Psychological investigation of genital herpes recurrence: prospective assessment and cognitive-behavioral intervention for a chronic physical disorder

Previous studies suggest that anxiety and/or depressed mood are associated with recurrence of genital herpes lesions. The present study sought to extend the assessment of factors associated with genital herpes and to investigate the impact of psychological therapy on features of the disorder. Sixteen genital herpes patients received 5 weeks of either structured discussion or cognitive restructuring (CR) therapy in a group format. Measures of attitude about herpes, global coping, distress, loneliness, health locus of control, and recurrence frequency were administered at pretreatment, posttreatment, and 3 months follow-up. Patients also made daily reports during the 5 weeks of treatment from which information was extracted regarding their herpes symptoms, dysphoria, anxiety, and ongoing coping process. Therapy did not produce the expected reductions in reported distress or loneliness. The CR procedure, however, was associated with reduced frequency of lesion recurrence at follow-up. Avoidant coping was associated with lower recurrence rates, and loneliness scores were associated with higher recurrence rates. Prospective data indicated that recurrences were preceded by elevated anxiety that was independent of prodromal symptoms. These results provide support for the general proposals that psychological factors influence health status and that psychological intervention may reduce disease recurrence.     

A prospective analysis of acceptance of pain and values-based action in patients with chronic pain.

OBJECTIVE: Acceptance of pain and values-based action appear important in the emotional, physical, and social functioning of individuals with chronic pain. The purpose of the current study was to prospectively investigate these combined processes. METHOD: 115 patients attending an assessment and treatment course for chronic pain in the U.K. completed a standard set of measures on two occasions separated by an average of 18.5 weeks. RESULTS: Correlation analyses showed that acceptance of pain and values-based action measured at Time 1 were significantly correlated with pain, pain-related distress, pain-related anxiety and avoidance, depression, depression-related interference with functioning, and physical and psychosocial disability measured at Time 2. Multiple regression analyses, in which pain and relevant patient background variables were controlled, showed that the combined acceptance and values measures accounted for between 6.5% and 27.0% of variance in six key measures of patient functioning later in time. CONCLUSION: These results support the importance of acceptance and values-related processes in relation to chronic pain. These results also encourage continued applications of a functional contextual model of psychopathology, the model underlying Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and related approaches such as Contextual Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.     

The prevention of chronic pain and disability: a preliminary investigation.

A preliminary investigation was undertaken on 117 acute back pain cases, to assess the utility of counseling at the acute stage upon the course of recovery over the subsequent 6 months. In addition, the extent to which psychological reactions to acute injury would allow the 'tagging' of individuals at risk for chronic pain problems, was studied. The minimal rehabilitation counseling proved inadequate to effect the course of recovery, but remarkably accurate predictions were possible at the sub-chronic point (3 months) as to who would make complete recoveries.     

眼动轨迹匹配法：一种研究决策过程的新方法

眼动轨迹匹配法是近年来新兴的一种眼动数据分析方法, 该方法包括注视数据的预处理、兴趣区划分和编码、形成眼动轨迹字符串、计算相似性得分四个步骤。研究者采用眼动轨迹匹配法对决策过程理论及其影响因素进行的探索性研究, 证实了眼动轨迹匹配法在决策领域的可行性、精确性和高价值性。未来的研究应进一步利用眼动轨迹匹配法加强对各种决策理论及其影响因素的研究, 以揭示决策的认知过程, 构建更加完善的决策理论模型。     

The antecedents of aggressive behavior among men with schizophrenia: a prospective investigation of patients in community treatment

The association between psychotic symptoms and violence is unclear, due in part to methodological features of investigations that have examined this question, and in part to the fact that the association likely differs by disorder and treatment conditions. Using data from The Comparative Study of the Prevention of Crime and Violence by Mentally Ill Persons, we examined 128 men with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder discharged from general and forensic psychiatric hospitals in Canada, Finland, Germany, and Sweden. The association between symptoms and aggressive behavior was studied during two 6 month periods when the patients lived in the community. Severe positive and negative symptoms of psychosis, depression, and anxiety were measured at the beginning of each of the 6 month periods. In addition, at the beginning of the second 6 month period changes in symptoms in the previous period were indexed. Aggressive behavior was measured in each 6 month period by reports from patients and from collaterals. During the first 6 months post-discharge, after controlling for the presence of antisocial personality disorder or PCL score and past diagnoses of alcohol/drug abuse/dependence, the presence of a severe positive symptom significantly increased the risk of aggressive behavior. During the second 6 month period, after controlling for antisocial personality disorder or PCL score and self-reported alcohol/drug use, the presence of a severe positive symptom, a TCO symptom, and an increase in TCO symptoms significantly increased the risk of aggressive behavior. Neither depot medications nor obligatory community treatment reduced the risk of aggressive behavior after controlling for the presence of a severe positive symptom and/or TCO symptoms. These findings suggest that, among men with schizophrenia being treated in the community, the presence of severe psychotic symptoms and the development of TCO symptoms are antecedents of aggressive behavior.     

