Dysfunctional belief-based obsessive-compulsive disorder subgroups

An attempt was made to identify obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) subgroups based on differences in OCD related beliefs. OCD patients (N=367) were assessed with the Obsessional-Beliefs Questionnaire prior to treatment. Individuals' scores on measures of inflated personal responsibility and the tendency to overestimate threat, perfectionism and intolerance of uncertainty, and over-importance and over-control of thoughts were subjected to cluster analysis. Support for both a simple and complex subgroup model was found (2-subgroup and 5-subgroup taxonomies). A low-beliefs subgroup was identified in both taxonomies. The low-beliefs subgroups reported scores on belief measures equivalent to scores reported for non-OCD comparison groups in earlier studies. Additional analyses were conducted to determine relations between belief-based and symptom subgroups. Significant relationships were found (e.g., Symmetry symptom subgroup membership was associated with membership in the Perfectionism/Certainty beliefs subgroup), although the shared variance was modest. Implications for understanding OCD heterogeneity and for cognitive theory are discussed.     

The Relations of Cognitive Triad, Dysfunctional Attitudes, Automatic Thoughts, and Irrational Beliefs with Test Anxiety

Previous research has highlighted the important role of cognition in anxiety, including test anxiety. The present study explores the role of cognitive distortions and irrationality in test anxiety by studying the relationships among cognitive triad (core beliefs), dysfunctional attitudes (intermediate beliefs), negative automatic thoughts, irrational beliefs, debilitating test anxiety, and facilitating test anxiety in 138 undergraduates. Multiple regression analyses showed that only the cognitive triad as a whole was a significant predictor of debilitating anxiety. Specifically, negative view of self was a significant predictor of debilitating anxiety. The results supported an expansion of the current cognitive conceptualizations of test anxiety to include the importance of negative self-view. Other implications are also discussed.     

Dispositional mindfulness,insomnia, sleep quality and dysfunctional sleep beliefs in post-treatment cancer patients

Dispositional mindfulness, or the tendency to be more mindful in daily life, has been associated with better psychological functioning and reduced overall distress. This study investigated the degree to which dispositional mindfulness was associated with sleep disturbances in cancer patients with insomnia. Further, we examined whether levels of mindfulness moderated the relationship between stress levels, mood disturbance, insomnia severity, sleep quality and dysfunctional sleep beliefs. Participants (N = 111) were adults who had been previously treated for cancer and currently met diagnostic criteria for insomnia. Higher levels of acting with awareness, non-judging and non-reacting were associated with better sleep and psychological outcomes. Despite these significant associations, mindfulness facets did not significantly moderate the relationship between stress, mood and sleep outcomes. This negative finding raises the possibility that increased mindfulness may not act directly to improve psychological outcomes, but rather through a series of other cognitive and affective changes. Our results emphasize the importance of addressing mood symptoms and stress appraisals as predictors of sleep disturbance in cancer patients.     

Dysfunctional attitudes in seasonal affective disorder

Research examining dysfunctional attitudes in Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) has produced contrasting results. The present study sought to resolve this contradiction by addressing some methodological problems of the previous studies. The study examined dysfunctional attitudes using the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale (DAS) in individuals with SAD and never-depressed controls. The SAD group were tested both when depressed in the winter (Time 1) and during their remission period (Time 2). At Time 1 the SAD group displayed a relatively elevated DAS compared to controls and to their Time 2 scores. These data therefore provide potential support for a view that SAD is characterized by underlying dysfunctional attitudes.     

Gender Differences in Children’s Hero Attributions: Personal Hero Choices and Evaluations of Typical Male and Female Heroes

The current study investigated gender differences in the personal hero choices, hero attributions, and characteristics attributed to “typical” male and female heroes of children living in the Midwestern United States (N = 103; mean age = 10 years). Questionnaires were completed in a school setting. The majority of girls chose heroes personally known to them; boys chose personal and public figures equally often. Most boys chose same gender heroes; girls’ nominations were mixed. Gender differences were also seen in the characteristics children attributed to their own heroes and in their conceptions of “typical” male and female heroes. Children rated same-gender “typical” heroes more positively on many attributes, except for stereotypically masculine characteristics. Gender socialization, stereotypes, and in-group favoritism were used to explain these findings. Portions of this project were presented at the 2003 Society for Research on Child Development Biennial Meeting. We wish to thank Anna V. Persson and Sara E. Goldstein for their assistance on the early development of this study. We also appreciate the children, teachers, guidance counselors and principals at Leipsic Local School and Pandora-Gilboa Elementary School for making this study possible. Inquiries about this study should be addressed to Shayla Holub, .     

Dysfunctional beliefs in panic disorder: The Panic Belief Inventory

The Panic Belief Inventory (PBI) was developed to assess beliefs that increase the likelihood of catastrophic reactions to physical and emotional experiences in panic disorder. In the first stage of scale development, 197 panic disorder patients completed the PBI and standard self-report inventories of psychiatric symptomatology. An exploratory factor analysis yielded a 4-factor solution from which a 35-item instrument with 4 scales was constructed. The shortened measure and its scales had good internal consistency and convergent validity and moderate discriminant validity. Subsequently, 22 panic disorder patients who received cognitive therapy completed the PBI and other self-report inventories of dysfunctional cognitions at intake, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, termination, and several follow-up intervals. Results indicated that the PBI decreased significantly across treatment, with the largest decline occurring between intake and 4 weeks into treatment. The PBI correlated more strongly with dysfunctional cognitions associated with anxiety than dysfunctional cognitions associated with depression. These results provide preliminary evidence that the PBI has adequate psychometric characteristics, is useful to assess change in dysfunctional beliefs during treatment, and has the potential to advance cognitive theories of panic.     

