ORCID Profile
0000-0001-6033-3403
Current Organisation
University of Oxford
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Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 22-04-2021
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 15-11-2019
DOI: 10.1186/S40359-019-0342-8
Abstract: Adolescence is a time of considerable social, cognitive, and physiological development. It reflects a period of heightened risk for the onset of mental health problems, as well as heightened opportunity for flourishing and resilience. The CogBIAS Longitudinal Study (CogBIAS-L-S) aims to investigate psychological development during adolescence. We present the cohort profile of the s le ( N = 504) across three waves of data collection, when participants were approximately 13, 14.5, and 16 years of age. Further, we present descriptive statistics for all of the psychological variables assessed including (a) the self-report mood measures, (b) the other self-report measures, and (c) the behavioural measures. Differential and normative stability were investigated for each variable, in order to assess (i) measurement reliability (internal consistency), (ii) the stability of in idual differences (intra-class correlations), and (iii) whether any adolescent-typical developmental changes occurred (multilevel growth curve models). Measurement reliability was good for the self-report measures ( .70), but lower for the behavioural measures (between .00 and .78). Differential stability was substantial, as in idual differences were largely maintained across waves. Although, stability was lower for the behavioural measures. Some adolescent-typical normative changes were observed, reflected by (i) worsening mood, (ii) increasing impulsivity, and (iii) improvements in executive functions. The stability of in idual differences was substantial across most variables, supporting classical test theory. Some normative changes were observed that reflected adolescent-typical development. Although, normative changes were relatively small compared to the stability of in idual differences. The development of stable psychological characteristics during this period highlights a potential intervention window in early adolescence.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-2017
Publisher: F1000 Research Ltd
Date: 24-01-2022
DOI: 10.12688/WELLCOMEOPENRES.17441.1
Abstract: Background: Adolescence is a sensitive period for the onset of mental health disorders. Effective, easy-to-disseminate, scalable prevention and early interventions are urgently needed. Affective control has been proposed as a potential target mechanism. Training affective control has been shown to reduce mental health symptoms and improve emotion regulation. However, uptake and adherence to such training by adolescents has been low. Thus, the current study aims to receive end user (i.e., adolescents) feedback on a prototype of a novel app-based gamified affective control training program, the Social Brain Train. Methods: The proposed study aims to recruit participants aged 13-16 years old ( N = 20) to provide user feedback on the Social Brain Train app. The first group of participants ( n = 5) will complete an online questionnaire assessing demographics, symptoms of depression and anxiety, social rejection sensitivity and attitudes toward the malleability of cognition and mental health. They will complete two tasks assessing cognitive capacity and interpretation bias. Participants will be then be invited to an online group workshop, where they will be introduced to the app. They will train on the app for three days, and following app usage, participants will complete the aforementioned measures again, as well as provide ratings on app content, and complete a semi-structured interview to obtain in-depth user feedback, which will be used to inform modifications to the app. Following these modifications, a second group of participants ( n = 15) will follow the same procedure, except they will train on the app for 14 days. Feedback from both groups of participants will be used to inform the final design. Conclusions: By including young people in the design of the Social Brain Train app, the proposed study will help us to develop a novel mental health intervention that young people find engaging, acceptable, and easy-to-use
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-09-2020
DOI: 10.1007/S10802-020-00694-9
Abstract: The development of negative cognitive biases, together with symptoms of anxiety and depression, has yet to be investigated longitudinally. Using a three-wave design, the present study examined developmental trajectories of anxiety and depressive symptoms and the co-occurrence of cognitive biases, in a large normative s le of adolescents ( N = 504). Data was drawn from the CogBIAS Longitudinal Study (CogBIAS-L-S), which assessed a wide range of psychological variables, including cognitive biases and self-reported anxiety and depressive symptoms, when adolescents were approximately 13, 14.5, and 16 years of age. The results showed that overall levels of anxiety were low and stable, while levels of depression were low but increased slightly at each wave. Growth mixture modeling identified four distinct developmental classes with regard to anxiety and depressive symptoms. Multiple group analysis further showed that class membership was related to the development of cognitive biases. The majority of the s le (75%) was characterised by ‘Low symptoms’ of anxiety and depression and showed low interpretation and memory biases for negative stimuli at each wave. A second class (11%) displayed ‘Decreasing anxiety symptoms’ and showed decreasing interpretation bias, but increasing memory bias. A third class (8%) displayed ‘Comorbid increasing symptoms’ and showed increasing interpretation and memory biases. While the fourth class (6%) displayed ‘Comorbid decreasing symptoms’ and showed decreasing interpretation and memory biases. This longitudinal study sheds light on healthy and psychopathological emotional development in adolescence and highlights cognitive mechanisms that may be useful targets for prevention and early interventions.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-01-2020
