Research - Emotions
Reduction in behavior problems with omega-3 supplementation in children aged 8–16 years: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, stratified, parallel-group trial
- Adrian Raine1,*,
- Jill Portnoy1,
- Jianghong Liu2,
- Tashneem Mahoomed3 and
- Joseph R. Hibbeln4
Abstract
BackgroundWhile limited evidence suggests that omega-3 supplementation may reduce antisocial behavior in children, studies have not reported on posttreatment follow-up and most treatment periods have been of short duration. This study tests the hypothesis that omega-3 supplementation over 6 months will reduce behavior problems in children both at the end of treatment and at 6 months post treatment.
MethodsIn this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, stratified, parallel-group trial, a community sample of 8–16 year old children were randomized into a treatment group (N = 100) and a placebo-control group (N = 100). The supplementation consisted of a fruit drink containing 1 g/day of omega-3 or a placebo consisting of the same fruit drink without omega-3. Participants, caregivers, and research assistants were blinded to group assignment. The primary outcome measures of externalizing and internalizing behavior problems were reported by both caregivers and their children in a laboratory setting at 0 months (baseline), 6 months (end of treatment) and 12 months (6 months post treatment), together with the secondary outcome measures of parental antisocial behavior. Data were analyzed on an intention-to-treat basis including all participants. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02016079?term=mauritius&rank=2
ResultsSignificant group × time interactions were observed with the treatment group showing long-term improvements in child behavior problems. The average posttreatment effect size was d = −.59. Effects were documented for parent reports, but with the exception of proactive and reactive aggression, child-report data were nonsignificant. Parents whose children took omega-3 showed significant posttreatment reductions in their own antisocial and aggressive behavior. This improvement in caregiver behavior partly mediated the improvements observed in child behavior.
ConclusionsFindings provide initial evidence that omega-3 supplementation can produce sustained reductions in externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. Results are the first to report improvements in caregiver behavior, and to establish this improvement as a part-mechanism for the efficacy of omega-3.
Source : The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
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Baseline Omega-3 Index Correlates with Aggressive and Attention Deficit Disorder Behaviours in Adult Prisoners
Barbara J. Meyer , Mitchell K. Byrne, Carole Collier, Natalie Parletta, Donna Crawford, Pia C. Winberg, David Webster, Karen Chapman, Gayle Thomas, Jean Dally, Marijka Batterham, Ian Farquhar, Anne-Marie Martin, Luke Grant
Abstract
BackgroundThere is emerging evidence that the supplementation of omega-3 contributes to a decrease in aggressive behaviour in prison populations. A challenge of such research is achieving statistical power against effect sizes which may be affected by the baseline omega-3 index. There are no published data on the blood omega-3 index with studies of this kind to assess the variability of the blood omega-3 index in conjunction with aggression and attention deficit assessments.
Objective
To determine if the variance of the omega-3 index is correlated with aggressive and attention deficit behaviour in a prison population.
Design
136 adult male prisoners were recruited from South Coast Correctional Centre (SCCC), NSW Australia. A 7 point categorisation was used to quantify levels of aggressive behaviour (4 weeks) from individual SCCC case notes, whereby higher scores correspond to increasingly aggressive behaviour. Study participants completed the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) and the Brown’s Attention Deficit Disorder Scales (BADDS), provided a blood sample for erythrocyte fatty acid analysis using gas chromatography and the omega-3 index was calculated.
Results
The baseline omega-3 index ranged from 2.3% to 10.3%, indicating that some participants already had substantial omega-3 intake, however a median of 4.7% indicated a lower overall omega-3 intake than the general Australian population. Assessment of aggressive and attention deficit behaviour shows that there were negative correlations between baseline omega-3 index and baseline aggression categorisation scores (r = −0.21, P = 0.016); total AQ score (r = −0.234, P = 0.011); Anger (r = -0.222 p = 0.016); Hostility AQ (r = −0.239, P = 0.009); indirect aggression (r = −0.188 p = 0.042); total BADDS (r = −0.263, p = 0.005); Activation (r = −0.224, p = 0.016); Attention (r = −0.192, p = 0.043); Effort (r = −0.253, p = 0.007); Affect (r = −0.330, p = 0.000) and Memory (r = −0.240, p = 0.010).
Conclusions
There is a high variability in omega-3 status of a NSW prison population, and inmates with lower omega-3 index were more aggressive and had higher ADD scores.
Source : Plos One
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Mindfulness Meditation May Reduce Risk of Suicidal Thoughts in Middle Schoolers
Results of a recent pilot study suggest that middle school-aged students who meditated during a 6-week, classroom-based mindfulness meditation program were significantly less likely than non-meditators to develop suicidal thoughts or self-harming thoughts or behaviors. The study also found that both mindfulness meditation and a matched activity condition showed improvements in internalizing problems, externalizing problems, attention problems, and affect, but there were no statistically significant differences between the groups. Findings from the study, co-funded by NCCAM, were published in the Journal of School Psychology.
