New Research From Clinical Psychological Science

Risk Factors for Emergence of Sudden Unusual Mental or Somatic Experiences and Subsequent Suffering
Malcolm J. Wright, Vanessa L. Cha, Melissa R. Streifert, Daniel M. Ingram, Matthew D. Sacchet

Emergent phenomena (EP)—sudden unusual mental or somatic experiences—are surprisingly widespread. Although EP often lead to positive impacts on well-being, they are sometimes followed by intense suffering. We examine potential risk factors and protective factors for EP and related suffering using logistic regression on general-population survey data (n= 3,133). The four strongest risk factors are having attempted divine, magical, or occult practices; past psychedelic use; contemplation of mysteries; and total lifetime meditation practice outside retreats. Further risk factors for EP alone include several traditional meditation techniques and spiritually powerful or traumatic childbirth experience. Prayer is a protective factor. Other risk and protective factors for EP and related suffering include past diagnosis of mental illness and several personal characteristics. These results provide implicit guidance for managing the risks of EP and suggesting contraindications for individuals who wish to have a spiritual or meditative practice without EP.

Developmental Pathways of Inattention, Hyperactivity/Impulsivity, and Disruptive Behaviors: A Longitudinal, Person-Centered Approach
Jessica N. Smith, Stefany Coxe, Morgan L. Jusko, et al.

In the present study, we explore the utility of latent transition analysis to better understand the developmental course of youths’ externalizing psychopathology using the Oregon ADHD-1000 data set. Symptomatic latent classes at each age (i.e., 9, 12, and 15 years) were identified, and the corresponding latent transition probabilities and most common latent transition pathways were described. Impairment was examined for clinical validation. The most notable findings included a group of youths with persistent inattention from childhood through adolescence, distinct from youths who decreased in hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI) with age, although HI persisted for some. Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) occurred only alongside HI and was related to greater HI persistence. HI did not proceed later ODD; rather, HI and ODD were aligned in childhood and diverged slightly in adolescence. Collectively, with the present study’s findings, we emphasize the importance of methods that allow for open exploration of which and how many symptoms are relevant at various points in development.

Planned Versus Unplanned Daily Substance Use Among Sexual-Minority Youths: The Moderating Role of Social Norms
Ethan H. Mereish, Jamie E. Parnes, Roberto Rentería, Robert Miranda

In this postregistered study, we examined the daily associations between planned (vs. unplanned) nicotine, cannabis, and alcohol use and the moderating role of social-normative factors (i.e., descriptive and injunctive norms, nicotine product exposure on social media) on these associations among sexual-minority youths (SMYs). Participants (N = 82) completed a baseline assessment and then a 30-day ecological-momentary-assessment monitoring period. Plans to use substances early in the day were associated with a greater likelihood of later same-day nicotine, cannabis, and alcohol use. Friend descriptive norms were associated with greater planned alcohol use. Friend descriptive norms moderated the associations between use plans and nicotine and alcohol use, and parental injunctive norms moderated the associations between use plans and nicotine use. These findings underscore behavioral intentions and social-normative processes in substance use and suggest that tailoring interventions to address social norms may prove beneficial for SMYs.

Intraindividual Trajectories of Belief Updating in Relation to Depressive Symptoms: Reduced Integration of Positive Performance Feedback
Sebastian Meyerhöfer, Charlotte Ottenstein, Lukas Kirchner, Laura Müller-Pinzler, Sören Krach, Tobias Kube  

Previous research suggests that depression is related to difficulties with revising established negative expectations. However, it is not yet clear how precisely these difficulties transpire. We addressed this question by adapting a well-established experimental paradigm into a trial-by-trial learning task in a nonclinical sample (N= 391; 50.6% with elevated depressive symptoms). Negative versus positive performance expectations were initially established before they were confirmed versus disconfirmed. Multilevel analysis revealed that participants formed and subsequently revised performance expectations along decelerating trajectories. Increased levels of depressive symptoms were significantly associated with a reduced revision of initially established negative expectations when the feedback’s valence turned positive such that participants’ expectations were disconfirmed. Conversely, depressive symptoms were not significantly related to an increased revision of positive expectations in response to disconfirming negative feedback. Our results align with the view that lower responsiveness to positive expectation-disconfirming information is a critical feature of depressive symptoms. 

Violence Exposure Relates Differently to Blood Pressure and Emotional Health as a Function of Cannabis Use Among Street-Identified Black Americans
Naomi Sadeh, Trevor Sanchez-Stevens, Yasser Arafat Payne, Brooklyn K. Hitchens, Nadia Bounoua

In a large community sample of street-identified Black Americans (N = 364; ages 16–54; 55.6% male), we examined the health risks posed by living in communities saturated with violence and how cannabis use may influence health outcomes. Cross-sectional data collected using street-participatory action research and analyzed with hierarchical linear regressions indicated that violence exposure severity was differently related to physical- and mental-health outcomes depending on cannabis use. Specifically, links between more frequent violence exposure and elevations in blood pressure were significantly weaker among cannabis users compared with nonusers. However, frequent violence exposure was also more strongly related to worse emotional functioning (e.g., symptoms of anxiety and depression) among cannabis users than noncannabis users. Together, these findings suggest cannabis use may weaken the risk conferred by chronic violence exposure for poor cardiovascular health but not for poor mental health in underserved and highly stressed populations, such as street-identified Black Americans.

