of anxiety and depression. Conclusion. NPO includes feelings of nervousness, threat, and fear in response to problems. In a prison setting, this may serve to protect the individual against conflict with and abuse by dominant others. However, high levels of fear and anxiety may be disabling both for coping with imprisonment and for effective participation in rehabilitation programmes. While this raises issues regarding prison cultures and the damage imprisonment may cause to individuals, it also indicates that interventions to assist some prisoners to cope are required.

Acute effects of caffeine on attention: a comparison of non-consumers and withdrawn consumers

Despite the large number of studies on caffeine and attention, interpretation is often difficult because of methodological weaknesses. In the present study, use of a small battery of tests with four key outcome measures, combined with an appropriate sample size, addresses many of these problems. This methodology was used to examine whether effects of caffeine (a dose of 2 mg/kg) could be explained in terms of reversal of the effects of caffeine withdrawal. This was achieved by examining effects in non-consumers (N = 35), who could not be withdrawn, and also in a group of consumers (N = 35) who had undergone withdrawal for a week and no longer reported symptoms of withdrawal. The results showed no effect of short-term withdrawal on the performance measures, even though subjective reports showed an increase in symptoms after withdrawal. In contrast, the caffeine challenge carried out on Day 8 showed that ingestion of caffeine was associated with faster simple reaction time, fewer long responses, greater detection of targets in the cognitive vigilance task, and faster encoding of new information. These results suggest that it is important to continue to investigate mechanisms underlying these effects of caffeine and to further evaluate the practical implications of such effects.

Dysfunctional beliefs and antisocial personality disorder

Beck identified dysfunctional beliefs associated with personality disorders and these form the basis of the Personality Belief Questionnaire (PBQ). The PBQ has not yet been empirically examined in relation to antisocial personality disorder (ASPD); here, we examined the associations between PBQ antisocial beliefs and ASPD diagnosis, identified using the International Personality Disorder Examination (IPDE). Adult male prisoners were grouped as ASPD only (n = 17), ASPD plus another personality disorder (n = 14), and no personality disorder (n = 18). Our hypotheses were: the ASPD only group would score higher on the PBQ antisocial scale than other scales; the ASPD only group would score higher on the PBQ antisocial scale than would those with no personality disorder; and the PBQ antisocial scale would best predict group membership. Men with ASPD only did not score highest on the PBQ antisocial scale, and, although they held more antisocial beliefs than men with no personality disorder, they also held significantly more dysfunctional beliefs on most other scales. Hence, antisocial beliefs are not a distinguishing feature. The PBQ antisocial scale did not discriminate groups, but the avoidant and paranoid scales did. The PBQ antisocial scale does not relate to antisocial personality disorder, although it may relate to primary psychopathy.

Dementia as an Existential Threat: The Importance of Self-Esteem, Social Connectedness and Meaning in Life

Dementia is an umbrella term for a large number of illnesses, all of which involve neurodegenerative changes in the brain. The most common forms of dementia are Alzheimers disease and vascular dementia, but there are over 100 other, rarer conditions. All of these different illnesses involve a progressive decline of cognitive functions in which symptoms gradually spread, so that eventually almost all areas of cognitive functioning are affected. Over time, these cognitive changes compromise the persons practical ability to manage everyday activities, leading to increasing levels of dependency on those around them. At present there is no cure for any form of dementia. If we are to achieve an understanding of the psychological impact of dementia, then we also need to understand the way in which dementia acts as an existential threat. Dementia can compromise identity, challenge independence, prompt social isolation and threaten our ability to find meaning and purpose in life. Thus, a 2014 YouGov poll commissioned by Channel Five news in the UK found that fear of dementia was greater than fear of cancer, particularly amongst older people (1). Managing existential threat Over the last 20 years, an established body of literature has emerged that has detailed the way in which people respond to threats. To date, this body of work has been largely conducted from a social psychology perspective. However, we believe that the insights that have steadily accumulated may help us to develop a much better understanding of how people respond to dementia. This, in turn, may help us to improve a number of different areas of dementia care. This work clearly points to three, linked factors that play a crucial role in helping to prevent anxiety when people are confronted by threats including reminders of their own mortality: self-esteem, social connectedness and meaning in life. People who score highly on all three of these factors seem to be more able to think about the nature of the threat that they face without becoming overwhelmed with anxiety. In other words people who feel good about themselves and who feel more connected to the world around them are also better able to find meaning and purpose in life even when they are reminded that life can be short, brutal and nasty. Given the importance of self-esteem, social connectedness and meaning in life in enabling people to tolerate threats to their identity, it follows that it is important within dementia care both to understand the consequences of low self-esteem and to identify methods of increasing this. Forgetting is a psychological defence as well as a neurological symptom As humans we are good at putting up mental barriers that help to prevent us from being disturbed by threats to our self-esteem. Research suggests that there is a pattern of selective forgetting in which memories that enhance our self-esteem are better recalled--a phenomena that has been termed mnemic neglect. For instance, if we are asked to remember two types of feedback, some of which is positive and enhances self-esteem and some of which is negative, then we are more likely to remember the negative information if it relates to another person than to ourselves. Memory, then, seems to act in a self-protective fashion. If mnemic neglect occurs in the same way for people affected by dementia as it does amongst the general population, then this may help to explain why some people who are affected by dementia struggle to recall information about their illness. In addition, research also indicates that under certain circumstances mnemic neglect disappears. This is the case, for instance, when information is provided by a close friend (2), when the information is about traits that are changeable (3), or which are not highly negative (4). Understanding more about how mnemic neglect operates with people affected by dementia may help us to go on to develop more effective ways of talking to people with dementia about their illness. …