A total of 100 sixth graders were randomly assigned to an Asian history class with daily mindfulness practice or an African history class with a matched activity (control group) that involved constructing a life-sized model of a Pharaoh’s coffin. During the study, the teacher in the meditation group led students in silent meditation at the beginning of the class. The initial meditation periods lasted 3 minutes, and the final meditation periods lasted up to 12 minutes. Participants learned breath awareness and breath counting, labeling of body sensations, labeling of thoughts and emotions, and body sweeps. During the final 2 weeks, students could choose any of the various meditation techniques. Participants completed questionnaires before and after the 6-week study period.
Although the children in the meditation group had a reduced risk of developing suicidal thoughts and thoughts of self-harm compared with the control group, the researchers noted that the small sample size and limited followup make it difficult to conclude that these effects were due to meditation. They suggested further research with a larger sample to determine the extent to which meditation can produce long-term beneficial effects.
Reference
- Britton WB, Lepp NE, Niles HF, et al. A randomized controlled pilot trial of classroom-based mindfulness meditation compared to an active control condition in sixth-grade children. Journal of School Psychology. 2014;52(3):263–278.
Source : NCCAM
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Bad Marriage, Broken Heart? Age and Gender Differences in the Link between Marital Quality and Cardiovascular Risks among Older Adults
- 1Department of Sociology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
- 2Department of Sociology & NORC, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- Hui Liu, Department of Sociology, Michigan State University, Berkey Hall, 509 E. Circle Drive 316, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract
Working from a life course perspective, we develop hypotheses about age and gender differences in the link between marital quality and cardiovascular risk and test them using data from the first two waves of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project. The analytic sample includes 459 married women and 739 married men (aged 57–85 in the first wave) who were interviewed in both waves. We apply Heckman-type corrections for selection bias due to mortality and marriage. Cardiovascular risk is measured as hypertension, rapid heart rate, C-reactive protein, and general cardiovascular events. Results suggest that changes in marital quality and cardiovascular risk are more closely related for older married people than for their younger counterparts and that the link between marital quality and cardiovascular risk is more pronounced among women than among men at older ages. These findings fit with the gendered life course perspective and cumulative disadvantage framework.
Source : Journal of Health and Social Behaviour
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The Paradox of Music-Evoked Sadness: An Online Survey
Liila Taruffi mail, Stefan Koelsch
Abstract
This study explores listeners’ experience of music-evoked sadness. Sadness is typically assumed to be undesirable and is therefore usually avoided in everyday life. Yet the question remains: Why do people seek and appreciate sadness in music? We present findings from an online survey with both Western and Eastern participants (N = 772). The survey investigates the rewarding aspects of music-evoked sadness, as well as the relative contribution of listener characteristics and situational factors to the appreciation of sad music. The survey also examines the different principles through which sadness is evoked by music, and their interaction with personality traits. Results show 4 different rewards of music-evoked sadness: reward of imagination, emotion regulation, empathy, and no “real-life” implications. Moreover, appreciation of sad music follows a mood-congruent fashion and is greater among individuals with high empathy and low emotional stability. Surprisingly, nostalgia rather than sadness is the most frequent emotion evoked by sad music. Correspondingly, memory was rated as the most important principle through which sadness is evoked. Finally, the trait empathy contributes to the evocation of sadness via contagion, appraisal, and by engaging social functions. The present findings indicate that emotional responses to sad music are multifaceted, are modulated by empathy, and are linked with a multidimensional experience of pleasure. These results were corroborated by a follow-up survey on happy music, which indicated differences between the emotional experiences resulting from listening to sad versus happy music. This is the first comprehensive survey of music-evoked sadness, revealing that listening to sad music can lead to beneficial emotional effects such as regulation of negative emotion and mood as well as consolation. Such beneficial emotional effects constitute the prime motivations for engaging with sad music in everyday life.
