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The frustration of competence, one of the three basic psychological needs proposed by self-determination theory, has been widely demonstrated to negatively influence one's motivation and well-being in both work and life. However, research on the recovery mechanism of competence is still in the nascent stage. In this study, a two-stage behavioral experiment was conducted to examine the restoration of competence and the potential moderating role of resilience. Results showed that individuals who were asked to recall experience of competence frustration performed better on subsequent tasks, manifesting their behavioral efforts of competence restoration. However, resilience does not play a significant moderating role in competence restoration. Through convergent behavioral evidence, findings of this study demonstrate the compensation effect of competence frustration.

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Research over the past decade has shown that endorsement of conspiracy theories (CTs) is shaped by motivated cognition processes. Accordingly, CTs are theorized to stem from compensatory processes, as individuals attempt to cope with existential threats (i.e., uncertainty, loss of control). Based on the meaning maintenance model, we investigated whether this compensatory effect could follow from epistemic threats in domains unrelated to CTs in the form of uncanniness. Feelings of uncanniness were experimentally manipulated through exposure to absurdist art and literature in a set of five studies, followed by a mini meta-analysis (Ntotal = 1,041). We conducted a final, preregistered sixth study (N = 266) manipulating uncanniness through autobiographical recall. No robust evidence for a compensatory effect was found. We discussed methodological and conceptual limitations of the meaning maintenance model, as well as boundary conditions under which conspiracy theories could have a compensatory function to deal with threats.

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Previous work suggests that people have a need for meaning, and that when meaning is threatened, efforts are undertaken to restore a sense of meaning. We hypothesized that a meaning threat (i.e., reminders of death) would increase victim blaming of a domestic violence victim since doing so can restore a sense of meaning-that people get what they deserve-but for those with advanced knowledge of victimology, such as trained counsellors, this effect would be diminished since victim blaming runs counter to their meaning framework that bad things can happen to good people. In addition, because art can provide a sense of meaning, we hypothesized that either creating meaningful art or observing art and finding meaning within it would diminish blaming a domestic violence victim since having a sense of meaning should diminish the need to restore meaning via victim blaming. Over five studies with undergraduate and trained counsellors, we found support for the hypotheses, and a meta-analysis on the victim blaming effect suggested a small, though significant, effect size of d = .28. These findings enhance our understanding of various factors that affect victim blaming, and they point towards relatively easy to administer interventions to diminish it.

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This paper exposes the existing problems for optimal industrial preventive maintenance intervals when decisions are made with right-censored data obtained from a network of sensors or other sources. A methodology based on the use of the z transform and a semi-Markovian approach is presented to solve these problems and obtain a much more consistent mathematical solution. This methodology is applied to a real case study of the maintenance of large marine engines of vessels dedicated to coastal surveillance in Spain to illustrate its usefulness. It is shown that the use of right-censored failure data significantly decreases the value of the optimal preventive interval calculated by the model. In addition, that optimal preventive interval increases as we consider older failure data. In sum, applying the proposed methodology, the maintenance manager can modify the preventive maintenance interval, obtaining a noticeable economic improvement. The results obtained are relevant, regardless of the number of data considered, provided that data are available with a duration of at least 75% of the value of the preventive interval.

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This study aims to investigate mental health among Chinese people living in areas with differing levels of infection severity during the COVID-19 outbreak. It also assesses the association between reciprocal and authoritarian filial piety and mental health in times of crises. A sample of 1,201 Chinese participants was surveyed between April and June 2020. Wuhan city (where 23.4% of participants resided), Hubei province outside Wuhan (13.4% of participants), and elsewhere in China (63.1% of participants) were categorized into high, moderate, and low infection severity areas, respectively. The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale's severity cut-points were used to categorize participants. In the overall sample, 20.9, 34.2, and 29.0% of the participants showed elevated (mild to extremely severe) levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. Those in the highest infection severity group were significantly more likely to be categorized as having elevated levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. General linear modeling was performed on a composite mental distress variable (taking into account stress, anxiety, and depression scores). This model indicated that, even after adjusting for group differences in age, gender, education, and filial piety, the high infection severity group displayed more mental distress than the low infection severity groups. The model also found reciprocal filial piety to have a negative association with mental distress. Conversely, authoritarian filial piety was found to be unrelated to mental distress when controlling for the other variables in the model. No evidence was found for an interaction between either authoritarian or reciprocal filial piety and infection severity, which suggests that the negative association observed between reciprocal filial piety and mental distress was relatively consistent across the three infection severity groups. The findings suggest that future public health programs may integrate the promotion of filial piety as a strategy to help Chinese people maintain good mental health in the face of pandemic crises.

