Jessica R. Peters

Mindfulness and self-compassion as predictors of psychological wellbeing in long-term meditators and matched nonmeditators

Mindfulness training has well-documented effects on psychological health. Recent findings suggest that increases in both mindfulness and self-compassion may mediate these outcomes; however, their separate and combined effects are rarely examined in the same participants. This study investigated cross-sectional relationships between self-reported mindfulness, self-compassion, meditation experience, and psychological wellbeing in 77 experienced meditators and 75 demographically matched nonmeditators. Most mindfulness and self-compassion scores were significantly correlated with meditation experience and psychological wellbeing. Mindfulness and self-compassion accounted for significant independent variance in wellbeing. A significant relationship between meditation experience and wellbeing was completely accounted for by a combination of mindfulness and self-compassion scores. Findings suggest that both mindfulness and self-compassion skills may play important roles in the improved wellbeing associated with mindfulness training; however, longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Emotion-related cognitive processes in borderline personality disorder: A review of the empirical literature

Maladaptive cognitive processes, including selective attention and memory, distorted beliefs and interpretations, and thinking processes such as rumination and thought suppression, are strongly associated with many emotional disorders. This paper reviews research that extends these findings to the emotional dysfunction characteristic of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Results suggest that people with BPD habitually attend to negative stimuli, have disproportionate access to negative memories, endorse a range of BPD-consistent negative beliefs about themselves, the world, and other people, and make negatively biased interpretations and evaluations of neutral or ambiguous stimuli. They also engage in thought suppression and rumination and these tendencies are significantly associated with the severity of their BPD symptoms. It remains unclear whether maladaptive cognitive processes play a causal role in the development and maintenance of BPD or are correlates or consequences of having the disorder. Continued study of emotion-related cognitive processing in BPD may improve understanding and treatment of this severe disorder.

Brief Report: Relationships Between Facets of Impulsivity and Borderline Personality Features

Relationships between specific borderline personality disorder (BPD) features and facets of impulsivity (negative and positive urgency, premeditation, perseverance, and sensation seeking) were examined in a sample of 227 undergraduate students, oversampled to include many with elevations on a measure of borderline features. Most facets of impulsivity were positively correlated with borderline features, except for sensation seeking, which showed a mixed pattern of relationships with specific BPD features. In regression models, negative urgency was the strongest predictor of all BPD features scales, including affective instability, identity problems, negative relationships, and self-harm. Premeditation, positive urgency, and sensation seeking demonstrated incremental validity over negative urgency in predicting some BPD features; however, significant beta weights were negative for sensation seeking, suggesting that it may be protective or adaptive for BPD, unlike other forms of impulsivity. This study provides evidence for variation in how types of impulsivity contribute to different BPD features and demonstrates the importance of examining BPD features on the subscale level.

Identifying the facets of impulsivity that explain the relation between ADHD symptoms and substance use in a nonclinical sample

Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at higher risk to use substances than their nonclinical peers. Increased levels of impulsivity are generally thought to contribute to their increased levels of risk. Impulsivity is a multifaceted construct, however, and little research to date has attempted to identify which facets of impulsivity contribute to the increased rates of substance abuse among individuals with ADHD. The current study examined the relation among ADHD symptom clusters (i.e., hyperactivity/impulsivity and inattention), substance use rates (i.e., alcohol use, nicotine use, and marijuana use), and personality processes associated with impulsive behavior in a group of young adults. Participants were 361 undergraduate students. Both symptom clusters were positively associated with rates of substance use. Specifically, hyperactive/impulsive symptoms were associated with alcohol and nicotine use, and inattentive symptoms were associated with alcohol use. Several pathways from hyperactive/impulsive symptoms to alcohol, nicotine, and marijuana use via specific facets of impulsivity were identified. These findings have implications for understanding the relation between ADHD symptoms and substance use, as well as clinical implications for preventing and treating substance use problems in individuals with symptoms of ADHD.

Shame and Borderline Personality Features: The Potential Mediating Role of Anger and Anger Rumination

Two prominent emotions in borderline personality disorder (BPD) are shame and anger. Rumination has been demonstrated to occur in response to shame and to escalate anger, and rumination, particularly anger rumination, has been shown to predict BPD symptoms. The present study tested a structural equation model in which shame leads to the features of BPD via increased anger and anger rumination. A sample of 823 undergraduates completed self-report measures of shame, trait-level anger, anger rumination, and BPD features. The hypothesized model of shame to anger and anger rumination to BPD features was largely supported. Bootstrapping was used to establish significant indirect effects from both situational and global forms of shame via anger rumination to BPD features, and from global shame via anger to most BPD features. The alternative hypothesis that anger and anger rumination contribute to BPD features via increased shame was also examined, with no significant indirect effects found. Recognizing this function of anger and anger rumination may be important in understanding the relationship between shame-proneness and BPD features and may have implications for treatment. Further research into determining other ways individuals maladaptively respond to shame, and understanding the functions of anger and anger rumination, is recommended.

Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) genotype predicts greater aggression through impulsive reactivity to negative affect

Low functioning MAOA genotypes have been reliably linked to increased reactive aggression, yet the psychological mechanisms of this effect remain largely unknown. The low functioning MAOA genotypes established link to diminished inhibition and greater reactivity to conditions of negative affect suggest that negative urgency, the tendency to act impulsively in the context of negative affect, may fill this mediating role. Such MAOA carriers may have higher negative urgency, which may in turn predict greater aggressive responses to provocation. To test these hypotheses, 277 female and male participants were genotyped for an MAOA SNP yet to be linked to aggression (rs1465108), and then reported their negative urgency and past aggressive behavior. We replicated the effect of the low functioning MAOA genotype on heightened aggression, which was mediated by greater negative urgency. These results suggest that disrupted serotonergic systems predispose individuals towards aggressive behavior by increasing impulsive reactivity to negative affect.

Anger Rumination as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Mindfulness and Aggression: The Utility of a Multidimensional Mindfulness Model

OBJECTIVES Mindfulness training reduces anger and aggression, but the mechanisms of these effects are unclear. Mindfulness may reduce anger expression and hostility via reductions in anger rumination, a process of thinking repetitively about angry episodes that increases anger. Previous research supports this theory but used measures of general rumination and assessed only the present-centered awareness component of mindfulness. The present study investigated associations between various aspects of mindfulness, anger rumination, and components of aggression. METHOD The present study used self-report measures of these constructs in a cross-sectional sample of 823 students. RESULTS Structural equation modeling revealed that anger rumination accounts for a significant component of the relationship between mindfulness and aggression, with the largest effect sizes demonstrated for the nonjudgment of inner experiences facet of mindfulness. CONCLUSION Nonjudgment and present-centered awareness may influence aggression via reduced anger rumination. The importance of examining mindfulness as a multidimensional construct is discussed.

Role of dopamine D1 receptors in novelty seeking in adult female Long-Evans rats

Adult Long-Evans ovariectomized female rats received injections of the DA D1 antagonist SCH 23390 (0, 0.03 and 0.3mg/kg, i.p.) and were observed in an open field apparatus (OFA) with a novel object. Results indicate that a significant effect of SCH 23390 was found on several measures of novelty seeking and activity, with the high dose producing a significant decrease in (1) approaches to and (2) rears while approaching the novel object, (3) latency to interact with the novel object, (4) in time interacting with the novel object, (5) anxious behavior (as measured by rears) and (6) locomotor activity (LMA), as compared to both the saline and low dose. Interestingly, the effects of SCH 23390 on approaches and rears were not significant when LMA was factored into the analysis (repeated measures ANCOVA), however, marked results were still found on time interacting with the novel object. These data demonstrate that SCH 23390 produced dose-dependent effects on novelty seeking that were independent of LMA, implicating D1 receptors in the incentive-motivational aspect of novelty seeking in adult gonadectomized female rats.

Specific dimensions of impulsivity are differentially associated with daily and non-daily cigarette smoking in young adults.

Young adults are at risk for initiation of tobacco use and progression to tobacco dependence. Not every person who smokes cigarettes becomes tobacco dependent, however, and non-daily smoking is becoming more prevalent among those who use tobacco. It is likely that individual differences in psychosocial and behavioral factors influence risk for engaging in non-daily and daily cigarette smoking. The objective of this study was to investigate the associations between impulsivity and smoking status in young adults who vary in frequency of cigarette smoking. Young adult first-year college students between the ages of 18-24 (512) were classified to one of three groups: non-smokers, non-daily smokers, or daily smokers, and impulsivity was assessed using the UPPS-P (negative and positive urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, sensation seeking). When all impulsivity dimensions were used simultaneously to predict smoking status, negative urgency predicted increased risk of membership in the daily smoking group and lack of premeditation predicted increased risk of membership in the non-daily smoking group. These results suggest that dimensions of impulsivity may contribute differentially to forms of smoking behavior in young adults.

Looking for reward in all the wrong places: dopamine receptor gene polymorphisms indirectly affect aggression through sensation-seeking

ABSTRACT Individuals with genotypes that code for reduced dopaminergic brain activity often exhibit a predisposition toward aggression. However, it remains largely unknown how dopaminergic genotypes may increase aggression. Lower-functioning dopamine systems motivate individuals to seek reward from external sources such as illicit drugs and other risky experiences. Based on emerging evidence that aggression is a rewarding experience, we predicted that the effect of lower-functioning dopaminergic functioning on aggression would be mediated by tendencies to seek the environment for rewards. Caucasian female and male undergraduates (N = 277) were genotyped for five polymorphisms of the dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) gene; they reported their previous history of aggression and their dispositional reward-seeking. Lower-functioning DRD2 profiles were associated with greater sensation-seeking, which then predicted greater aggression. Our findings suggest that lower-functioning dopaminergic activity puts individuals at risk for violence because it motivates them to experience aggression’s hedonically rewarding qualities.