Maladaptive Core Beliefs and their Relation to Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Research has demonstrated that individuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) hold unhelpful beliefs about worry, uncertainty, and the problem-solving process. Extant writings (e.g., treatment manuals) also suggest that other types of maladaptive beliefs may characterize those with GAD. However, these other beliefs have received limited empirical attention and are not an explicit component of cognitive theories of GAD. The present study examined the extent to which dysfunctional attitudes, early maladaptive schemas, and broad self-focused and other-focused beliefs explain significant variance in GAD symptoms, over and above negative and positive beliefs about worry, negative beliefs about uncertainty, and negative beliefs about problems. N = 138 participants classified into Probable GAD and Non-GAD groups completed self-report measures. After controlling for trait anxiety and depressive symptoms, only beliefs about worry, negative beliefs about uncertainty, and schemas reflecting unrelenting standards (e.g., “I must meet all my responsibilities all the time”), the need to self-sacrifice (e.g., “I'm the one who takes care of others”), and less positive views of other people and their intentions (e.g., lower endorsement of views such as “other people are fair”), were unique correlates of Probable GAD versus Non-GAD or GAD severity. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.     

Children’s Gender–Emotion Stereotypes in the Relationship of Anger to Sadness and Fear

Children’s perceptions of the emotional reactions of same- and different-sex characters in stories containing ambiguous and unambiguous emotional contexts were examined. According to the Parallel-Constraint-Satisfaction Theory (Kunda and Thagard. Psychological Review, 103, 284–308, 1996), stereotypes are more likely to be utilized in ambiguous contexts, defined here as those likely to elicit multiple emotional responses. Seventy suburban U.S. preschoolers were read vignettes describing boys or girls in ambiguous or unambiguous emotion-inducing events and reported how the vignette characters were feeling. Results suggest that the perceptions of participants were more likely to reflect gender–emotion stereotypes (e.g. perceiving males as angry and females as sad) in ambiguous contexts than in unambiguous contexts. Results are discussed in terms of children’s emerging understanding of gender–emotion stereotypes.     

Do obsessional beliefs discriminate OCD without tic patients from OCD with tic and Tourette's syndrome patients?

There is considerable overlap in symptomatology between Tourette's syndrome (TS) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Increased rates of tics are found in OCD and up to 60% obsessive-compulsive symptoms in TS. However, in OCD obsessive-compulsive symptoms are more often anxiety-related and, as a consequence, aimed at anxiety-reduction, whereas in TS these symptoms are more stimulus-bound. Therefore, it is of clinical interest to study whether these phenomenological differences are reflected in differences between dysfunctional cognitions accompanying OC symptoms in OCD with or without tics and TS. Current cognitive theory of OCD ascertains that specific dysfunctional beliefs are important in the etiology and maintenance of OCD. To assess these beliefs, the obsessive-compulsive beliefs questionnaire-87 (OBQ-87) has been developed. In the present study, OBQ-87 scores of OCD patients without tics, OCD with tics, and TS (without OCD) patients were compared to those of normal controls. Results: OCD without tic patients exhibited higher OBQ-87 scores than TS patients. No differences were found between OCD with or without tic patients on any of the OBQ-87 subscales. These results suggest that: (1) dysfunctional beliefs have no discriminative power with respect to OCD with or without tic patients; (2) the direct relationship between types of OC symptoms and specific dysfunctional beliefs is questionable. Therefore, one can doubt the specificity of cognitive theory of OCD to explain specific OC behavior.     

关于自身记忆信念的年龄差异

记忆老化信念是元记忆研究的一个重要研究领域。本研究测量了94名老年人,38名年轻人记忆老化信念中关于自身记忆信念。结果发现,各年龄组间在对特定情境记忆能力信念上有差异,60～64岁、65～69岁年龄组被试对特定情境记忆能力评价最高,而70岁以上老年人与年轻组被试对特定情境上记忆能力评分无差异;年轻人对记忆的控制感要低于各组老年人;研究并没有发现被试在一般记忆能力信念上的年龄差异。     

A penny for your thoughts: Patterns of sleep-related beliefs, insomnia symptoms and treatment outcome

The aim of this study was to determine how distinctive patterns of unhelpful beliefs about sleep endorsed by insomnia patients relate to their presenting symptoms and treatment responses. A sample of 281 primary insomnia sufferers completed items comprising the Dysfunctional Beliefs About Sleep scale (DBAS-16). Their resultant scores on the four DBAS-16 subscales were then subjected to a cluster analysis, which resulted in the identification of four distinctive age-matched subgroups. Two subgroups were characterized by pathologically elevated scores on at least two of the DBAS-16 subscales, whereas the other two subgroups had subscale scores that closely resembled those of a normative sample. Subsequent comparisons showed the insomnia subgroups differed in regard to their insomnia severity, use of prescribed medication for sleep, depression and anxiety symptoms, and daytime sleepiness. Furthermore, comparisons of treatment outcomes (i.e. analysis of change scores and normative comparisons) across clusters showed that the subgroups did not benefit equally from a standardized form of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for insomnia. Findings demonstrate the contribution of specific sleep-related beliefs on presenting insomnia symptoms and suggest the potential usefulness of tailoring CBT protocols to match the needs of distinctive insomnia subtypes.