Childhood Violence Exposure and Social Information Processing in Young Adults: Does Relationship With the Perpetrator Matter?
Steven W. Kasparek, Mina Cikara, Mark L. Hatzenbuehler, Katie A. McLaughin

Humans are generally biased to show implicit favoritism for in-group over out-group members, but developmental experiences may alter this process in important ways. Prior work has elucidated associations of family (i.e., in-group) violence exposure in childhood with risk for internalizing symptoms through weakened implicit favoritism for novel in-group members. In the present study, we probe whether childhood violence exposure influences implicit bias and psychopathology differentially depending on the participant’s relationship with the perpetrator (i.e., in-group vs. out-group member) at the time of exposure. We administered a minimal group-assignment paradigm and implicit-association test to 455 young adults ages 18 to 25. Young adults who experienced out-group violence in childhood showed stronger implicit in-group favoritism compared with participants who experienced in-group violence or no violence. Implicit out-group favoritism was associated with increased alcohol use. Early life experiences may shape innate preferences for novel in-group members versus out-group members in ways that have lasting implications for mental health.

On the Efficacy of Cognitive-Bias-Modification Training in Alcohol-Dependent Inpatients: A Double-Blind, Multisite Randomized Control Trial
Adriaan Spruyt, Wim Laporte, Marilisa Boffo, et al.

Several large randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have shown that adding alcohol-avoidance training to abstinence-oriented treatment for alcohol use disorders leads to reduced relapse rates. Given the consistently positive but relatively modest magnitude of these effects (i.e., an overall risk reduction of 7.1%, comparable with current medication for alcohol use disorders), we conducted a double-blind, multisite RCT (N = 247) to examine the effect of combining alcohol-avoidance training with an intervention aimed at reducing the attentional bias toward alcohol-related stimuli. Using a 2 × 2 factorial design, we found that neither intervention resulted in a reduction in the number of relapses or alcohol-related problems (assessed at 3, 6, and 12 months after completion of the 6-week training regimen). In fact, alcohol-avoidance training even tended to increase (rather than decrease) relapse rates. Cognitive-bias indices were also unaffected by the two interventions. Possible explanations for these null findings are discussed.

Socioaffective Dynamics of Psychopathy in Daily Life
Colin E. Vize, Lori N. Scott, Thomas W. Kamarck, Aidan G. C. Wright

Affective and interpersonal features of psychopathy are considered hallmarks of the disorder. Ecological momentary assessment (EMA), which is well suited for examining dynamic processes in day-to-day life, has not been used to study how psychopathy influences emotional experiences and interpersonal behavior in adults. This preregistered study examined how psychopathy relates to socioaffective processes in daily life. Individuals from two samples enriched for traits related to psychopathy (Sample 1N= 142; Sample 2N= 159) completed EMA protocols focused on a variety of interpersonal and affective experiences (between 8,137 and 16,460 total observations). The samples differed in sex, socioeconomic status, age, and ethnic diversity, which allowed us to examine the replicability and generalizability of results. Results showed that psychopathy was related to distinct affective experiences in both samples (e.g., increased hostile affect) but was unrelated to diversity in affective experiences and rarely moderated within-person socioaffective processes. Future directions for research on the affective and interpersonal processes of psychopathy are discussed.

The Value of Behavioral and Interpersonal Information as an Addition to Self-Reports of Socio-Affective Dynamics
Michael D. Krämer, Cornelia Wrzus

This is a comment on the target article by Vize at al., who demonstrated how trait dimensions of psychopathy relate to different indicators of affective and interpersonal processes in a daily life study. We propose three paths on how to advance this research in the future. First, interpersonal information from dyads and groups can supplement self-reports of psychopathy-relevant behavior. Second, the role of the time frames in which psychopathy phenomena unfold needs further exploration and measurement groundwork. Third, passive mobile sensing allows for deriving more objective behavioral measures and sampling across longer time frames with higher temporal resolution.

Practical Contributions of Psychopathy Research: Comment on Vize et al. (2025)
Edelyn Verona

Vize et al. reported the results of an ecological-momentary-assessment study of psychopathy-trait associations with affective and interpersonal experiences in daily life. Across two samples, they found minimal evidence that psychopathy traits explained momentary reports of affect and behavior or moderated the bidirectional effects of interpersonal experiences and affect. The study and results encourage more nuanced interpretations of psychopathy-assessment results in relation to actual manifestations in everyday life, at least among nonincarcerated individuals. In this commentary, I consider the relevance of the findings for the understanding of psychopathic harm and reflect more broadly on the contributions of psychopathy research for informing intervention, prevention, and policy.

One Step Beyond: Advancing Research on Psychopathology Through the Lenses of Emotional and Relational Dynamics—Commentary on “Socioaffective Dynamics of Psychopathy in Daily Life” (Vize et al., 2025)
Carlo Garofalo, Elisa Delvecchio, Claudia Mazzeschi

Vize et al. applied ecological momentary assessment to investigate relationships between psychopathic traits, emotional experience, and interpersonal behavior in daily life. Despite mostly null findings (or perhaps because of them), their study provides thought-provoking perspectives on conceptual and methodological grounds. We highlight three main take-home messages: (a) Traditional theoretical perspectives on psychopathy may need revision, (b) studying interrelated emotional and relational dynamics holds promise, and (c) psychopathy is dimensional, and studies at any point of the continuum have value. Beyond the psychopathy field, we contend that each of these points has relevance for advancing research on personality pathology more broadly.

Ecological Momentary Assessments as a New Approach to Understand Differential Socio-Affective Features Characterizing Psychopathy Dimensions
Alvaro Sanchez-Lopez

Vize and colleagues have made a significant contribution by applying ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine ecological features of socio-affective functioning in psychopathy. This approach offers real-time insights on those phenomena, moving beyond traditional self-reports and lab-based experiments. Although most findings were null, they challenge established views, suggesting a need to refine current psychopathy conceptualizations. In this commentary, I underscore the potential of EMA to advance further understanding of psychopathy, emphasizing other methodological EMA features beyond the ones considered in the study. Such new features may be important to provide ecologically valid methodologies to extend this initial evidence in future research.

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