Common and Specific Dimensions of Self-Reported Anxiety and Depression in Adolescent Outpatients

To investigate the common and specific dimensions of anxiety and depression in adolescents, the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI; Beck, A. T., & Steer, R. A. Manual for the Beck Anxiety Inventory. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation 1993a) and Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. Manual for Beck Depression Inventory (2nd Ed.). San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation 1996) were administered to 840 adolescent (13–17 years old) outpatients who were diagnosed with various types of psychiatric disorders. A Schmid-Leiman transformation was used with the iterated-principal-factor pattern matrix of the BAI and the BDI-II loadings. The amounts of orthogonalized common variance that were explained by the one second-order (56%), one first-order depression (22%), and two first-order anxiety (22%) dimensions were comparable to those previously reported for adult psychiatric outpatients. The results were discussed as supporting the construct of negative affectivity that is proposed in L. A. Clark and Watson’s (1991) tripartite model of anxiety and depression.

Principle‐Based Integrative Therapy with Couples: Theory and a Case Example

The Principle‐Based Integrative Therapy (PBIT) framework harnesses the principles of change underlying each theoretical model within integrative couple therapy treatments. PBIT has commonalities with other integrative approaches, and additional advantages stemming from its four tenets that guide therapists in combining strengths across models and overcoming each of their deficiencies. Tenet 1 advises that each model adds a core principle or mechanism of action that other models do not automatically address. Tenet 2 focuses on how techniques of one model may actualize the principles of other models. Tenet 3 ensures complementarity and a lack of conflict across principles. A case study and common case considerations are presented to illustrate how Tenets 1–3 can work in integrating Cognitive‐Behavioral, Multicultural, and Emotionally Focused Therapy models in working with a couple. Finally, Tenet 4 advocates for the use of models and empirically supported principles that also have received empirical support with diverse populations. Prerequisites and training implications for PBIT, and future clinical and research directions to further the utility of PBIT are discussed.     

Recognizing intentions in infant-directed speech: evidence for universals

In all languages studied to date, distinct prosodic contours characterize different intention categories of infant-directed (ID) speech. This vocal behavior likely exists universally as a species-typical trait, but little research has examined whether listeners can accurately recognize intentions in ID speech using only vocal cues, without access to semantic information. We recorded native-English-speaking mothers producing four intention categories of utterances (prohibition, approval, comfort, and attention) as both ID and adult-directed (AD) speech, and we then presented the utterances to Shuar adults (South American hunter-horticulturalists). Shuar subjects were able to reliably distinguish ID from AD speech and were able to reliably recognize the intention categories in both types of speech, although performance was significantly better with ID speech. This is the first demonstration that adult listeners in an indigenous, nonindustrialized, and nonliterate culture can accurately infer intentions from both ID speech and AD speech in a language they do not speak.     

Stereotypes help people connect with others in the community: a situated functional analysis of the stereotype consistency bias in communication

Communicators tend to share more stereotype-consistent than stereotype-inconsistent information. The authors propose and test a situated functional model of this stereotype consistency bias: stereotype-consistent and inconsistent information differentially serve 2 central functions of communication--sharing information and regulating relationships; depending on the communication context, information seen to serve these different functions better is more likely communicated. Results showed that stereotype-consistent information is perceived as more socially connective but less informative than inconsistent information, and when the stereotype is perceived to be highly shared in the community, more stereotype-consistent than inconsistent information is communicated due to its greater social connectivity function. These results highlight the need to examine communication as a dynamic and situated social activity.     

Projection of responsiveness to needs and the construction of satisfying communal relationships

This research tested a social projection model of perceived partner responsiveness to needs. According to this model, people project their own care and supportiveness for a partner onto their perceptions of their partner's caring and supportiveness. In 2 dyadic marriage studies, participants' self-reported responsiveness to the needs of a spouse predicted perceptions of the spouse's responsiveness to the self more strongly than did the spouse's self-reported responsiveness. These projected perceptions of responsiveness, in turn, appeared to promote perceivers' relationship satisfaction. These effects were independent of individual differences in attachment, self-esteem, depression, and communal orientation. A daily-diary component suggested that people projected their own chronic responsiveness as well as their daily enacted support onto perceptions of the specific benefits received from their spouses. A 3rd study found that experimentally manipulated feelings of difficulty in recalling examples of own support provision reduced perceptions of partner responsiveness. Results suggest that projection of own responsiveness is an important determinant of perceived social support and is a means by which caring perceivers maintain satisfying and subjectively communal relationships.     

Belief disconfirmation versus habituation approaches to situational exposure in panic disorder with agoraphobia: a pilot study

Exposure therapy and cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) are both effective in the treatment of panic disorder with agoraphobia. Cognitive theories suggest that the way in which exposure to avoided situations is implemented in either treatment may be crucial. In particular, it is suggested that clinical improvement will be greatest if opportunities for disconfirmation of feared catastrophes are maximized. In a small pilot study, 16 patients with panic disorder and (moderate or severe) agoraphobia were randomly allocated to either habituation based exposure therapy (HBET) or exposure planned as a belief disconfirmation strategy and accompanied by dropping of safety-seeking behaviours. Both treatments were brief (total of 3.25 h of exposure) and were similar in terms of expectancy of change. Patients in the CBT condition showed significantly greater improvements in self-report measures of anxiety, panic and situational avoidance. They also completed significantly more steps in a standardized behavioural walk, during which they experienced significantly less anxiety. The controlled effect sizes for CBT were substantial (range 1.7-2.7), which suggests it may be a particularly efficient way of managing therapeutic exposure to feared situations in panic disorder with agoraphobia. Further research is needed to clarify the mechanism of change involved.     

The Role of Religiosity on Postsecondary Degree Attainment

Although previous researchers found that several individual, family, and school characteristics influenced adolescents' academic performance, religion‐related factors have not typically been considered for models of bachelor's degree attainment. Using longitudinal data in a national database, the authors examined the relationship between high school students' religiosity and bachelor's degree attainment. The results indicate that high school students' religiosity was significantly related to bachelor's degree attainment when other variables (i.e., locus of control, self‐concept, parental involvement, and prior academic performance) were controlled for.     

An open trial of cognitive therapy for chronic insomnia

We describe the development of a cognitive therapy intervention for chronic insomnia. The therapy is based on a cognitive model which suggests that the processes that maintain insomnia include: (1) worry and rumination, (2) attentional bias and monitoring for sleep-related threat, (3) unhelpful beliefs about sleep, (4) misperception of sleep and daytime deficits and (5) the use of safety behaviors that maintain unhelpful beliefs. The aim of cognitive therapy for insomnia is to reverse all five maintaining processes during both the night and the day. In an open trial 19 patients meeting diagnostic criteria for primary insomnia were treated with cognitive therapy for insomnia. Assessments were completed pretreatment, posttreatment and at 3-, 6- and 12-month followup. The significant improvement in both nighttime and daytime impairment evident at the posttreatment assessment was retained up to the 12 month followup.