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Chronic pain and chronic PTSD are often comorbid sequelae in patients who have experienced life-threatening experiences such as combat, assaults, or motor vehicle accidents, presenting lifelong challenges for patients and for medical management in all settings. This article briefly reviews four models for exploring the interrelationships of chronic pain and chronic PTSD. The article presents a longitudinal case study, documented over 10 years, of a patient with chronic back pain, and delayed-onset chronic PTSD related to sexual trauma experienced as a young adult. Data from the case study are examined for evidence in support of the chronic pain/chronic PTSD models. There is evidence to support all four models, with considerable evidence supporting the Mutual Maintenance Model (Sharp & Harvey, in Clinical Psychology Review 21(6): 857-77, 2001). Data show significant recovery over time from both conditions with improvements in function, work, and relationships, in response to Psychodynamic Therapy (PDT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and hypnotic interventions, physical therapy, and pilates-based exercise. Notably, both chronic conditions were addressed simultaneously, with providers working collaboratively and sharing information through the patient. Emphasis is on non-pharmaceutical rehabilitative trauma-informed and patient-centered approaches to care.

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COVID-19 has created significant concern surrounding the impact of pandemic lockdown on mental health. While the pandemic lockdown can be distressing, times of crisis can also provide people with the opportunity to think divergently and explore different activities. Novelty seeking, where individuals explore novel and unfamiliarly stimuli and environments, may enhance the creativity of individuals to solve problems in a way that allows them to adjust their emotional responses to stressful situations. This study employs a longitudinal design to investigate changes in novelty seeking and mental health outcomes (namely, stress, anxiety, and depression) before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, among a group of students (final N = 173; M age = 19.81; SD age = 0.98; 135 females and 38 males) from a university in southeast China. Participants were surveyed at three points: November, 2019 (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic); between February and March, 2020 (during the peak of the pandemic and intense lockdown in China); and between May and June, 2020 (after lockdown had been lifted in China). Cross-sectionally, correlation analysis indicated that greater novelty seeking was associated with lower levels of stress, anxiety, and depression at all three time points. Univariate latent curve modeling (LCM) indicated a growth trajectory in which novelty seeking increased over time and then remained high during the post-lockdown period. Stress, anxiety, and depression all showed V-shaped growth trajectories in which these variables decreased during lockdown, before increasing in the post-lockdown period. Multivariate LCM indicated the growth trajectory for novelty seeking was associated with the growth trajectories for stress, anxiety, and depression. This suggests that the observed decreases in stress, anxiety, and depression during the lockdown period may be attributable to the sample's observed increase in novelty seeking. These findings are valuable in that they challenge the notion that lockdown measures are inherently detrimental to mental health. The findings indicate the important role of novelty seeking in responding to crises. It may be possible for future public health measures to incorporate the promotion of novelty seeking to help individuals' respond to stressful situations and maintain good mental health in the face of crises.

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INTRODUCTION: Inefficient problem solving in the social domain may be one of the difficulties underlying the interpersonal challenges thought to maintain anorexia nervosa (AN). However, past studies have neglected to control for depression, anxiety, and intolerance of uncertainty (IU), which are known to contribute to social problem solving. METHODS: This study aimed to investigate whether adults with AN would show differences in social problem solving on an experimental task (Means-End Problem Solving; MEPS) and report differences in their attitudes (positive, negative) toward social problem solving and their use of social problem-solving styles (rational, impulsive-careless, avoidant) on the Social Problem-Solving Inventory Revised (SPSRI) compared to a non-AN control group. RESULTS: Seventy-four adult women took part (30 with AN and 44 non-AN controls), and data show that those with AN generated significantly less effective solutions on the MEPS (d = 1.96) reported overall poorer social problem solving on the SPSRI (d = 0.58), reporting more negative and less positive attitudes toward social problem solving, and less impulsive and more avoidant social problem-solving styles. However, those with AN did not differ from controls in being able to rationalize social problems. Once depression (Beck Depression Inventory: BDI), state anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory: STAI), and IU (Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale-12; IUS-12) were included as covariates, these differences were no longer significant, suggesting that comorbid depression, anxiety, and IU symptoms may contribute to social problem solving in AN. CONCLUSIONS: There was no specific effect of depression. Treating anxiety and IU might help to improve social problem solving and enable people with AN to be able to better access social support to aid their recovery.

