16119 research outputs found
Sort by
Does stress exacerbate impairments in attentional control in trait impulsive individuals?
Full text linkEvidence suggests that impulsivity is characterised by impairments in attentional control, which is required to regulate stress levels. Given that elevated stress levels can impair attentional control as well, it was predicted that trait impulsivity and stress would interact. Whereby high stress levels would amplify the impairments to attentional control in high impulsive individuals, who are less able to regulate this stress. To test this, the levels of attentional capture and unintentional mind-wandering were assessed at different levels of stress and impulsivity. Unexpectedly, however, across 3 Studies (N = 108; 290; 157) there was no evidence supporting this amplification hypothesis. The findings instead revealed that stress and impulsivity were related to attenuated processing of target-matching external distractors, consistent with inattention (Study 1 & 3); and though they did significantly interact in Study 1, this was more reflective of the trait-impulsivity obscuring the additional influence of high stress on attention. Further, stress and impulsivity also independently predicted elevated unintentional mind-wandering without interacting, both when self-reported (Study 2) and when assessed during the attentional capture task (Study 3). The unexpected lack of interaction across multiple measures is discussed, and implications of the independent effects for existing models considered
Dissociable neural substrates of integration and segregation in exogenous attention
Full text linkThe integration-segregation theory proposes that early facilitation and later inhibition (i.e., inhibition of return, IOR) in exogenous attention arise from the competition between cue-target event integration and segregation. Although widely supported behaviorally, the theory lacked
direct neural evidence. Here, we used event-related fMRI with an optimized cue-target paradigm to test this account. Cued targets elicited stronger activation in the frontoparietal attention networks, including the bilateral frontal eye field (FEF) and intraparietal sulcus (IPS), right
temporoparietal junction (TPJ), and left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), consistent with the notion of attentional demand of reactivating the cue-initiated representations for integration. In contrast, uncued targets engaged the medial temporal cortex, particularly the bilateral
parahippocampal gyrus (PHG) and superior temporal gyrus (STG), reflecting the segregation processes associated with new object-file creation and novelty encoding. These dissociable activations provide the first direct neuroimaging evidence for the integration-segregation theory.
Moreover, we observed neural interactions between IOR and cognitive conflict, suggesting a potential modulation of conflict processing by attentional orienting. Taken together, these findings provide new insights into exogenous attention by clarifying the neural underpinnings of
integration and segregation and uncovering the interaction between spatial orienting and conflict processing
The role of self-directed tools and strategies in reducing gambling harm: Final report
Full text linkThis report investigates the systemic, behavioural and design-based barriers people face in taking up self-directed tools and strategies and develops actionable recommendations for sector stakeholders
Establishing global standards on wearable technology for measuring mobility in ageing populations: an international consensus exercise.
Full text linkBACKGROUND: Mobility, defined as movement in all its forms, is a hallmark of healthy ageing. As wearable technologies become increasingly integrated into population health surveillance and ageing research, the absence of standardised terminology, measurement protocols and reporting practices presents a major barrier to progress. This consensus exercise aimed to establish minimum standards for measuring mobility with wearable technology in ageing populations and set priorities for future research in the field. METHODS: A two-day, in-person consensus meeting was convened with 24 international experts in ageing, mobility and digital health. Using a modified nominal group technique facilitated by a trained moderator, participants engaged in structured small-group brainstorming, followed by iterative large-group discussions. Consensus was achieved through anonymised digital voting on proposed measures, principles and priorities. FINDINGS: Consensus (≥80% agreement) was reached on 20 core device-derived mobility measures and 30 guiding principles for the optimal use of wearable technology in older populations. Experts also identified and ranked 16 priority areas for future research, with the top five including: (i) longitudinal studies and data collection, (ii) digital biomarkers and health outcomes, (iii) contextual data capture, (iv) algorithm development and validation and (v) integration with healthcare systems. INTERPRETATIONS: These consensus-based standards provide a foundational framework for the consistent and transparent use of wearable devices in ageing research and practice. They can inform the development of regulations and guidelines, support harmonisation across studies and chart a path for future research to enhance the utility and impact of wearable technologies in ageing populations
Police officers’ perspectives on the secondary victimisation of rape and serious sexual assault victims
