Browsing by Author "Veena Kumari"

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Attenuated maladaptive emotion processing as a potential mediator of the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and mental health
(Elsevier Ltd, 2023) Rakesh Pandey; Satchit Prasun Mandal; Meenakshi Shukla; Vishnukant Tripathi; Elena Antonova; Veena Kumari
The emotion processing and regulation mechanisms by which dispositional (personality trait) mindfulness exerts its positive effects on mental health remain unclear. Here, we tested, using structural equation modeling, whether the relationship between higher dispositional mindfulness and better mental health is mediated by reduced maladaptive processing of emotional information (e.g., expressive suppression, impoverished emotional experiences, unprocessed emotions, avoidance, externalizing strategies) and associated lower negative affect, enhanced adaptive processing of emotional information (e.g., cognitive reappraisal) and associated higher positive affect, or a combination of these two emotion processing styles. Dispositional mindfulness, mental health, diverse emotional constructs with adaptive and maladaptive dimensions (including range and differentiation of emotional experiences, use of specific emotion regulation strategies, emotion processing deficits, negative affect repair strategies, negative mood regulation expectancies), and positive and negative affect were assessed using self-report measures in a non-clinical sample of 256 adults. The relationship between higher dispositional mindfulness and better mental health was found to be best explained by reduced maladaptive emotion processing styles and associated lower negative affect, rather than by enhanced adaptive emotion processing and higher positive affect. Further research should investigate whether the same mechanisms explain psychological benefits of cultivated mindfulness in people with low dispositional mindfulness and/or with mental health disorders following mindfulness skills training. © 2023 The Authors
Can we challenge attention and interpretation threat biases in rescued child labourers with a history of physical abuse using a computerised cognitive training task? Data on feasibility, acceptability and target engagement
(Elsevier Ltd, 2023) Sandesh Dhakal; Shulka Gupta; Narayan Prasad Sharma; Aakanksha Upadhyay; Abigail Oliver; Alex Sumich; Veena Kumari; Shanta Niraula; Rakesh Pandey; Jennifer Y.F. Lau
Child labourers are more likely to have experienced physical victimisation, which may increase risk for anxiety/depression, by shaping threat biases in information-processing. To target threat biases and vulnerability for anxiety/depression, we evaluated whether Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM) training could be feasibly and acceptably delivered to rescued youth labourers. Seventy-six physically abused rescued labourers aged 14–17 (40 from Nepal, 36 from India) in out-of-home care institutions received either multi-session computerised CBM or control training. Training targeted attention away from threat to positive cues and the endorsement of benign over threat interpretations. Feasibility and acceptability data were gathered along with pre and post intervention measures of attention and interpretation bias and emotional and behavioural symptoms. In terms of feasibility, uptake (proportion of those who completed the pre-intervention assessment from those who consented) and retention (proportion of those who completed the post-intervention assessment from those who completed the pre-intervention assessment) were above 75% in both countries. Average acceptability ratings were mostly ‘moderate’ on most indices for both countries, and none of the participants reported experiencing serious adverse events or reactions in response to or during the trial. Secondarily, CBM participants showed increased attention to positive and decreased attention to threatening stimuli, as well as increased endorsement of benign interpretation and decreased endorsement in negative interpretations of ambiguous social situations. Symptom changes were less clear. Delivering CBM to former child labourers in out-of-home care institutions has interventive potential. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03625206, Date of registration: August 10, 2018. © 2023
Childhood maltreatment and its mental health consequences among Indian adolescents with a history of child work
(SAGE Publications Inc., 2020) Rakesh Pandey; Shulka Gupta; Aakanksha Upadhyay; Rajendra Prasad Gupta; Meenakshi Shukla; Ramesh Chandra Mishra; Yogesh Kumar Arya; Tushar Singh; Shanta Niraula; Jennifer Yun Fai Lau; Veena Kumari
