App-guided exposure and response prevention for obsessive compulsive disorder: an open pilot trial

Although effective treatments for obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) exist, there are significant barriers to receiving evidence-based care. Mobile health applications (Apps) offer a promising way of overcoming these barriers by increasing access to treatment. The current study investigated the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of LiveOCDFree, an App designed to help OCD patients conduct exposure and response prevention (ERP). Twenty-one participants with mild to moderate symptoms of OCD were enrolled in a 12-week open trial of App-guided self-help ERP. Self-report assessments of OCD, depression, anxiety, and quality of life were completed at baseline, mid-treatment, and post-treatment. App-guided ERP was a feasible and acceptable self-help intervention for individuals with OCD, with high rates of retention and satisfaction. Participants reported significant improvement in OCD and anxiety symptoms pre- to post-treatment. Findings suggest that LiveOCDFree is a feasible and acceptable self-help intervention for OCD. Preliminary efficacy results are encouraging and point to the potential utility of mobile Apps in expanding the reach of existing empirically supported treatments.     

Parent-Led Exposure Therapy: A Pilot Study of a Brief Behavioral Treatment for Anxiety in Young Children

Despite prevalence rates as high as 9.4%, few studies have examined the applicability of cognitive-behavioral therapy for treatment of anxiety disorders in very young children (i.e., below the age of 7 years). The present study examined the preliminary efficacy of a parent-led exposure therapy protocol (PLET) designed for young children with anxiety disorders. Twenty-two youth aged 4–7 years and their parents participated in this pilot randomized control trial. Families of youth with significant anxiety concerns were randomized to either PLET (n?=?12), a 10 session/5-week family-based exposure therapy program designed to target anxiety in young children, or treatment as usual (TAU; n?=?10). Children in the PLET condition demonstrated a greater reduction in anxiety symptoms compared to TAU (d?=?3.18), with 90.91% of PLET participants (active condition) being classified as treatment responders at post-treatment as opposed to 0 in the TAU condition. Gains were maintained at 1 month-follow-up. Although pilot in nature, these data suggest in a preliminary fashion that a parent led exposure therapy protocol that is adapted appropriately for developmental age and incorporates an active coaching component for parents may be efficacious for the treatment of young children with anxiety disorders. This clinical trial was registered through clinicaltrials.gov under the following identifier: NCT02051192.     

Rapid learning of rapid temporal contexts

In an information-rich visual world and with limited attentional resources, what visual cues allow humans to efficiently navigate their environment? One key environmental characteristic is that stimuli rarely appear in isolation and typically coincide with other specific items that provide cues regarding where and when to guide our attention. Indeed, a predictive spatial context of distractors can enhance the deployment of attention to a target location (Chun &; Jiang, 1998). However, can a predictive, temporal sequence of distractors, which do not enter working memory, cue when to allocate attention? Previous studies addressing this question have employed relatively long (?500 msec/item) stimulus exposure durations. Thus, this temporal cuing may require extensive processing of the distractors. Here, we show that a rapidly presented (～100 msec/item), predictive, temporal context, where stimuli undergo only preliminary analysis, can facilitate the deployment of attention to a specific temporal location.     

The relationship between big five personality traits, negative affectivity, type A behavior, and work-family conflict

The relationships between negative affectivity, Type A, and the Big Five personality variables with both the form and direction of work-family conflict (WFC) were examined. The results demonstrated that different aspects of WFC related to different personality indicators. Negative affectivity was the dispositional variable studied that was most consistently related to the various types of conflict. Additionally, agreeableness related to time-based conflict and conscientiousness related to family interfering with work conflict. The results provide further support for the contention that dispositions relate to interactions between work and family.     

The Relation between Work-Family Conflict and Job Satisfaction: A Finer-Grained Analysis

The relation between work-family conflict (WFC) and job satisfaction was examined using a six-dimensional measure of WFC and both global and summed facet (i.e., composite) measures of job satisfaction. Data were gathered from 160 hospital employees who were married, living with a partner, or had at least one child or dependent living at home and worked a minimum of 20 h/week. The results indicated that WFC related significantly to both types of job satisfaction, but the relation was significantly stronger to composite job satisfaction than to global job satisfaction. When considering all three forms of conflict simultaneously (time-based, strain-based, and behavior-based), regression results revealed that behavior-based was the only form of conflict significantly related to job satisfaction. The results underscore the importance of considering both the form and direction of WFC and suggest several practical implications for organizations.     

Individual and Situational Factors Related to Young Women’s Likelihood of Confronting Sexism in Their Everyday Lives

Factors related to young women’s reported likelihood of confronting sexism were investigated. Participants were 338 U.S. female undergraduates (M?=?19 years) attending a California university. They were asked to complete questionnaire measures and to write a personal narrative about an experience with sexism. Approximately half (46%) the women reported confronting the perpetrator. Individual factors (prior experience with sexism, feminist identification, collective action) and situational factors (familiarity and status of perpetrator, type of sexism) were tested as predictors in a logistic regression. Women were less likely to report confronting sexism if (1) they did not identify as feminists, (2) the perpetrator was unfamiliar or high-status/familiar (vs. familiar/equal-status), or (3) the type of sexism involved unwanted sexual attention (vs. sexist comments).     

On some fundamental distinctions of computationalism

The following paper presents a characterization of three distinctions fundamental to computationalism, viz., the distinction between analog and digital machines, representation and nonrepresentation-using systems, and direct and indirect perceptual processes. Each distinction is shown to rest on nothing more than the methodological principles which justify the explanatory framework of the special sciences.     

Pilot Evaluation of a University-Based Training in Trauma-Informed Services for Gang Intervention Workers

The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the feasibility and efficacy of a course designed to bring trauma-informed practices into community-based intervention programming for gang-involved youth and families. There have been no formally evaluated trauma trainings for gang intervention workers to date. Thirty gang intervention workers completed a University-based course on trauma, which aimed to raise the level of knowledge regarding trauma exposure and its effects on youth, increase intervention workers’ confidence in their ability to identify and respond to posttraumatic stress reactions among clients, and build resilience among staff. Pre-post results revealed that participants significantly improved in their knowledge related to trauma and confidence in their ability to respond to trauma among clients. Participants also rated themselves significantly higher on these domains compared to gang intervention workers who did not take the course. Participants rated the course positively on dimensions that are associated with staff members’ willingness to implement evidence-based interventions following training. The findings indicate a number of important recommendations for supporting gang intervention workers and integrating trauma-informed practices into gang intervention services.