Resilience to health related adversity in older people

Purpose – This papers aim is to explore factors underlying resilience to health adversity, where resilience is defined as better perceived health after adjusting for the presence of doctor diagnosed heart disease, stroke or diabetes (vascular disease).Design/methodology/approach – A population sample of 667 men and women aged 50+ years from South Wales was recruited to participate in an epidemiologic study and were consented and assessed online. Participation included health status, psychological and cognitive assessment. Structural equation modelling was used to model causal pathways. The analysis presents baseline data for this sample.Findings – After adjustment for vascular disease, self‐esteem was associated with higher perceived health (β=0.279, p<0.001) whilst depression was associated with lower perceived health (β=−0.368, p<0.001). Self‐efficacy and anxiety were not associated with perceived health. Further analysis found self‐esteem to buffer an effect of vascular disease on depression, reducing...

Alexithymia, empathic concern, goal management, and social problem solving in adult male prisoners

Abstract Social problem-solving skills training forms a major part of many offender treatment programmes. In this study, we explored the influences of alexithymia, empathic concern and goal management on social problem-solving skills in 79 adult male prisoners in an attempt to identify affective and cognitive factors relevant to offenders’ social problem-solving skills. Results showed that alexithymia was associated with less effective social problem solving, whereas empathic concern and perspective taking were associated with more effective social problem solving, but unexpectedly also with a Negative Problem Orientation. Persistence in goal attainment was associated with effective social problem-solving abilities, and inflexibility in adopting new strategies in the face of obstacles was associated with maladaptive problem-solving styles. Implications for developing social problem-solving interventions for offenders are presented.

Fatigue in developmental coordination disorder: an exploratory study in adults

ABSTRACT Background: Fatigue in adult Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is increasingly being acknowledged by clinicians. However, no research to date has explored the nature of fatigue experienced by adults with this disorder. Purpose: This paper aimed to examine fatigue in adult DCD within the context of a range of psychosocial measures such as mood and everyday functioning. Adults with DCD were compared to a group of adults with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and a typically developing/ non-fatigued group. Method: Fifty-three adults with DCD, 84 with CFS and 52 typically developing/ non-CFS adults completed a range of established psychometric measures via an online data collection tool. Results: Findings demonstrated clear differences between the DCD and typically developing/ non-fatigued group for all measures administered, including fatigue (p < 0.001). When compared to the CFS group, adults with DCD showed significantly lower levels of cognitive difficulties (p < 0.05), fatigue (p < 0.001), somatic symptoms (p < 0.001), and total symptoms (p < 0.001). However, no significant differences were found between the DCD and CFS groups in terms of anxiety, depression, cognitive failures, negative and positive affect, and self-esteem. Conclusions: Of particular importance in the current study was the capture of data that corroborated anecdotal evidence of heightened levels of fatigue in adults with DCD along with elevated symptomatology for depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem and difficulties with respect to cognitive functioning and restorative sleep.