Objectives: Although the prevalence and mental health consequences of childhood maltreatment among adolescents have been studied widely, there are few data addressing these issues in Asian lower middle–income countries. Here, we assessed the prevalence and types of childhood maltreatment and, for the first time, examined their association with current mental health problems in Indian adolescents with a history of child work. Methods: One hundred and thirty-two adolescents (12–18 years; 114 males, 18 females) with a history of child work were interviewed using the Child Maltreatment, Conventional Crime, and Witnessing and Indirect Victimisation modules of the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire. Potential psychiatric diagnoses and current emotional and behavioural problems were assessed using the culturally adapted Hindi versions of the Youth’s Inventory–4R and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, respectively. Results: A large proportion of the sample reported childhood abuse or neglect (83.36%), direct or indirect victimisation (100%) and experienced symptoms of one or more psychiatric disorders (83.33%). Of the most common maltreatment types, physical abuse was present for 72.73% (extra-familial 56.25%, intra-familial 42.71%), emotional abuse for 47.7% (extra-familial 74.6%, intra-familial 12.9%), general neglect for 17.4% and unsafe home for 45.5% of the adolescents. All these maltreatment types were associated with poor mental health, with emotional abuse showing the strongest and wide-ranging impact. Conclusions: Indian adolescents with a history of child work are at an extremely high risk of extra-familial physical and emotional abuse as well as victimisation. They also experience a range of psychiatric symptoms, especially if they suffered emotional abuse. There is an urgent need for routine mental health screening and to consider emotional abuse in all current and future top-down and bottom-up approaches to address childhood maltreatment, as well as in potential interventions to ameliorate its adverse effects on mental health and well-being, of child and adolescent workers. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2020.
Coping With COVID-19: Mindfulness-Based Approaches for Mitigating Mental Health Crisis
(Frontiers Media S.A., 2021) Elena Antonova; Karoly Schlosser; Rakesh Pandey; Veena Kumari
The novel coronavirus disease COVID-19 that first emerged in Wuhan, China, in Nov-Dec 2019 has already impacted a significant proportion of the world population. Governments of many countries imposed quarantines and social distancing measures in 2020, many of which remain in place, to mitigate the spread of the SARS-Cov-2 virus causing the COVID-19 disease. The direct impact of COVID-19 on people infected with the virus, their families and the health care workers, as well as the impact of the mitigation measures such as quarantine, social distancing, and self-isolation on the rest of the population have contributed to a global mental health pandemic, including anxiety, depression, panic attacks, posttraumatic stress symptoms, psychosis, addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and suicidality. These effects are present acutely (for example, due to fear of contamination or losing loved ones, effects of quarantine/isolation, withdrawal of community and social services, etc.) and may continue long after the pandemic is over (for example, due to bereavement, unemployment, financial losses, etc). The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered mental health problems in people without previous history of mental illness, as well as worsened the symptoms in those with pre-existing psychiatric diagnosis. Therefore, the global effort is called for to deal with this mental health pandemic secondary to COVID-19 itself to address the emergence of new as well as the exacerbation of the existing mental health issues. Conversely, this global context provides an extraordinary opportunity for studying individual differences in response to and resilience in the face of physical and psychological threat, challenge to “normal” way of life, and long-term uncertainty. In this viewpoint article we outline the particular suitability of mindfulness, its skills and mechanisms, as an approach to the prevention and management of mental health issues, as well as to the promotion of well-being and building the foundations of adaptability and flexibility in dealing with the long-term uncertainty and profound changes to the social, economic, and possibly political systems as this pandemic continues to unfold. © Copyright © 2021 Antonova, Schlosser, Pandey and Kumari.