DOI: 10.1007/S10567-020-00311-7
Abstract: Worry is common in children and adolescents, yet some youth experience excessive worries that persist over time and cause significant distress. Whilst the literature on worry and generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) in adults is well established, relatively less is known about the cognitive mechanisms underlying child and adolescent worry. An influential cognitive model of adult pathological worry (Hirsch and Matthews in Behav Res Therapy 50:636–646, 10.1016/j.brat.2012.06.007 , 2012) proposes that negative information-processing biases, reduced executive functions, and verbal worry are critical in the aetiology of GAD in adults. The current systematic review investigated whether this cognitive model of worry could be extended to understand child and adolescent worry. Following a systematic search of the literature and screening for eligibility, 30 studies were identified. Evidence indicates that negative information-processing biases and reduced executive functions play an important role in worry and GAD in children and adolescents. However, evidence that children and adolescents experience verbal worry is inconclusive. Building upon Hirsch and Matthews' cognitive model (Behav Res Therapy 50:636–646, 10.1016/j.brat.2012.06.007 , 2012), we propose a model of child and adolescent worry to provide a guiding framework for future research. We conclude that cognitive models of worry should incorporate a developmental framework in order to provide greater insight into the mechanisms uniquely associated with worry in children and adolescents and help to identify the cognitive processes to target for early interventions and treatments.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 16-07-2020
DOI: 10.1017/S0954579420000668
Abstract: Resilience is a dynamic process depicted by better than expected levels of functioning in response to significant adversity. This can be assessed statistically, by taking the residuals from a model of psychological functioning regressed onto negative life events. We report the first study to investigate multiple cognitive factors in relation to this depiction of resilient functioning. Life events, internalizing symptoms, and a range of cognitive risk and protective factors were assessed in a large s le of adolescents ( N = 504) across three waves spaced 12–18 months apart. Adolescents who displayed fewer symptoms than expected, relative to negative life events, were considered more resilient. Adolescents who displayed more symptoms than expected, relative to negative life events, were considered less resilient. All cognitive factors were associated with resilient functioning to differing degrees. These included memory bias, interpretation bias, worry, rumination, self-esteem, and self-reported trait resilience. Regression models showed that memory bias was a key factor explaining unique variance in prospective resilient functioning. In a subsequent cross-lagged panel model, memory bias and resilient functioning were reinforcing mechanisms across time points, supporting cognitive models of emotional resilience. This study adds to the literature, by highlighting key cognitive mechanisms as potential intervention targets
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 13-05-2022
Abstract: Depressed in iduals show a wide range of difficulties in executive functioning (incl. working memory), which can be a significant burden on everyday mental processes. Theoretical models of depression have proposed these difficulties to be especially pronounced in affective contexts. However, evidence investigating affective working memory (WM) capacity in depressed in iduals has shown mixed results. The pre-registered study used a complex span task, which has been shown to be sensitive to difficulties with WM capacity in affective relative to neutral contexts in other clinical groups, to explore affective WM capacity in clinical depression. Affective WM capacity was compared between in iduals with current depression (n = 24), in iduals in remission from depression (n = 25), and healthy controls (n = 30). The results showed that overall, WM capacity was more impaired in the context of negative distractor images, relative to neutral images. Furthermore, those with a lifetime history of depression (in iduals with current depression and in iduals remitted from depression), performed worse on the task, compared to healthy controls. However, there was no support for the greater disruption of WM capacity in affective compared to neutral contexts in those with a lifetime history of depression. These findings’ implications for current models of depression are discussed.
Publisher: Ubiquity Press, Ltd.
Date: 24-03-2022
DOI: 10.5334/JOPD.56
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Date: 09-2023
DOI: 10.1037/EMO0001130
Abstract: Depressed in iduals show a wide range of difficulties in executive functioning (including working memory), which can be a significant burden on everyday mental processes. Theoretical models of depression have proposed these difficulties to be especially pronounced in affective contexts. However, evidence investigating affective working memory (WM) capacity in depressed in iduals has shown mixed results. The preregistered study used a complex span task, which has been shown to be sensitive to difficulties with WM capacity in affective relative to neutral contexts in other clinical groups, to explore affective WM capacity in clinical depression. Affective WM capacity was compared between in iduals with current depression (
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Annabel Songco.