Child-rearing antecedents of intergenerational relations in young adulthood: a prospective study.

Data gathered from mothers on parenting and family climate when almost 1,000 children in the Dunedin, New Zealand, longitudinal study were 3, 5, 7, 9, 13, and 15 years of age were used to predict intergenerational relations between young adult children (age 26) and their middle-aged parents. Analyses focused on distinct developmental epochs revealed greater prediction from the middle-childhood and early-adolescent periods than from the early-childhood years: most indicated that more supportive family environments and child-rearing experiences in the family of origin forecasted more positive and less negative parent-child relationships (in terms of contact, closeness, conflict, reciprocal assistance) in young adulthood, though associations were modest in magnitude. Some evidence indicated that (modestly) deleterious effects on intergenerational relations of experiencing relatively unsupportive child-rearing environments in 1 but not 2 (of 3) developmental periods studied could be offset by relatively supportive family environments in the remaining developmental periods.     

A quantitative method for studying the testing supervision process

A quantitative method by Holloway for studying the supervision process in counseling training was adapted for use in psychological testing supervision. Ratings of 80 sessions indicated that most of the 25 potential interactions between the supervisor and trainee occurred in most of the sessions. The rate of occurrence was the lowest for the Emotional Awareness task (21%-24%). The author offers a speculation about how this result may be understood as involving the structured nature of testing. Results suggested that this model could be used as a tool for both practical and theoretical empirical evaluation of the supervision process during training in psychological testing.     

The microgenetic method. A direct means for studying cognitive development

Progress in understanding cognitive developmental change mechanisms requires methods that yield detailed data about particular changes. The microgenetic method is an approach that can yield such data. It involves (a) observations of individual children throughout the period of the change, (b) a high density of observations relative to the rate of change within that period, and (c) intensive trial-by-trial analyses intended to infer the processes that gave rise to the change. This approach can illuminate both qualitative and quantitative aspects of change, indicate the conditions under which changes occur, and yield otherwise unobtainable information about short-lived transition strategies. The cost in time and effort of such studies is often high, but the value of the information about change can more than justify the cost.     

An evaluation of support groups for patients with long-term chronic pain and complex psychosocial difficulties

There is a significant group of chronic pain patients with complex psychosocial needs who are frequent users of hospital outpatient departments and who do not participate in or benefit from traditional pain management treatments and are convinced there is a medical solution to their problems. They are a particularly challenging group of patients to help, often shunned by medical and psychological professionals. A new type of ten-session psycho-social group for these patients that is less demanding than traditional pain management group programmes is investigated. It is designed to foster the development into community-based self-help groups and reduce the need for professional support and unnecessary medical intervention. Accounts of four groups of patients who participated in support groups and successfully established their own groups is presented. To assess changes in motivation, mood and pain disability standardized questionnaire measures were given before and after group attendance. Findings suggest that patients benefited and took increased responsibility for their pain management but did not demonstrate positive changes on measures of mood or level of pain disability. Patients experienced satisfaction with the groups and established their own self-help community groups. The positive experience of participants and staff suggests further work with support groups would be productive for this group of patients.     

Individual differences in the day-to-day experience of chronic pain: a prospective daily study of rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Explored the distribution and temporal patterning of daily pain reported by 47 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for 75 consecutive days. Approximately half the pain series were significantly positively skewed, trended significantly across the recording period, or both. One fourth of the sample had relatively painful "outlier" days that clustered together. Most series displayed a significant autocorrelation in pain intensity across successive days even when the series were detrended. Patients with more active disease had pain that was more intense but more predictable from day to day and reported fewer painful outlying days and briefer episodes of atypically severe pain. Patients describing themselves as more depressed on the Center for Epidemiological Stress Depression Scale also reported more intense pain across the recording period, independent of their level of disease activity and disability. Implications for daily process studies of RA pain are discussed.     

Dispositional antecedents and outcomes of political skill in organizations: A four-study investigation with convergence

We developed a four-study research plan to examine the dispositional antecedents of political skill and its job performance consequences, and also to incorporate the mediating role of reputation, drawing upon a recent theoretical model of political skill in organizations. Study 1 established the psychometric properties of the two reputation scales used in the present research, and also demonstrated the validity of the self-report reputation measure in Study 4. Study 2 tested, and demonstrated support for, the ‘Affability’ dispositional theme as a predictor of political skill, and political skill as predictor of job performance. In Study 3, the political skill-job performance linkage was replicated, but when reputation was investigated as an intermediate linkage, it was found to fully mediate the relationship between political skill and job performance. Study 4 investigated all the linkages examined in Studies 2 and 3, and found that the ‘Active Influence’ dispositional theme predicted political skill, and that the political skill-job performance relationship was fully mediated by reputation. Collectively, these studies demonstrated support for recent theoretical developments in political skill and reputation, suggesting that political skill has dispositional antecedents, and that political skill demonstrates a significant impact on job performance, through reputation. The strengths and limitations of this research are discussed, and directions for future research are provided.     

