A Couple-Based Psychological Treatment for Chronic Pain and Relationship Distress

Chronic pain impacts individuals with pain as well as their loved ones. Yet, there has been little attention to the social context in individual psychological treatment approaches to chronic pain management. With this need in mind, we developed a couple-based treatment, “Mindful Living and Relating,” aimed at alleviating pain and suffering by promoting couples’ psychological and relational flexibility skills. Currently, there is no integrative treatment that fully harnesses the power of the couple, treating both the individual with chronic pain and the spouse as two individuals who are each in need of developing greater psychological and relational flexibility to improve their own and their partners’ health. Mindfulness, acceptance, and values-based action exercises were used to promote psychological flexibility. The intervention also targets relational flexibility, which we define as the ability to interact with one’s partner, fully attending to the present moment, and responding empathically in a way that serves one’s own and one’s partner’s values. To this end, the intervention also included exercises aimed at applying psychological flexibility skills to social interactions as well as emotional disclosure and empathic responding exercises to enhance relational flexibility. The case presented demonstrates that healthy coping with pain and stress may be most successful and sustainable when one is involved in a supportive relationship with someone who also practices psychological flexibility skills and when both partners use relational flexibility skills during their interactions.     

Preliminary psychometric properties of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II: a revised measure of psychological inflexibility and experiential avoidance

The present research describes the development and psychometric evaluation of a second version of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-II), which assesses the construct referred to as, variously, acceptance, experiential avoidance, and psychological inflexibility. Results from 2,816 participants across six samples indicate the satisfactory structure, reliability, and validity of this measure. For example, the mean alpha coefficient is .84 (.78–.88), and the 3- and 12-month test–retest reliability is .81 and .79, respectively. Results indicate that AAQ-II scores concurrently, longitudinally, and incrementally predict a range of outcomes, from mental health to work absence rates, that are consistent with its underlying theory. The AAQ-II also demonstrates appropriate discriminant validity. The AAQ-II appears to measure the same concept as the AAQ-I (r = .97) but with better psychometric consistency.     

Traumatic Exposure and Psychological Well-Being: The Moderating Role of Cognitive Flexibility

This study examined the moderating role of cognitive flexibility between earthquake exposure and psychological well-being. The participants were 491 adolescents from three middle schools in Sichuan. Multivariable, hierarchical linear regressions were used to analyze the data. The findings showed that there were significant differences in psychological well-being for the dimension of relocation of school (T = ?3.09, p < 0.01), damage to property (F = 2.73, p < 0.05) and damage to school (F = 5.76, p < 0.01). Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that cognitive flexibility moderated the relation between being hurt during the earthquake and psychological well-being (B = 1.01, SE = 0.31, T = 3.22, p < 0.01).     

直肠癌保肛术后患者心理灵活性的现象学研究

对15例直肠癌保肛术后患者进行半结构式访谈,运用现象学方法进行资料分析与提炼,以深入了解直肠癌保肛术后患者的心理灵活性现状,探索影响心理灵活性的因素。研究发现直肠癌保肛术后患者心理灵活性的影响因素可归纳为知识缺乏、价值感降低、情绪痛苦、生活方式改变和社会支持五个方面。医护人员应借鉴和发展有针对性的干预措施,不仅能为患者提供照护,更能与患者共同管理疾病和帮助患者发展适应性能力,最终提高患者的心理灵活性,减轻心理应激。     

Comparing implementation intention interventions in relation to young adults’ intake of fruit and vegetables

This study tests whether the effectiveness of implementation intention-based interventions to increase fruit and vegetable intake in a young adult population can be enhanced using additional pre-intervention instructions and alternative formats; namely, an ‘if-then’ implementation intention versus a more general, ‘global’ plan that does not explicitly link a situational cue with a goal-directed response. Participants (N?=?557) completed pre-test measures of planning, motivation and behaviour with respect to increasing their fruit and vegetable intake before being randomised to a 3 (intervention format: control vs. ‘if-then’ vs. ‘global’ implementation intentions)?×?2 (pre-intervention instruction vs. no pre-intervention instruction) between-participants design. Results revealed a significant intervention format by time interaction, such that intake significantly increased by 0.50 portions in the if-then format condition compared with 0.31 in the global format and 0.01 in the control condition. These results suggest that ‘if-then’ manipulations are superior in promoting behaviour change in an applied setting. The use of pre-intervention instructions had no additional effect on behaviour, providing evidence for the efficacy of implementation intentions even when experimenter demand is reduced. Evidence is also presented to suggest that reported increases in intake are not related to demand characteristics.     