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Meaningfulness has been suggested as one of the fundamental psychological needs, as one would actively pursue meaning in both his/her work life and personal life. Previous studies consistently showed that a lack of meaning in work would reduce one's autonomous motivation in the current job, which is the motivation to engage in self-determined activities driven by one's own interests or personal beliefs. However, researchers overlooked the fact that in work settings, it is not uncommon that people work on multiple tasks in a row. As a result, the cross-task effect of work meaningfulness remains understudied. Based on the meaning maintenance model (MMM) and the suggested fluid compensation strategy, we predicted that the disappearance of the meaning of work may induce a compensatory response and thus enhance one's autonomous motivation in an irrelevant ensuing activity. To test this hypothesis, we invited participants to work on an encyclopedic knowledge quiz in Session 1 and a StopWatch (SW) task in Session 2. A between-subject design was adopted. While participants in the control group successfully completed their tasks in Session 1, those in the experimental group encountered unexpected program quits by the end of the quiz, and their previous efforts suddenly became futile and meaningless. Electroencephalography was recorded during the experiment to measure reward positivity (RewP). In Session 2, a more pronounced RewP in the win-lose difference wave was observed in the experimental group in contrast to the control group, suggesting that the disappearance of the meaning of work enhanced one's autonomous motivation in an irrelevant activity that follows. Therefore, results of this study provided preliminary electrophysiological evidence for one's pursuit of meaning and the compensation effect induced by the disappearance of the meaning of work.

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This study examined one's compensatory response to the sudden disappearance of the meaning of work. In a lab experiment, the unexpected termination of a preceding task was found to enhance one's labor supply in an irrelevant ensuing task, which provided direct support for one's pursuit of meaning and the fluid compensation strategy proposed by the Meaning Maintenance Model.

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The present research investigated the effect of self-uncertainty salience on self-esteem striving, as well as the corresponding self-regulatory processes. Inspired by uncertainty management and meaning maintenance models, we conducted an electroencephalogram experiment to examine how self-uncertainty salience affects performance on self-esteem related tasks, and how it affects neurophysiological activity related to performance monitoring (e.g., error-related negativity, error positivity) on those tasks. Results showed that when self-uncertainty was salient, participants performed better on a task that was high (but not low) in self-esteem relevance, and these participants also displayed a larger amplitude of error positivity after error commissions, which is considered a manifestation of heightened performance monitoring. Overall, these results suggest that self-uncertainty salience increases the need and efforts for self-esteem striving. Further implications are discussed in terms of meaning compensation and self-uncertainty management.

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Weight loss maintenance is a complex, multifaceted process that presents a significant challenge for most individuals who lose weight. A growing body of literature indicates a strong relationship between cognitive dysfunction and excessive body weight, and suggests that a subset of high-order cognitive processes known as executive functions (EF) likely play an important role in weight management. Recent reviews cover neuropsychological correlates of weight status yet fail to address the role of executive function in the central dilemma of successful weight loss maintenance. In this paper, we provide an overview of the existing literature examining executive functions as they relate to weight status and initial weight loss. Further, we propose a novel conceptual model of the relationships between EF, initial weight loss, and weight loss maintenance, mapping specific executive functions onto strategies known to be associated with both phases of the weight control process. Implications for the development of more efficacious weight loss maintenance interventions are discussed.

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OBJECTIVE: A cognitive interpersonal maintenance model of anorexia nervosa (AN) was first proposed in 2006 and updated in 2013 (Schmidt and Treasure, J Br J Clin Psychol, 45, 343-366, 2006; Treasure and Schmidt, J Eat Disorders, in press.). The aim of this study was to test the interpersonal component of this model in people with AN requiring intensive hospital treatment (inpatient/day patient). METHOD: On admission to hospital women with AN or eating disorder not otherwise specified (AN subtype; n = 152; P) and their primary carers (n = 152; C) completed questionnaires on eating symptoms (P), depression and anxiety (P, C), accommodation and enabling (C), and psychological control (C). Structural equation modeling was used to examine relationships among these components. RESULTS: Carers' expressed emotion and level of psychological control were significantly related to carers' distress, which in turn, was related to patients' distress. This pathway significantly predicted eating symptoms in patients. DISCUSSION: The cognitive interpersonal maintenance model of eating disorders (EDs) was confirmed in part and suggests that interventions targeting interpersonal maintaining factors such as carer distress might impact on patient outcomes.