The concept of psychogenic pain: A psychological investigation of women with pelvic pain

Women with pain occurring in the absence of pathology have been reported to have personality and mood disturbances which account for their pain. These studies suffer from both methodological and theoretical difficulties. A common methodological problem is the absence of comparison groups of women with pain of equivalent chronicity yet with diagnosed pathology. This study compares women with and without pathology, matched for pain chronicity, on a range of psychological measures. No differences were observed between “pathology” and “no pathology” groups on global measures of personality or mood. Differences do emerge in specific attitudes and exposure to illness. The implications of these findings for our understanding of pain mechanisms are discussed and the limitations of the notion of “psychogenic” pain are considered.     

基于伪装原理研究无意识视觉运动加工的方法

研究提出一种新的连续闪烁抑制(CFS)范式, 利用透明度混合(alpha blending)原理, 使目标刺激的颜色与相应位置的掩蔽刺激的颜色时刻保持一致。研究随机招募了8名被试, 向其优势眼呈现Mondrian图像序列, 非优势眼呈现固定速率运动的多个正方形。结果表明目标为多运动点动态刺激时, 该范式依然具备掩蔽作用, 且当目标刺激与相应位置的掩蔽刺激的颜色完全一致时, 掩蔽效果最好, 证明这种新范式比传统CFS范式对动态刺激的掩蔽作用更好。相比以往修改CFS掩蔽刺激的思路, 该范式为研究无意识视觉运动加工提供了新方法, 且适用性更广。     

Family treatment for chronic pain: State of the art

A variety of family therapy techniques have been used to treat chronic pain. In this paper, an attempt is made to examine those familytherapy methods. It is noted that to date there is virtually a total absence of research to determine the efficacy of family therapy to treat chronic benign pain. From a clinical perspective family therapy must be offered to famiies with chronic pain patients to counteract the negative impact of chronic pain on the entire family system.     

Factor analytic investigation of the Illness Attitudes Scale in a chronic pain safmple

The Illness Attitudes Scale (IAS) is a self-report instrument comprising nine subscales designed to assess fears, beliefs and attitudes associated with hypochondriasis and abnormal illness behaviour [Kellner (1986). Somatization and hypochondriasis. New York: Praeger.]. The purpose of the present study was to explore the factor structure of the IAS in a chronic pain sample as a preliminary step toward determining the use of this measure in this sample. Hypochondriacal tendencies have been postulated to play a role in maintaining and exacerbating responses to chronic pain and, therefore, appropriate measurement in this sample is important. In the present study, consecutive chronic pain patients presenting to a pain treatment program (N=198) were administered the IAS. Principal component analysis with oblique (Oblimin) rotation identified that five factors best explain the measure in this population. These factors were (1) fear of illness, (2) effects of symptoms, (3) health habits, (4) disease phobia and conviction and (5) fear of death. The factor structure overlapped to some degree with the scoring of the IAS proposed by Kellner (1986), as well as with the factor structure identified in a non-clinical sample [Ferguson, E. & Daniel, E. (1995). The Illness Attitudes Scale (IAS): a psychometric evaluation on a non-clinical population. Personality and Individual Differences, 18, 463–469.]. There were enough discrepancies, however, to suggest an alternative method for scoring the IAS with chronic pain patients. Implications for the use of the measure with chronic pain patients, as well as future research directions for exploring the utility of this measure with chronic pain patients, are discussed.     

A pilot investigation of a psychosocial activity course for people with spinal cord injuries

This study investigated the general benefits and impact that sports activity courses organized by Back-Up, a charitable trust, have on quality of life, mood, self-efficacy and perceived manageability. Participants were 35 community-based individuals with spinal cord injuries (SCI). Questionnaires were completed at the start and end of the course. Fourteen participants also completed the follow-up questionnaire. Questionnaires included demographic questions, the Life Satisfaction Questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, a measure of Perceived Manageability, the Generalised Self-Efficacy Scale and four questions about what participants had gained. Results found that participants' satisfaction with leisure, generalized self-efficacy and motivation to engage in activities was significantly increased between the start and end of the courses and anxiety significantly reduced. Such results were in line with participants' responses relating to overall gains from the course. At both the start and end of the course, higher Perceived Manageability scores correlated with greater self-efficacy and higher Perceived Manageability scores and self-efficacy were correlated with lower depression and anxiety. The study provides evidence of the benefits of sports participation and teamwork for people with SCI, confirming the results of previous research.