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Obesity is common in adolescence and associated with medical complications. As maladaptive emotional processing is assumed to influence obesity, this research investigated emotional openness (EO), a general model of emotional processing, in normal-weight versus overweight adolescents, with consideration of gender differences, in order to determine whether a particular EO profile is characteristic of overweight adolescents. This research also explored the psychometric characteristics of the Dimensions of Openness to Emotions Questionnaire (DOE-20), a comprehensive multifactorial instrument that assesses emotional processing. The DOE-20 and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) short form were completed by 160 adolescents (mean age: 14.36 ± 0.61 years), 39 of which were overweight. A multivariate analysis of variance showed no difference with respect to overweight status, but better ability to recognize and regulate emotions in boys than girls. The original five-factor structure of the DOE-20 was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis; however, internal consistency was modest. As this research did not replicate the EO profile previously found in obese adults, we discuss the adequacy of the DOE-20 to evaluate EO in adolescents as well as the ability of the construct of EO to assess emotional processing in obesity. Further research should examine the links between EO, problematic eating behaviors, and obesity.

Behaviour is guided by accumulated experience, valuation and comparison. While many aspects associated with these functions are mediated by the frontal lobes, the precise contribution from particular regions remains debated. This thesis will deal with how an organism comes to select an option and will specifically focus on the role of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in two mechanisms in this process: learning of outcome specificities and selecting between multiple options based on their expected values. Despite evidence emphasizing anatomical and connective heterogeneity within this structure, the OFC is often regarded as a uniform region. This thesis aims to resolve some of this uncertainty by assuming that the medial and lateral regions of the OFC contribute differentially to learning and decision-making. Two distinct methodologies were used in these investigations. First, the contribution of the medial OFC to social and emotional processing was examined. The findings from this study disprove previously held beliefs that the medial regions of the OFC guide social and emotional behaviours, but indicted a role for this region in value-guided decision-making. The second study examined functional differences between the lateral and medial OFC by making circumscribed lesions to either region in macaque monkeys. The animals performed a number of 3-armed bandit tasks which were designed to investigate different aspects of value assignment and comparison. The results show that while lateral OFC was required for "credit assignment" – the correct assignment of values to visual cues – medial OFC was critical for comparison of the cues' values during decision-making. In unchanging probabilistic environments, mOFC lesions induced decision-making impairments when value comparison was difficult without affecting credit assignment and associative learning. By contrast, lateral OFC lesions caused the opposite pattern of impairment. The final study used human-neuroimaging techniques to investigate the differential representation of outcome-specific contingency learning and found not only that the expectation of a unique outcome facilitated learning and memory recall but that this was supported by a neural network which included the lateral regions of the OFC and the anterior cingulate cortex. Activity in the mOFC did not correlate with outcome-specific contingency learning but instead reflected both the value associated with the receipt and expectation of a reward. Taken together, the results from this thesis suggest that specific parts of the OFC make markedly different contributions to these very different cognitive functions.

År 2006 kom ett riksdagskrav till Polismyndigheten om att implementera handledningssamtal i syfte att förbättra den psykosociala arbetsmiljön. Tre år senare hade det inte utförts i någon större utsträckning och Rikspolisstyrelsen förklarade situationen med ekonomisk resursbrist. I den händelsestyrda och ofta påfrestande miljö svenska poliser arbetar i är samtalsstöd en viktig faktor för emotionell bearbetning. Studiens syfte var att nå ökad kunskap om stödsamtal som verktyg inom Polisen genom att undersöka svenska polisers uppfattningar om stödsamtal och hur dessa tillämpas. Grundad teori har varit den metodologiska utgångspunkten. 5 semistrukturerade intervjuer med intervjuguide genomfördes; 2 deltagare är kvinnor och 3 är män. Resultatet visade att organisatoriska förutsättningar är centralt för chefers skapande av en trygg grupp och miljö för medarbetarnas upplevda möjlighet att uttrycka känslor i. Formellt samtalsstöd används främst för att behandla praktiska frågor efter en svår händelse, medan informella samtal är den huvudsakliga arenan för emotionsbearbetning. Stödsamtalets funktion för polisyrket kan förstås av kärnvariabeln ”upprätthållande av den emotionella organisatoriska normen genom organisationskultur”. Studiens praktiska implikationer är att medvetandegöra chefer om deras roll i att en miljö som är positiv för samtalsklimatet. Vidare forskning skulle kunna fortsatt intressera sig för den sociala anpassning som sker till följd av polisens organisationskultur. / In 2006, the Swedish parliament demanded of the Police Authority that counseling be implemented as means of improving the psychosocial working environment. In 2009, it had not been executed to any greater extent due to lacking financial resources. In the operational environment in which police officers work, counseling is an important factor in emotional processing.  The aim of this study was to attain knowledge of how counseling can be used within the Police force by studying Swedish police officers’ perception of counseling and its application. Grounded theory has been the methodological approach. Five semi-structured interviews were conducted; two participants were women, three were men. The results showed that organizational conditions are key in police managers’ shaping of a group, and of an environment for the coworkers' perceived opportunity to express feelings. Formal counseling is used mainly to deal with practicalities after a difficult incident, whilst informal dialogue is the main arena for emotional processing. The role of supportive counseling in the police force can be understood by the core variable ”the upholding of the emotional organizational norm through organization culture”.  The practical implications of this study are to increase police managers’ awareness of their role in shaping a positive environment for the conversation climate. Further research could look into the social adaptation that occurs as a result of the organization culture within the police force.

The purpose of this study is to explore the differences within specific temperament traits on emotional processing bias. Participants with extremes in temperament traits Harm Avoidance and Novelty Seeking were categorised and their performance on a computerised neuropsychological test battery was investigated. First year psychology students at a residential university in South Africa were invited to participate in the original study. Processing of the data yielded a realised sample of 431 participants who completed the Emotions battery, which comprised of four tasks. The results show that processing of affective valence varies according to individual differences within specific temperament traits. The findings suggest a negative emotion processing bias in the High HA group in comparison to the low HA group. Furthermore, the impulsive and extroverted High NS group show an increased ability to process emotional faces in comparison to the low NS group. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of putative risk factors for psychopathological disorders. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Psychology / unrestricted

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Overweight, a common health condition in adolescence, has been linked with difficulties in emotional processing. This study investigates associations between emotional processing, conceptualised through the model of Emotional Openness (EO), problematic eating behaviours, including Eating in the Absence of Hunger and disinhibited eating, and overweight in adolescents. Several self-report instruments were completed by 160 youngsters (mean age: 14.36 ± 0.61 years) from the community, including 39 overweight and obese adolescents (24.5%). In girls, bootstrap analyses supported a mediating effect of restrained eating on the relation between three EO dimensions and body mass index percentile, in particular the communication of emotions, the cognitive-conceptual representation of emotions, and the perception of bodily indicator of emotions. No mediating effect was found in boys. These results have important implications for psychological weight management interventions, as they underline the relevance of work on emotional processing in order to reduce problematic eating behaviours.