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BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate processes from the mutual maintenance model in relation to daily functioning in patients with both chronic pain and a history of a traumatic experience. The mechanism illustrated the structural relations for daily functioning among pain intensity, hyperarousal, re-experiencing, trauma avoidance, and pain avoidance. METHODS: Archival data (N = 214) was used for this study and data were analyzed for 142 chronic pain patients reporting a traumatic experience and seeking treatment at a tertiary pain clinic in Korea. RESULTS: The results indicated that pain intensity, hyperarousal, and pain avoidance had significant direct effects on daily functioning. Also, pain intensity showed significant indirect effects on daily functioning through hyperarousal and pain avoidance; and hyperarousal through pain avoidance. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest a direct contribution of high levels of pain, hyperarousal symptoms of PTSD, and pain avoidance behaviors to reduced daily functioning. Also, elevated pain as reminders of the trauma may trigger high levels of hyperarousal symptoms of PTSD. Subsequently, avoidant coping strategies may be used to minimize pain so that the trauma would not be re-experienced, thus inhibiting the activation of hyperarousal symptoms of PTSD. However, prolonged use of such strategies may contribute to decline in daily functioning.

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BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate processes from the mutual maintenance model in relation to daily functioning in patients with both chronic pain and a history of a traumatic experience. The mechanism illustrated the structural relations for daily functioning among pain intensity, hyperarousal, re-experiencing, trauma avoidance, and pain avoidance. METHODS: Archival data (N = 214) was used for this study and data were analyzed for 142 chronic pain patients reporting a traumatic experience and seeking treatment at a tertiary pain clinic in Korea. RESULTS: The results indicated that pain intensity, hyperarousal, and pain avoidance had significant direct effects on daily functioning. Also, pain intensity showed significant indirect effects on daily functioning through hyperarousal and pain avoidance; and hyperarousal through pain avoidance. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest a direct contribution of high levels of pain, hyperarousal symptoms of PTSD, and pain avoidance behaviors to reduced daily functioning. Also, elevated pain as reminders of the trauma may trigger high levels of hyperarousal symptoms of PTSD. Subsequently, avoidant coping strategies may be used to minimize pain so that the trauma would not be re-experienced, thus inhibiting the activation of hyperarousal symptoms of PTSD. However, prolonged use of such strategies may contribute to decline in daily functioning.

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BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate processes from the mutual maintenance model in relation to daily functioning in patients with both chronic pain and a history of a traumatic experience. The mechanism illustrated the structural relations for daily functioning among pain intensity, hyperarousal, re-experiencing, trauma avoidance, and pain avoidance. METHODS: Archival data (N = 214) was used for this study and data were analyzed for 142 chronic pain patients reporting a traumatic experience and seeking treatment at a tertiary pain clinic in Korea. RESULTS: The results indicated that pain intensity, hyperarousal, and pain avoidance had significant direct effects on daily functioning. Also, pain intensity showed significant indirect effects on daily functioning through hyperarousal and pain avoidance; and hyperarousal through pain avoidance. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest a direct contribution of high levels of pain, hyperarousal symptoms of PTSD, and pain avoidance behaviors to reduced daily functioning. Also, elevated pain as reminders of the trauma may trigger high levels of hyperarousal symptoms of PTSD. Subsequently, avoidant coping strategies may be used to minimize pain so that the trauma would not be re-experienced, thus inhibiting the activation of hyperarousal symptoms of PTSD. However, prolonged use of such strategies may contribute to decline in daily functioning.

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Objective To explore the key factors which affect maintenance cost of large-scale medical equipment. Methods The basic factors which affect maintenance cost of medical imagining equipment were summarized. The relationships of them are analyzed and then an interpretative structure mode of each factor was set. Additionally, the multiple relationship and controllability between each factor were also analyzed and the judging standard of key factors was set. Results The maintenance policy and mode were the key factors which affect maintenance cost of medical imagining equipment. Conclusion High quality maintenance for equipment condition and scientific optimization of the maintenance policy are necessary to fundamentally reduce the maintenance cost of large-scale medical equipment.