Recruiting Teen Smokers in Shopping Malls to a Smoking-Cessation Program Using the Foot-in-the-Door Technique

Persuading teen smokers to volunteer for smoking-cessation programs is a challenging yet understudied problem. As a method of dealing with this problem, we used and tested a foot-in-the-door (FITD) approach. Teen smokers were intercepted at malls and were assigned randomly to request compliance with a small behavior request of either (a) answering a few questions (light FITD) or (b) answering the same questions and a few additional ones, plus watching a short video about the effects of nicotine (heavy FITD). Participants were then called back by telephone several weeks later and asked to comply with a large behavior request of joining a cessation program that involved the use of self-help materials and telephone counseling. Although no differences were found in responses from the light and heavy groups, consent to enter the program was obtained from 12% of the pooled qualified intercepts and their parents (for those under 18 years). This recruitment rate was considered good, given that this is one of the only reported studies that recruited teen smokers from the general population to cessation programs.     

Mood Management Mail Intervention Increases Abstinence Rates for Spanish-Speaking Latino Smokers

A self-administered mood management intervention program for smoking cessation provided through the mail to Spanish-speaking Latinos resulted in a 23% abstinence rate at 3 months compared to an 11% abstinence rate for a smoking cessation guide alone. Participants (N = 136) were randomly assigned to receive either the cessation guide (the Guía), or the Guía plus a mood management intervention (Tomando Control de su Vida) presented in writing and in audiotape format. At 3 months after random assignment, 16 out of 71 of those assigned to the Guía-plus-mood management condition reported being abstinent (not smoking for at least 7 days) compared to 7 out of 65 in the Guía-only condition (z = 1.8; p = .04, one-tailed). Moreover, those with a history of major depressive episodes, but not currently depressed, reported an even higher abstinence rate in the Guía-plus-mood management condition, compared to the Guía-only condition (31 vs. 11%, z = 1.8, p = .04, one-tailed). We conclude that the mood management mail intervention substantially increases abstinence rates, especially for those with a history of major depressive episodes.     

Differential Effects of Anxiety Sensitivity Components in the Relation Between Emotional Non-Acceptance and Post-traumatic Stress Symptoms Among Trauma-Exposed Treatment-Seeking Smokers

Anxiety sensitivity (AS), defined as the extent to which individuals believe anxiety and anxiety-related sensations have harmful consequences, may play an important explanatory role in the relation between emotional non-acceptance and the expression of traumatic stress symptoms among trauma-exposed smokers. This investigation examined whether lower-order dimensions of AS (cognitive, physical, and social concerns) differentially explain the relation between emotional non-acceptance and post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptom clusters (re-experiencing, avoidance, hyperarousal) among trauma-exposed daily smokers (N = 169, 46% female; M_age = 41, SD = 12.3). AS and its lower-order facets of cognitive and social concerns were found to mediate the relations between emotional non-acceptance and avoidance and hyperarousal PTS symptoms. Using a multiple mediation model, the mediational effect of AS cognitive concerns for the relation between emotional non-acceptance and post-traumatic avoidance symptoms was found to be uniquely evident relative to social and physical concerns. All observed AS effects were evident above and beyond the variance accounted for by gender, number of traumatic event exposure types, negative affectivity, number of cigarettes smoked per day, and alcohol use problems. The present findings suggest cognitive-based AS concerns may play a mechanistic role in the relation between emotional non-acceptance and certain PTS symptoms among trauma-exposed daily smokers.     

Predictors of Self-Reported Anxiety and Panic Symptoms: An Evaluation of Anxiety Sensitivity, Suffocation Fear, Heart-Focused Anxiety, and Breath-Holding Duration

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which anxiety-related individual difference variables predict anxious responding when individuals experience aversive bodily sensations. Thus, we explore several psychological and behavioral predictors of response to a single 25-sec inhalation of 20% carbon dioxide-enriched air in 70 nonclinical participants. Predictor variables included anxiety sensitivity, suffocation fear, heart-focused anxiety, and breath-holding duration. Multiple regression analyses indicated that only anxiety sensitivity significantly predicted postchallenge panic symptoms, whereas both anxiety sensitivity and suffocation fear predicted postchallenge anxiety. These data are in accord with current models of panic disorder that emphasize the role of fear of fear in producing heightened anxiety and panic symptoms and help clarify specific predictors of anxiety-related responding to biological challenge.     