Eysenck personality inventory: Impulsivity/neuroticism and social desirability response set
(Ammons Scientific Ltd, 1996) Veena Kumari
The Hindi version of the Eysenck Personality Inventory and the Trait scale of the Hindi version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were administered to 945 female Indian students (M age = 20.4 yr., SD = 1.4) to study the personalities of those scoring low and high on the Lie scale, and the association of Lie scale scores in the intercorrelation between Impulsivity and Neuroticism under no motivation to fake good. The group with low scores on the Lie scale had lower scores on Impulsivity and higher scores on Neuroticism and Trait Anxiety than a group scoring high on the Lie scale. No association of Lie scale scores was observed with scores on Extraversion. Lie scale scores were differentially associated with scores on Impulsivity and Neuroticism. The need to consider the Lie scale in addition to other scales in studies of personality is emphasised.
History of abuse and neglect and their associations with mental health in rescued child labourers in Nepal
(SAGE Publications Inc., 2019) Sandesh Dhakal; Shanta Niraula; Narayan Prasad Sharma; Sabitri Sthapit; Eleanor Bennett; Ayesha Vaswani; Rakesh Pandey; Veena Kumari; Jennifer YF Lau
Objectives: Little is known about rates of childhood maltreatment in low-income countries, particularly among marginalised sectors of society. Economic hardships mean that in such countries, many children and young people are exploited in the labour force and/or are trafficked, placing them at greater risk for being exposed to other forms of maltreatment. Cultural norms endorsing the use of physical and emotional acts to discipline children further exacerbate this risk. Here, we assessed the rates of childhood victimisation experiences and associated mental health problems in Nepalese youth rescued from illegal child labour including trafficking. Methods: One hundred and three young people aged 12–18 years living in out-of-home care institutions and rescued from child labour/trafficking completed translated versions of selected modules from the Juvenile Victimisation Questionnaire, the Youth Inventory and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire. Care-home employees responsible for looking after the young people completed the Adolescent Symptom Inventory and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire. Analysis described maltreatment frequencies and compared individuals who had and had not experienced any form of maltreatment on the presence/absence of psychiatric diagnoses. Results: Seventy-two percent of participants experienced some form of maltreatment in their lifetime. Rates for each maltreatment type were 46.6% for physical abuse, 40.77% for emotional abuse, 27.2% for sexual abuse and 33% for neglect. Symptoms indicative of anxiety disorders and trauma were commonly reported especially in victims of childhood maltreatment. Conclusions: Our estimates of physical abuse in this at-risk juvenile sample were commensurate to those reported in general-population youth samples in Nepal, but sexual and emotional abuse rates were somewhat lower. The potential presence of anxiety and trauma in this sample that may result from maltreatment requires replication, but underscores an urgent need for routine mental health screening in rescued child labourers during rehabilitation efforts. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2019.
Isolation and characterization of a pigment-deficient mutant of the thermal cyanobacterium Hapalosiphon welwitschii
(1997) Veena Kumari
A pigment-deficient yellow mutant of the thermophilic cyanobacterium Hapalosiphon welwitschii was isolated following exposure to 1 μg/ml kanamycin. The mutant occurred as a single cell or in a group of two to four thick-walled densely granular spore-like cells. It grew more slowly than the wild type in nitrate, nitrite or ammonium supplemented medium. The mutant was revertible to the wild type following treatment with the mutagenic agent N-methyl-N′nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine.
Menstrual cycle, arousal-induction, and intelligence test performance
(Ammons Scientific Ltd, 1996) Veena Kumari; Philip J. Corr
Regularly menstruating students (aged 19 to 25 yr.) were tested in the morning under high and low arousal-induction conditions (with time-pressure instructions vs without time-pressure instructions) during either midcycle (n = 16) or menstruation phase (n = 16) to study the interactive effects of menstrual phases and time-pressure stress-induced arousal on intelligence test scores on Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices and Hundal's General Mental Ability Test. A crossover interactive effect of menstrual phase and stress-induced arousal was found on performance of the Hundal test, suggesting that performance of subjects who were tested during the mid-cycle phase (putatively High Basal Arousal) was impaired under the time-pressure instructions condition (High-induced Arousal) as compared to performance under the without time-pressure instructions condition (Low-induced Arousal), with the reverse pattern of effects being true for subjects who were tested during the menstruation phase. Scores on Hundal's test conform to the Yerkes-Dodson (1908) law which relates arousal to task performance and suggests that the menstrual cycle and performance on the intelligence test was arousal-based. No effects, however, were observed for Raven's Matrices, raising the possibility that task characteristics may mediate the relationship between arousal and performance.
