Usha Barahmand

The transition to motherhood, and particularly the postpartum period, is characterized by profound physiological and psychological changes (Asadi et al., 2022), a developmental passage termed matre...

Background: Autism spectrum disorder exists on a continuum, with individuals at one extreme meeting clinical diagnostic criteria, while others display various subclinical autistic traits and social functioning impairments. This study explores the complex rela-tionships between autistic traits, camouflaging behaviors, fears of negative and positive evaluation, and self-efficacy in adults. Participants and procedure: Drawing on a sample of 373 individuals diverse in gender and ethnicity, the paper investigates how camouflaging subscales – compensation, masking, and assimilation – and evaluation fears mediate these relationships. Although participants were diverse in gender identity, the sample was predominantly White, highly educated, and self-selected via social media recruit-ment, which may limit generalizability to more socioeconomically and ethnically diverse autistic populations. Results: The results indicated that autistic traits were significantly correlated with fear of negative evaluation, camouflaging strate-gies, fear of positive evaluation, and reduced self-efficacy. Importantly, assimilation emerged as a key camouflaging strate-gy that, through fear of positive evaluation, mediates the negative impact of autistic traits on self-efficacy. Conclusions: The findings illuminate the psychological costs of camouflaging, particularly how persistent efforts to “fit in” can elevate anxiety about social judgments and undermine confidence in social competence. The study contextualizes these results with-in social identity theory and the minority stress model, emphasizing the influence of stigma and social expectations on au-tistic individuals’ psychological well-being. These insights underline the importance of recognizing camouflaging’s dual role: essential for social integration yet potentially detrimental to mental health. The paper highlights implications for clinical assessment and interventions targeting self-efficacy and social anxiety in autistic populations.

Psychotic symptoms may represent a public health concern even in the absence of a full psychosis diagnosis, owing to their relative frequency and association with substantial declines in health and...

Current research on social media and mental health has provided conflicting results, with some studies reporting negative results while others suggest that some aspects of social media use may contribute to beneficial outcomes. The present study examined the relationship between perception of Instagram use and self-esteem, focusing on the mediating roles of absorption and perceived stress. A same of 463 participants (85.1% female) responded to self-report measures assessing Instagram use, absorption, stress, and self-esteem. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlations, and PROCESS macro in SPSS. Results from a serial mediation indicated a significant total effect of Instagram use on self-esteem. While the direct effect remained significant, indirect effects indicated that stress mediated the relationship between Instagram use and self-esteem. In contrast, the indirect effect through absorption alone and a serial path through both absorption and stress failed to reach significance. These findings suggest that Instagram use may be associated with higher self-esteem, primarily through reductions in perceived stress. Absorption was not found to play a meaningful mediating role. The results highlight the importance of perceived stress in the relationship between Instagram engagement and psychological well-being, supporting the nuanced role of mediation in digital behavior research.

Autism severity has been found to be associated with social anhedonia. However, the mechanisms linking the two have not been clarified. Objective: The study was designed to examine the link between autistic traits and social anhedonia. The present study tested a serial mediation model, in which it was hypothesized that emotional intelligence and self-efficacy were serial mediators of the relationship between autistic traits and social anhedonia. Methods: Data from 245 participants (57.4% females, n = 134) ranging in age from 18 to 65 years were collected through self-report. Participants completed an online composite questionnaire consisting of The Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory, the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, The General Self-Efficacy Scale and the Revised Social Anhedonia Scale. Results: The relationship between autistic traits and social anhedonia was mediated by emotional intelligence and serially mediated by emotional intelligence and self-efficacy. Self-efficacy alone failed to link autistic traits to social anhedonia. Conclusion: The study provides evidence for the significant role of emotional intelligence and self-efficacy as mechanisms underlying the relationship between autistic traits and social anhedonia. The findings are discussed in terms of elucidating the processes through which autistic traits may confer vulnerability to compromised emotional intelligence and self-efficacy, which then serve as additional risk factors for social anhedonia.

Aim of the study: The aim of this research was to develop and validate an instrument to screen for the presence of and change in the experience of anhedonia.Subject or material and methods: An initial set of 23 items assessing intensity and change in lack of pleasure and loss of interest in various hedonic domains was created to form the New York Anhedonia Scale (NYSA). Study 1 explored the reliability, factor structure and item quality of the NYSA, which assessed the 23 items in two parts: Part A focused on identifying the presence and intensity of anhedonia, while Part B assessed change in anhedonia. A sample of 265 adults responded to the instrument via social media platforms.Results: Exploratory factor analysis of the 23-item NYSA revealed that 15 items clustered into two factors: sensory and physical anhedonia and social anhedonia. Study 2 evaluated the psychometric properties of the final version of the NYSA using a sample of 238 adults. The concurrent and convergent validity of the final version of the NYSA was examined with the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS) and the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS). Good concurrent validity was found with the SHAPS and convergent validity with the SIAS. Reliability of the NYSA subscales was high across both studies.Discussion: The NYSA is a tool different from other measures of anhedonia as it is not only quick to administer but also provides information regarding anhedonia intensity and change.Conclusions: The NYSA is a useful and promising instrument for screening and assessing anhedonia in the general population and in clinical settings.

Aim of the study: In the current study, the authors sought to examine whether the link between moral and sexual disgust and misophonia is mediated by mental contamination.Subject or material and methods: An internationally diverse sample of 283 adults (193 females, 76 males, and 14 non-binary individuals) ranging in age from 18 to 60 years old was recruited from online social media platforms and survey recruitment sites. The sample completed an online battery of scales that consisted of the New York Misophonia Scale, State Metal Contamination Scale, and the Three-Domain Disgust Scale. The hypotheses were evaluated using a series of mediations. performed using the PROCESS add-on in SPSS.Results: Correlations were found between emotional and aggressive-avoidant reactions in misophonia, mental contamination, pathogen disgust, and sexual disgust. Moral disgust and non-aggressive reactions in misophonia failed to correlate significantly with any of the other constructs. Sexual disgust had direct and indirect effects while pathogen disgust had only direct effects on aspects of misophonia.Discussion: These findings partially support our hypothesis that mental contamination mediates the link between disgust propensity and misophonia while also confirming that pathogen-based disgust is not associated with mental contamination.Conclusions: Findings imply that misophonia is distinct from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Further research into the conceptualization of moral disgust is warranted.