Parent Training for Childhood Anxiety Disorders: The SPACE Program

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent disorders of childhood and adolescence. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety poses a challenge for clinicians as it requires active client participation, and many children either decline or do not adequately comply with treatment. In addition, even after treatment with CBT, up to 50% of children remain symptomatic, and many still meet diagnostic criteria. Parent-directed clinical work has been advocated as a potential enhancer of treatment outcomes, and exclusively parent-based interventions might replace child treatment when the child is reluctant. However, parent involvement has yet to be shown to significantly improve outcomes, relative to child-only therapy. Studies so far have focused mainly on including parents in children’s therapy, training parents as lay therapists, or teaching parenting skills. Parent training focused on parental behaviors specific to childhood anxiety, such as family accommodation, may be more effective. In this treatment development report we present the theoretical foundation, structure, and strategies of a novel parent-based intervention for childhood anxiety disorders. We will also present the results of an open trial of the treatment, with an emphasis on feasibility, acceptability, and initial outcomes. Participants in the trial were parents of 10 children, aged 9 to 13. Children had declined individual child treatment. Multiple excerpts from the treatment manual are included with the hope of “bringing the treatment to life” and conveying a rich sense of the therapeutic process. Parents participated in 10 weekly sessions. Significant improvement was reported in child anxiety and family accommodation as well as in the child’s motivation for individual treatment. No parents dropped out and satisfaction was high. The SPACE Program (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions) is a novel, manualized parent-based intervention that is feasible and acceptable and may be effective in improving childhood anxiety.     

Sensitivity for Treatment Effects of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders

The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) is a relatively new self-report questionnaire that measures DSM-defined anxiety disorders symptoms in children. The present study examined the treatment sensitivity of the SCARED. Eleven anxiety-disordered children aged 10 to 13 years received cognitive-behavioral treatment, an intervention that is generally known to be effective. Children completed the SCARED on three occasions: (1) 3 months before treatment (i.e., baseline), (2) at pretreatment, and (3) at posttreatment. Before and after treatment, scores on traditional childhood anxiety measures (i.e., State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children, Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale, and Fear Survey Schedule for Children) were also obtained. Results showed that children's SCARED scores remained relatively stable from baseline to pretreatment. However, from pre- to post-treatment, significant decreases were evident for the SCARED and for all traditional measures. These results suggest that the SCARED reliably taps treatment effects and, thus, provide further support for its utility as a self-report index of childhood anxiety in clinical and research settings.     

Comment on Holloway and McNally's (1987) "Effects of Anxiety Sensitivity on the Response to Hyperventilation"

Holloway and McNally (1987) found that normals with high scores on the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI), an instrument developed to assess beliefs regarding the adverse consequences of anxiety, reported more anxiety and more frequent and intense somatic sensations following hyperventilation than did normals with low scores on the ASI. They concluded that this result provides support for the construct validity of the ASI and thus for the construct of anxiety sensitivity. Nevertheless, we argue that (a) the developers of the ASI have conflated beliefs regarding the adverse consequences of anxiety with fear of these consequences, (b) the accumulated evidence for the construct validity of the ASI is weak, and (c) Holloway and McNally's design and analyses do not permit them to exclude the more parsimonious explanation that trait anxiety accounts for their findings. Implications for research on anxiety sensitivity are discussed.     

不同程度吸烟者内隐态度测量范式下的ERP研究

采用内隐联想测验的WIAT范式研究不同程度吸烟者的内隐态度,并用ERP技术探讨吸烟者相容与不相容任务的脑内时程变化。WIAT结果发现,只有程度深组对吸烟持明显消极态度。ERP结果表明,在不相容任务中程度深组诱发了比程度浅组更大的P2,说明程度深组对与积极相联的吸烟词早期注意增强。同时程度深组的不相容任务诱发了比相容任务更大的LPC,提示程度深组晚期对吸烟词有正性情绪加工。     

The Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Adolescents (UP-A) Adapted as a School-Based Anxiety and Depression Prevention Program: An Initial Cluster Randomized Wait-List-Controlled Trial

Anxiety and depression are common debilitating conditions that show high comorbidity rates in adolescence. The Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Adolescents (UP-A; Ehrenreich-May et al., 2018) is one of the few existing resources aimed at applying transdiagnostic treatment principles across the core dysfunctions implicated in the development of both anxiety and depression using a single protocol. This is the first known controlled study to examine the efficacy of the UP-A adapted as a nine-session universal preventive intervention program delivered in a school setting. A total of 151 students (mean age: 15.05) participated in this randomized wait-list-controlled trial conducted in Madrid, Spain. An unexpected decline in anxiety and depression levels from pre- to posttreatment and follow-up was found in both groups (p = .009, d = –0.22), and overall differences between conditions did not reach significance. Exploratory analyses of baseline emotional symptom severity as a potential predictor trended toward a significantly greater decrease in symptoms of depression for those with greater baseline emotional symptoms in the UP-A group compared to the wait-list-control group. Future trials with larger samples are justified to estimate the effect of the UP-A adapted as a selective prevention program for anxiety and depression.     