The Moderating Effect of Cognitive Flexibility in the Relationship Between Work Stress and Psychological Symptoms in Korean Air Force Pilots

Stress is closely associated with not only physical illness but also with indices of psychological maladjustment. However, such negative mental health outcomes may vary depending on the individual’s cognitive style, or perception of stress. Air force pilots are particularly vulnerable to experience a high degree of stress as they are required to conduct missions while simultaneously monitoring for safety in complex and uncertain flight situations. It can thus be posited that appropriate use of cognitive stress management strategies is one of the crucial competency requirements for pilots. As such, the present study examined the effects of stress on psychological symptoms of Korean Air Force pilots and further investigated the moderating role of cognitive flexibility in this relationship. A total of 192 air force pilots participated in the present study. The results indicated that degree of stress was positively correlated with indices of psychological maladjustment, while cognitive flexibility was negatively associated with psychological symptoms. Furthermore, cognitive flexibility demonstrated a significant moderating effect on the relationship between stress and psychological symptoms. Such results suggest that cognitive flexibility may serve as a protective factor in the potential effects of stress on psychological adjustment. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Bridging the intention–behaviour gap: Planning,self-efficacy,and action control in the adoption and maintenance of physical exercise

Although some people may develop an intention to change their health behaviour, they might not take any action. This discrepancy has been labelled the “intention–behaviour gap.” Detailed action planning, perceived self-efficacy, and self-regulatory strategies (action control) may mediate between intentions and behaviour. This was examined in a longitudinal sample of 307 cardiac rehabilitation patients who were encouraged to adopt or maintain regular exercise. At the first time point, the predictors of intention and intention itself were assessed. Two months and four months later, the mediators and outcomes were measured. Results confirmed that all the three factors (planning, maintenance self-efficacy, and action control) served to mediate between earlier exercise intentions and later physical activity, each of them making a unique contribution. The results have implications for research on the “intention–behaviour gap,” and indicate that planning, maintenance self-efficacy and action control may be important volitional variables.     

脑功能可塑性与灾后心理功能康复

神经系统具有惊人的可塑性,这种可塑性可以终生保留。大脑不仅可因个体的经验与行为而改变,也可因内在思维、放松和注意的不同而发生改变。如汶川地震这样的大型自然灾害,因其突发性和巨变性,可使身临其境的人大脑功能状态在瞬间就发生持久的改变,从而表现为认知、情感等心理功能的改变。反过来,利用有关神经可塑性的认识,同样可使受损的大脑得以修复,使发育障碍的个体增强功能,亦可使由各种内外因素导致的心灵扭曲重新舒展开来。利用放松、修复、重建的3R脑功能重塑技术,可望解决包括地震灾后心理健康重建在内的各种神经和心理问题,具有广泛的应用前景     

心理干预的优先获益者——来自发展可塑性的研究证据

近些年, 发展可塑性领域出现两个新模型--差别易感性模型和优势敏感性模型, 两个模型均表明个体从积极环境中的获益具有差异性。而心理干预作为一种特殊的积极环境被引入到该领域的研究中。已有的研究已经发现一些证据表明, 具备某些特征的当事人从心理干预中获益更多。这些特征包括人格和气质类、遗传类和生理类。本质上, 这些研究在处理“什么对谁最有效”的问题, 但现有研究仅能部分回答这个问题。因此, 心理干预的效果差异有多少可归于这些易感特征, 是有待继续回答的问题。