Anxiety

South Florida is at the frontlines of climate change impacts. Facing increases in heat waves, flooding, and intensity of storms, climate change has direct detriments on the residents of this region. This research examines the evidence of Climate Change Anxiety (CCA) within Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Palm Beach counties. Using the CCA instrument developed by Susan Clayton and Bryan Karazsia in 2020, this study replicates analyses of variables conducted in prior research on the national level. This research found South Floridians are experiencing moderate levels of anxiety caused by climate change. Additionally, significant relationships exist between CCA and newly examined variables such as family situations, politics, and sociological perceptions. Sociological perceptions such as identities described in Dan Kahan’s Cultural Cognition Theory help us understand how having different views of society and life may alter how an individual is affected by CCA.

The purpose of this randomized control study was to examine the effects of the use of a mindfulness smartphone app on student self-reported levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, and serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The sample included college students enrolled in courses at a university in South Florida. Forty-four students were randomly allocated to either the mindfulness app group (n = 22) or the control group (n = 22).
Participants in the mindfulness app group were instructed to complete a guided meditation on the app for 10 minutes per day for 5 weeks. Participants in the control group were offered the intervention after the 5-week protocol ended. A pretest-posttest design was used to investigate the effects of the mindfulness app intervention on self-reported levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, in addition to serum level BDNF.

The aim of this study was to further examine the relationship between anxiety, inhibitory control (IC), and brain functioning (electroencephalogram) in a critical age-range for social and emotional development (8-12-year-olds). Depression was a secondary focus but was included in the analyses given the common anxiety/depression overlap. Additionally, the participants (N = 42) were assigned to 4 weeks of either an emotional training program (Emotional gFocus), a neutral training program (Neutral gFocus), or a waitlisted control and were tested using cognitive, neurophysiological, and mood measures. Hierarchical regression models revealed that IC accuracy scores were significantly and negatively related to anxiety levels as indicated by the Screening For Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED), as well as depression levels (using the Child Depression Inventory (CDI)), controlling for age and gender. Additionally, increased resting-state right lateral frontal alpha asymmetry was predictive of increased anxiety as well as depression levels. To evaluate the intervention effects, a series of Multivariate Analyses of Covariance (MANCOVA) and contrast tests were conducted to determine if group differences existed from pre-to-post for any of the measures of interest. Overall, the emotional and neutral training conditions showed similar reductions in anxiety and depression compared to the waitlist condition. Both the emotional and neutral conditions also facilitated significant improvements in IC accuracy compared to the control. Minimal pre-to-post power and asymmetry changes occurred in frontal and parietal regions; however, a lateral frontal leftward activity shift was found in the emotional training group. These findings further demonstrated a relationship between IC and anxiety and showed preliminary evidence that training IC has the potential to mitigate negative emotional functioning in adolescents. Future research is necessary to determine the importance of emotional training versus neutral as well as whether longer training intervals will be needed to facilitate a long-term impact.

Thirty-two males and females were tested for differences
in their physiological responses to gender identity
questions. The responses were recorded with a polygraph and scored to give an operationally defined measure of anxiety,
labeled gender identity-anxiety. Gender-sensitive questions
were divided into same-sex and cross-sex questions, and
nongender questions were used for comparison. Two sex role
orientation tests, the Bern Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and the
Attitudes toward Women Scale (AWS) were administered to
determine if a conservative sex role orientation was
associated with higher gender identity anxiety scores.
Both males and females exhibited some anxiety to same-sex
questions. Males demonstrated greater anxiety to
cross-sex questions than did females. The BSRI did not
predict, but the AWS did predict anxiety scores. Implications for the theory of femiphobia are discussed.