Molecular and biochemical aspects of rhizobacterial ecology with emphasis on biological control
(1999) Veena Kumari; J.S. Srivastava
The rhizosphere is the narrow zone of soil surrounding the root that is subject to influence by the root. Rhizobacteria are plant-associated bacteria that are able to colonize and persist on roots. An understanding of the ecology of a microorganism is a fundamental requirement for the introduction of a microbial inoculant into the open environment. This is particularly true for biological control of root pathogens in the rhizosphere, where one is actively seeking to alter the ecological balance so as to favour growth of the host plant and to curtail the development of pathogens. Some strains of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria can effectively colonize plant roots and protect plants from diseases caused by a variety of root pathogens and growth promotion of plants through direct stimulation of growth hormone. Such beneficial or plant health-promoting strains are emerging as promising biocontrol agents. They are suitable as soil inoculants either individually or in combination and may be compatible with current chemical pesticides. Considerable progress has been achieved using molecular genetic techniques to elucidate the important microbial factors or genetic traits involved in the suppression of fungal root diseases. Strategies utilizing molecular genetic techniques have been developed to complement the ongoing research ranging from the characterization and genetic improvement of a selected biocontrol agent to the measurement of its persistence and dispersal. Finally, biocontrol is considered as part of a disease control strategy like integrated pest management which offers a successful approach for the deployment of both agro-chemicals and biocontrol agents.
Non-dual awareness and sensory processing in meditators: Insights from startle reflex modulation
(Academic Press Inc., 2024) Veena Kumari; Umisha Tailor; Anam Saifullah; Rakesh Pandey; Elena Antonova
Startle modulation paradigms, namely habituation and prepulse inhibition (PPI), can offer insight into the brain's early information processing mechanisms that might be impacted by regular meditation practice. Habituation refers to decreasing response to a repeatedly-presented startle stimulus, reflecting its redundancy. PPI refers to response reduction when a startling stimulus “pulse” is preceded by a weaker sensory stimulus “prepulse” and provides an operational measure of sensorimotor gating. Here, we examined habituation and PPI of the acoustic startle response in regular meditators (n = 32), relative to meditation-naïve individuals (n = 36). Overall, there was no significant difference between meditators and non-meditators in habituation or PPI, but there was significantly greater PPI in meditators who self-reported being able to enter and sustain non-dual awareness during their meditation practice (n = 18) relative to those who could not (n = 14). Together, these findings suggest that subjective differences in meditation experience may be associated with differential sensory processing characteristics in meditators. © 2024 The Author(s)
Problematic attention processing and fear learning in adolescent anxiety: Testing a combined cognitive and learning processes model
(Elsevier Ltd, 2019) Helen M. Baker; Tom J. Barry; Veena Kumari; Rakesh Pandey; Niraula Shanta; Jennifer Y.F. Lau
Background and objectives: Anxiety in adolescence is characterised by disturbances in attentional processes and the overgeneralisation of fear, however, little is known about the combined and reciprocal effects of and between these factors on youth anxiety. The present study investigated whether attention (attention allocation and control) and fear generalisation processes together predict more variance on adolescent anxiety symptoms than each factor in isolation, and explored their interrelations. Methods: 197 adolescents completed a novel conditioning task, which paired balloon cues with mildly aversive or neutral outcomes. A spatial cueing task, and self-report measures of emotional attentional control and anxiety, were also completed. Results: Threat-avoidant attention allocation biases, impaired attention control, and exaggerated