Full text linkSecondary victimisation occurs when a victim of crime feels they have been subjected to inadequate, insensitive, or inappropriate treatment, attitudes, behaviour, responses, and practices by criminal justice and social agencies, which compound their original trauma. This study explored police officers’ perceptions of how victims of rape and serious sex offences may be subjected to secondary victimisation by the police. A total of 50 semi-structured interviews were conducted with police officers across four forces in England and Wales. The interview data were qualitatively analysed using reflective thematic analysis. Three main themes were identified relating to how victims may feel re-victimised by their experiences with the police: (1) during the initial reporting phase; (2) if/when they are subjected to distressing evidence gathering; and (3) when investigations are victim, rather than suspect, focused. However, there was awareness among officers of the need for change, and of new legislation and guidance aimed at reducing secondary victimisation. The different facets of secondary victimisation are discussed here and an updated definition proposed, which more clearly outlines the different ways in which secondary victimisation should or can be mitigated
Women healthcare workers report lower health-related quality of life than their male contemporaries
Full text linkPerforming the self: Social identity construction by blind and visually impaired YouTube vloggers
Full text linkThis article investigates how blind and visually impaired (BVI) YouTubers construct and perform their social identities through strategic self-representation. Drawing on Social Identity Theory and Erving Goffman’s performance model, it analyses 60 YouTube channels to examine how disability is negotiated within broader identity constellations, including gender, profession and interest groups. The study finds that BVI identity is thematically foregrounded in most channels, yet rarely in isolation: creators who explicitly centre blindness also display a greater number of salient identity categories and produce more diverse content. Analyses further show significant associations between BVI salience and certain genres, with central-BVI channels more likely to feature lifestyle and entertainment content, thereby ‘normalising’ blindness within mainstream formats. At the same time, vloggers mobilise identity enhancement strategies, such as portraying competence in highly visual domains (beauty, cooking, filmmaking and technology), to challenge ableist expectations and reduce social distance with sighted viewers. These performances are accompanied by selective omissions, with politically charged, socio-economic and intimate topics, indicating careful management of vulnerability and audience appeal. The findings demonstrate that BVI vlogging constitutes a performative, intersectional and inherently advocacy-oriented practice, even when activism is not explicit. The article contributes a nuanced understanding of online disability (self-) representation and offers an analytical framework for future research on identity performance, stigma and digital media practice
The importance of meta-emotional beliefs: Secondary emotions mediate links between emotion uselessness beliefs and transdiagnostic psychopathology
Full text linkEmotion regulation difficulties are widely recognised as transdiagnostic mechanisms underlying emotional disorders, yet the role of beliefs about the usefulness of emotions remains underexplored. This study investigated whether beliefs that emotions are useless contribute to
symptoms of depression, anxiety, and eating disorders via secondary emotions (i.e. emotions about emotions, such as feeling guilty about feeling angry). A large sample of students (N = 1036) completed validated self-report measures assessing emotion beliefs (EBQ), secondary emotions (DERS), depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), and eating psychopathology (EDE-Q). Participants with high levels of psychological distress showed significantly stronger emotion
uselessness beliefs (η² = .01) and elevated secondary emotions (η²=.16). Mediation analyses revealed secondary emotions significantly mediated relationships between uselessness beliefs and all three conditions, with complete mediation for eating psychopathology. These findings suggest that viewing emotions as harmful or pointless may lead to maladaptive emotional responses, which in turn contribute to psychological distress. The results support the conceptualisation of depression, anxiety, and eating disorders as emotional disorders with shared underlying mechanisms and highlight the potential of transdiagnostic interventions targeting emotion beliefs and secondary emotions to improve treatment efficiency across diverse clinical presentations
Challenging the discord dividend
No full textIn the digital public sphere, identity-driven rhetoric, whether on the political right or left, is synergistic with platform incentives as it raises the temperature and intensity of political discourse through polarisation and increased engagement, which generates revenue. Since the Cambridge Analytica exposé of how voter behaviours leading up to the Brexit referendum in the UK and the 2016 US presidential election were modelled and manipulated, awareness of how digital environments can be used to shape political discourses and outcomes in the real world has been raised, but it remains a live concern.