Source : PLOS One
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Influence of progressive fluid restriction on mood and physiological markers of dehydration in women
Nathalie Prossa1, Agnès Demazièresa1, Nicolas Girarda1, Romain Barnouina1, Francine Santoroa1, Emmanuel Chevillottea2, Alexis Kleina2 and Laurent Le Bellegoa2 c1a1 Forenap- 27 rue du 4ème RSM, 68250 Rouffach, France
a2 Danone Research, RD 128, 91767 Palaiseau, France
Abstract
The present study evaluated, using a well-controlled dehydration protocol, the effects of 24 h fluid deprivation (FD) on selected mood and physiological parameters. In the present cross-over study, twenty healthy women (age 25 (se 0·78) years) participated in two randomised sessions: FD-induced dehydration v. a fully hydrated control condition. In the FD period, the last water intake was between 18.00 and 19.00 hours and no beverages were allowed until 18.00 hours on the next day (23–24 h). Water intake was only permitted at fixed periods during the control condition. Physiological parameters in the urine, blood and saliva (osmolality) as well as mood and sensations (headache and thirst) were compared across the experimental conditions. Safety was monitored throughout the study. The FD protocol was effective as indicated by a significant reduction in urine output. No clinical abnormalities of biological parameters or vital signs were observed, although heart rate was increased by FD. Increased urine specific gravity, darker urine colour and increased thirst were early markers of dehydration. Interestingly, dehydration also induced a significant increase in saliva osmolality at the end of the 24 h FD period but plasma osmolality remained unchanged. The significant effects of FD on mood included decreased alertness and increased sleepiness, fatigue and confusion. The most consistent effects of mild dehydration on mood are on sleep/wake parameters. Urine specific gravity appears to be the best physiological measure of hydration status in subjects with a normal level of activity; saliva osmolality is another reliable and non-invasive method for assessing hydration status.
Source : British Journal of Nutrition
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Grief Raises Heart Attack Risk
The death of a loved one can literally be heart-breaking, or at least heart-attack-inducing, researchers have found.
Among a cohort of 1,985 people, the rate of myocardial infarction was more than 21 times higher than normal within 24 hours of losing a loved one, reported Murray A. Mittleman, MD, DrPH, from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and colleagues
The absolute risk of experiencing an MI within a week of a significant loss was higher for those already at a high 10-year risk of MI: one per 320 versus one per 1,394 for those with a low 10-year risk, according to the study published online in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
"Caretakers, healthcare providers, and the bereaved themselves need to recognize they are in a period of heightened risk in the days and weeks after hearing of someone close dying," Mittleman said in a statement.
The investigators suggested the use of preventive drugs such as statins, low-dose aspirin, or beta-blockers to "prevent the hemodynamic and thrombotic changes associated with early bereavement."
Researchers noted the "vast literature" attesting to the increased risk of mortality within weeks or months of the loss of a spouse. But a confounding factor in these studies could be that the couples shared the same lifestyle and, therefore, had the same risk factors.
To avoid similar confounding, the current study employed a case-crossover design, which compares each person with himself or herself, thus eliminating the "variability in traditional cardiovascular risk factors within each stratum."
The investigators examined data from the multicenter Determinants of MI Onset Study of patients admitted between 1989 and 1994 in 23 tertiary care centers and 22 community hospitals. More than two-thirds were men, and the average age was 61.
A total of 13.6% of the cohort reported the death of at least one significant person in the six months prior to their MI. Most had lost a distant relative or friend (153), while 20 lost a sibling, 12 a parent, six a spouse, and two a child.
A total of 19 patients reported the death occurred within 24 hours of the onset of the MI, and 63% said the death was moderately to extremely meaningful. For the days leading up to the infarction:
- Seven patients reported the death occurred within 24 to 48 hours of MI onset
- Five within 48 to 72 hours
- 21 within four to seven days
To put that risk into perspective, in the same study population, researchers determined that an episode of anger conferred a 2.3-f0ld increased risk of MI, while episodes of marked anxiety increased risk 1.6-fold.
During the first week of bereavement, the risk was almost six times higher than normal. Although the risk declined each day after the death, it remained significantly elevated for at least one month following the loss.
Researchers found that men were more sensitive to negative health consequences from bereavement than women and younger people, more so than older bereaved people, which is consistent with other findings, they said.
A number of psychological stressors are associated with bereavement including anger, anxiety, and depression. In addition, those mourning the loss of a loved one could have reduced appetite, reduced sleep, and inadequate medication compliance.
In this study, however, only one patient in the cohort who experienced an MI within 24 hours of a death missed a dose of an oral hypoglycemic drug the day before symptom onset. One patient who had an MI seven days after the index death missed a dose of an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, and no one missed doses of beta-blockers.
"Because behavioral changes represent factors occurring after the loss of a significant person, we do not account for these factors in our analysis; they mediate rather than confound the relationship of interest," Mittleman and colleagues wrote.
The study is limited by the small number of patients who suffered an MI within 24 hours of the loss of a significant person. This did not allow the authors to determine what, if any, meaning the relationship with the deceased person played in the onset of MI, or whether the mode of death had any bearing. Also, it's possible that patients' recall of the timing of the person's death was inaccurate.
Source : MedPage Today
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