fear generalisation together predicted greater variance in anxiety symptoms (55.3%), than each set of fear and attention processes in isolation. Results also provided evidence of an interplay between these factors. Individual differences in threat-avoidant attention allocation biases predicted variability in the generalisation of fear, whilst the association between heightened anxiety and the overgeneralization of fear was moderated by poor attention control. Conclusions: This study provides unique evidence of the combined effects of attention and fear generalisation mechanisms in explaining youth anxiety, and interrelations between these factors. Importantly, results suggested that deficiencies in attention control may bring out anxiety-associated impairments in fear generalisation. Limitations: We relied on self-reported ratings of fear during generalization and also of attention control. Thus demand effects cannot be discounted. Reaction-time measures of attention focus are also indirect assessments of attention that may lack precision. © 2018
Recognising and healing emotional wounds of child labourers: call to action based on the evidence and stakeholder views from India and Nepal
(Cambridge University Press, 2022) Harleen Kaur; Kathleen Duncan; Sandesh Dhakal; Narayan Sharma; Shanta Niraula; Rakesh Pandey; Veena Kumari; Jennifer Y. F. Lau; Tushar Singh
Child labourers are at risk of poorer mental health and once rescued require urgent mental health interventions to ameliorate the long-term impact. In our review, only two published scientific studies evaluated custom-made interventions; other programmes were obtained from non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which need rigorous trial evaluation. We also sought the viewpoints of stakeholders working directly with rescued young people, as well as consulting young people with lived experiences of child labour. We propose that psychoeducational interventions aimed at employees working directly with young people could represent a fruitful approach for low- and middle-income countries in the Asia-Pacific region but also more generally. Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Reduced emotional responsiveness in individuals with marginal elevation in blood pressure within the normal range: Evidence from altered affect-modulated startle response
(Elsevier B.V., 2020) Meenakshi Shukla; Jennifer Y.F. Lau; Shmuel Lissek; Rakesh Pandey; Veena Kumari
Reduced responsiveness to emotional stimuli (‘emotional dampening’) has been observed in normotensives with elevated blood pressure (BP) and hypertensives but it is not known whether this is due to aberrant responding to emotional information at the involuntary level and whether it is also associated with minimal elevations in BP in the normal range. In this study, we examined emotional dampening using the affect-modulated startle paradigm given its proven sensitivity to motivational states of approach and withdrawal, typically independent of conscious intentional control. Acoustically elicited startle eye-blink modulation was measured using electromyography of the orbicularis oculi muscle beneath the left eye in 59 healthy individuals while they viewed pleasant, unpleasant and neutral standardized pictures. The expected startle attenuation to pleasant pictures, and startle potentiation to unpleasant pictures, relative to neutral pictures, was found in people in the comparison (N = 29) but not elevated BP (N = 30) group. This finding was further supported by significant moderating effect (assessed using ANCOVA and sub-sample analysis) of BP on valence-startle amplitude relationship. The comparison BP group also showed slower latencies to response onset for pleasant stimuli compared to neutral and unpleasant, with no effect of valence in the elevated BP group. However, BP did not moderate the valence-onset latency relationship. Our findings indicate that previously reported emotional dampening associated with elevated BP extends to reduced involuntary emotional reactivity and to individuals with even minimal BP elevations (i.e. higher but still within the normal range). Future research needs to confirm these findings in hypertensive individuals, preferably using within-subjects designs. © 2020 Elsevier B.V.