From an industry perspective, it was clear that multi-platform, or so-called 360-degree marketing methods that were originally designed for brand building, were subverted to drive polarisation of political discourses by 2013-2014. To understand how multi-platform marketing methodologies are used to distort public spheres that are upheld by liberal democratic processes and foment populism, the political map is more usefully conceptualised as a circle around a consensus-based political centre than as a left-right spectrum. In this view, populist positions and fringe politics are oriented around the perimeter and pulling away from negotiated consensus and shared principles. In digital spaces, such diverse peripheral positions or identities can be coordinated at scale and exploited to erode the perception of civic cohesion, create discord, and subvert 360-degree brand building to mimic emergence.
While most people flatter themselves as being inured to marketing, social instincts generate fear of exposure or finding ourselves in out-groups. A contested centre pushes more people into tribes or polarised identities, which optimises conditions for populism, including its authoritarian variant. Identity is not only a vehicle in populist rhetoric, but also the base commodity in the attention/intention economy. Identity segmentation is fundamental to the incentive mechanisms that underpin social media platforms under the personalisation paradigm, and the monetisation models it generates. How identities are modelled determines the metrics that are used to drive revenue and shapes the incentives that are embedded in infrastructure, interface, and interaction design. Thus, identity is a vector for social engineering on digital platforms, mediated by the metrics it affords.
Drawing on time-tested modelling approaches from live event and civic design, our research reconceptualises digital publics as emergent sociotechnical collective systems instead of atomised agents. In place of the statistically compressed identities that serve as models of agents, we propose alternatives based on models of collectivised agency, conceptualised as emergent, situated crowd behaviour. By adapting existing methods in computational fluid dynamics, we aim to identify metrics that mirror those used in civic and event design for live publics. Selected metrics of crowd agency will be investigated to explore how systemic incentives, at scale, can reflect essential parameters for ethical and aesthetically successful real-world design. Our research invites informed critique and collaboration and incorporates tracing the incentive cascades that flow from different metrics, including those used for current monetisation mechanisms, through table-top red testing and simulations to support civics-centred platform governance in alignment with new and emerging European legislation
Evidence synthesis strategies and indications for scoping and systematic reviews: A methodological guide and recommendations for radiography research
Full text linkObjectives
This review provides methodological guidance, including essential preparatory steps, for conducting systematic literature reviews (SLRs) to produce practical and evidence-based findings that influence the pillars of radiography practice. It also highlights the differences between a scoping review (ScR) and a SLR.
Key findings
SLRs differ from ScRs in their aims, scope, and methodological requirements. SLRs aim to answer specific research questions through comprehensive searches, critical appraisal, and synthesis of empirical studies, while ScRs map the extent of literature on a concept and are more flexible in methodological requirements. Essential components for both include formulation of precise research questions, protocol development, comprehensive literature search, screening and data extraction processes, and evidence synthesis. In addition, a high-quality SLR requires registration of the review protocol and specific qualitative synthesis approaches (e.g., meta-aggregation and meta-synthesis) and/or quantitative synthesis, such as meta-analysis. There are concerns about the lack of a radiography-specific database, necessitating the use of general databases (e.g., PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO, etc) and discipline-specific sources (e.g., Radiography and related journals). There is also frequent heterogeneity of study designs in radiography research, which can limit the feasibility of meta-analysis in quantitative evidence synthesis.
Conclusion
Both SLRs and ScRs are essential for advancing evidence-based radiography practice. However, researchers need to adhere to established methodological standards to ensure transparency, reproducibility, and relevance of the findings. This will enhance research uptake in clinical practice, education, and policy and inform future research directions.
Implications for practice
Radiography researchers should select review types based on research objectives, apply rigorous and transparent methods, and consider multidisciplinary collaboration to strengthen evidence synthesis. Additionally, training in evidence synthesis methods will improve the rigour and relevance/impact of radiography review articles