Predicting Response to an Internet-Delivered Parenting Program for Anxiety in Early Childhood

Previous research has identified factors related to outcome in child anxiety treatment and parent training programs for child behavior problems. However, it is unclear what factors predict outcomes in interventions delivered online to parents of young children at risk of anxiety. This study investigated predictors of child anxiety outcomes among 433 families with young children (3–6 years) who participated in a randomized controlled trial of Cool Little Kids Online, an eight-module early intervention program for child anxiety based on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Potential predictors included baseline demographic factors, child and parent mental health factors, and indicators of program use, including number of online modules completed and frequency of homework practice. Results showed that only access to a printer moderated intervention effectiveness. Printer access predicted lower child anxiety in the Cool Little Kids Online group, but had no effect on outcomes in the wait-list group. In both groups, higher levels of child anxiety symptoms, child-inhibited temperament, and poorer parent mental health at baseline predicted higher levels of child anxiety symptoms at 6-month follow-up. The amount of online program use was not related to improvements in child anxiety symptoms. However, parents who reported practicing the program skills more frequently showed greater reductions in child anxiety, and access to a printer was related to frequency of program skills practice. These findings provide empirical support for the important role of skills practice in online CBT interventions, and suggest that practicing program skills may be more important than completing the online modules.     

Psychometric properties of the State-Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety (STICSA): comparison to the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)

The State-Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety (STICSA; M. J. Ree, C. MacLeod, D. French, & V. Locke, 2000) was designed to assess cognitive and somatic symptoms of anxiety as they pertain to one's mood in the moment (state) and in general (trait). This study extended the previous psychometric findings to a clinical sample and validated the STICSA against a well-published measure of anxiety, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; C. D. Spielberger, 1983). Patients (N=567) at an anxiety disorders clinic were administered a battery of questionnaires. The results of confirmatory factor analyses (Bentler-Bonnett nonnormed fit index, comparative fit index, and Bollen fit index>.90; root-mean-square error of approximation<.05); convergent and discriminant validity analyses; and group comparisons supported the reliability and validity of the STICSA as a measure of state and trait cognitive and somatic anxiety. In addition, compared with the STAI (anxiety: rs/=.64), the STICSA was more strongly correlated with another measure of anxiety (rs>/=.67) and was less strongly correlated with a measure of depression (rs相似文献   

Usability and Utility of a Computerized Cognitive-Behavioral Self-Help Program for Public Speaking Anxiety

This study describes the use of a cognitive-behavioral computer-administered self-help program with minimal therapist contact for public speaking anxiety. Participants (N = 10) with social phobia, as measured by a structured clinical interview, completed the self-help program in an open clinical trial. The program was delivered via a CD-ROM during individual sessions at an outpatient clinic, including 4 sessions of psychoeducation/cognitive therapy and 4 sessions of exposure therapy using a virtual audience presented on a computer screen. A therapist was available in another room to answer questions and to debrief for up to 10 minutes after each session. Participants completed standardized self-report questionnaires assessing social anxiety at pretreatment, posttreatment, and 3-month follow-up. Participants also completed measures of computer usability. Results showed decreases on all self-report measures of social anxiety from pre- to posttreatment, which were maintained at follow-up (n = 8). Participants also reported that they were satisfied with treatment, that they felt improved after treatment, and that the computer program was user-friendly. This study provides preliminary evidence that a computer-administered cognitive-behavioral-based program that includes minimal therapist contact may reduce public speaking anxiety and suggests that further research with a controlled design is needed.     

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) for Primary School Teachers

Stress within the teaching profession has a negative impact on the health and well-being of individual teachers and on retention and recruitment for the profession as a whole. There is increasing literature to suggest that Mindfulness is a useful intervention to address a variety of psychological problems, and that Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a particularly helpful intervention for stress. We investigated the effects of teaching a MBSR course to primary school teachers to reduce stress. The MBSR course was taught to a group of primary school teachers and evaluated to establish its effects on levels of anxiety, depression, and stress, as well as movement towards a stated goal and changes in awareness. The results showed improvement for most participants for anxiety, depression, and stress, some of which were statistically significant. There were also significant improvements on two of the four dimensions of a mindfulness skills inventory. These results suggest that this approach could be a potentially cost-effective method to combat teacher stress and burnout.     

An Effective Career Development Program for Parents

This article is a comparative review of career development programs in Switzerland and the United States, with emphasis on the degree of parental involvement. Investigators visited schools and interviewed parents in both countries. This article offers ideas for improving the effectiveness of career development programs in the United States. Among the useful ideas from Switzerland are greater use of community resources such as departments of employment services, specific career training in schools, and school-based job placement programs.     

An Integrated Treatment Program for Psychogenic Pain

The family characteristics associated with the presence of recurrent abdominal pain are identified. The involvement on the pediatrician and the effects of this involvement on the patient, family, and perpetuation of the symptoms are described. A successful therapeutic program combining behavior modification and family therapy is elaborated. Changes in the structure and functioning of the family are vital to the outcome of therapy and the prevention of recurrence of symptoms.