Sleep Matters in Chronotype and Mental Health Association: Evidence from the UK and Germany
(Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), 2024) Satyam Chauhan; Kaja Faßbender; Rakesh Pandey; Ray Norbury; Ulrich Ettinger; Veena Kumari
Background: There is considerable evidence supporting the elevated risk of mental health problems in individuals with evening chronotype relative to those with morning or intermediate chronotypes. Recent data, however, suggest that this risk may be explained, at least partially, by poor sleep quality. Methods: This study aimed to further clarify the roles of chronotype and sleep quality in mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, stress) in young individuals (18–40 years) living in the UK (n = 185) or Germany (n = 209). Results: Consistent with our recent observations in a comparable North Indian sample, we found that poor quality of sleep had significantly positive associations with adverse mental health outcomes both in the UK and Germany-based samples. Significant associations between evening chronotype and poor mental health were also evident, but these associations were fully mediated by poor quality of sleep in both samples. Conclusions: These observations suggest that efforts to identify sleep disruption in a timely manner and promotion of good sleep may prevent mental health problems, especially in individuals with evening chronotype and other known risks for mental disorders. © 2024 by the authors.
The Effect of COVID-19 and Related Lockdown Phases on Young Peoples' Worries and Emotions: Novel Data From India
(Frontiers Media S.A., 2021) Meenakshi Shukla; Rakesh Pandey; Tushar Singh; Laura Riddleston; Taryn Hutchinson; Veena Kumari; Jennifer Y. F. Lau
The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented stress to young people. Despite recent speculative suggestions of poorer mental health in young people in India since the start of the pandemic, there have been no systematic efforts to measure these. Here we report on the content of worries of Indian adolescents and identify groups of young people who may be particularly vulnerable to negative emotions along with reporting on the impact of coronavirus on their lives. Three-hundred-and-ten young people from North India (51% male, 12–18 years) reported on their personal experiences of being infected by the coronavirus, the impact of the pandemic and its' restrictions across life domains, their top worries, social restrictions, and levels of negative affect and anhedonia. Findings showed that most participants had no personal experience (97.41%) or knew anyone (82.58%) with COVID-19, yet endorsed moderate-to-severe impact of COVID-19 on their academics, social life, and work. These impacts in turn associated with negative affect. Participants' top worries focused on academic attainments, social and recreational activities, and physical health. More females than males worried about academic attainment and physical health while more males worried about social and recreational activities. Thus, Indian adolescents report significant impact of the pandemic on various aspects of their life and are particularly worried about academic attainments, social and recreational activities and physical health. These findings call for a need to ensure provisions and access to digital education and medical care. © Copyright © 2021 Shukla, Pandey, Singh, Riddleston, Hutchinson, Kumari and Lau.
Threat biases associate with anxiety and depression in physically-abused young people with a history of child labour
(Elsevier Ltd, 2022) Narayan Prasad Sharma; Sandesh Dhakal; Abigail Oliver; Shulka Gupta; Veena Kumari; Rakesh Pandey; Shanta Niraula; Jennifer Y.F. Lau
Background and objectives: Young people who have experienced early-life maltreatment preferentially attend to threat and draw more threatening interpretations. In turn, these threat biases may explain elevated risk for lifelong anxiety and/or depression. We investigated whether adolescent labourers with a history of physical abuse showed threat biases relative to non-abused labourers, and whether these threat biases associated with anxiety and depression. Methods: 100 young people (aged 13–18 years, 64% female) from Nepal rescued from illegal child work were assessed for childhood maltreatment and anxiety and/or depression disorders. Participants completed an emotional visual search task (to measure attention engagement of positive versus negative faces) and an ambiguous scenarios questionnaire (to measure the endorsement of negative versus benign interpretations). Results: Seventy young people reported a history of physical (and emotional) abuse. They were more likely to meet symptom thresholds for depression, and marginally, for anxiety disorders than non-physically abused participants. Abused and non-abused participants did not differ on attention engagement/disengagement of threat or on interpretational style. Abused participants with anxiety were slower to disengage from negative faces to engage with a positive face than non-anxious abused participants. Abused participants with depression endorsed more negative interpretations of ambiguous situations than those without depression. Limitations: The cross-sectional design limits our ability to infer whether threat biases reflect risk markers of psychopathology. Conclusions: If threat biases are shown to confer risk for anxiety and depression in future studies, they could be targeted in mental health prevention programs for these vulnerable young people. © 2022