Ambulante Psychotherapie in Deutschland aus Sicht der Patienten

This study analyzed the provision of outpatient psychotherapy services in Germany in typical practice settings. In a representative survey (from June 2008 to September 2009) 1,212 subjects who received outpatient psychotherapy during the past 6 years were questioned about their experiences with outpatient psychotherapy via telephone interviews. Socio-economic data, reasons for seeking treatment, access paths, financial resources and psychosocial support data were collected. Therapeutic settings and modalities and concomitant medication treatment are described. The findings illustrate the problem of multiple psychiatric morbidity in the clinical practice and confirm the urgent need for patient access to professional psychotherapeutic services. Improving access to these services requires close cooperation between care providers.     

Personality features and cognitive level in patients at an early stage of Alzheimer’s disease

In this cross-sectional study, we explored the relationship between premorbid personality and its changes over 5 years, and cognitive deterioration in patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease. The cognitive level of 54 patients was compared with that of 64 control subjects using the Mini Mental State (MMSE). Family members completed the NEO-PI-R (form R) twice, once to evaluate the participants’ current personality and again to assess personality traits as they were remembered to be 5 years earlier. Furthermore, the family filled in the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline (IQCODE), the Activities of Daily Living (ADL), and the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) scales to assess their proxies’ cognitive level and daily living functioning. Regarding the relationship between personality characteristics and cognitive status, we observed trends for premorbid personality and significant links for personality changes in the clinical group. Thus, changes in neuroticism and conscientiousness were associated with cognitive deterioration, whereas decreased openness to experience and conscientiousness over time predicted loss of independence in daily functioning in the clinical group. Our study suggests that premorbid features can be considered as latent traits linked to the neuropathology underlying the disease process, while personality changes are probably the consequences of the pathological process.     

Individual strategy preferences and decisional fit

The present research introduces the concept of decisional fit. A decision maker experiences decisional fit when the individually preferred decision strategy fits the actually applied strategy. In accordance to other fit‐concepts in psychology (e.g., person–environment fit), we expected positive effects of decisional fit. Five studies examine the effects of a fit between the individual preference for intuition and deliberation (PID) and the actually used decision strategy (intuition or deliberation). A comparison of extreme types (according to participants' values on the PID scale) revealed that decisional fit enhances the perceived value of the chosen or evaluated object (Studies 1–3). In Studies 4 and 5, participants experienced less regret after decisional fit. The findings highlight the importance of considering individual differences when comparing intuitive and deliberate decision making, because strategy preferences interact with applied strategies. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

From Online Dating to Online Divorce: An Overview of Couple and Family Relationships Shaped Through Digital Media

From the very early stages of initiating relationships to types of post-break-up behaviors, the internet has the potential to play an influential role in all areas of family and particularly couple relationships. This paper examines how ICTs (“information and communication technology”) can shape such relationships. The impact on the various stages of relationships is systematized (relationship development, couple and family formation, separation) with a special focus on intergenerational opportunities and conflicts associated with modern media usage. Against the background of psychological and media communication theories and psychotherapeutic approaches as well as empirical findings the following topics are considered: (1) Initiation of relationships through ICTs (e.g. meet new partners through online dating); (2) Impact of digital media on relationship development and existing partnerships (e.g. new opportunities and internet-related challenges that have to be faced by couples) (3) Influence of ICTs on separations (e.g. online mediation, getting divorced online). In summary, the role of ICTs in new, existing and separated partnerships and families is multifaceted. An outlook on further developments as well as research desiderata is given.     

Nonlinear associations between job insecurity and adaptive performance: The mediating role of negative affect and negative work reflection

This study aimed at investigating the association between employee-rated job insecurity and supervisor-rated adaptive performance. We hypothesized a nonlinear association between job insecurity and adaptive performance, expecting negative affect and negative work reflections to mediate this relationship. Using a sample of 131 employee–supervisor dyads, path analysis revealed a curvilinear relation between job insecurity and supervisor-rated adaptive performance, indicating medium job insecurity being linked to the lowest adaptive performance. Bootstrapping confirmed that negative affect and negative work reflection both mediated the nonlinear association between job insecurity and adaptive performance. After a time lag of 16 weeks, 71 supervisors again rated their employees’ adaptive performance. Path analysis confirmed a nonlinear association between employees’ job insecurity (T1) and supervisor-rated adaptive performance (T2). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

The relationship between suppression and subsequent intrusions: the mediating role of peritraumatic dissociation and anxiety

Background and objectives: Although previous studies showed that thought and emotion suppression represent risk factors for intrusions development, the mechanisms that explain these relations were less explored. This study aims to examine the relationships between thought and emotion suppression and the symptoms of intrusion following the exposure to a trauma-related event. Moreover, we explored if these relationships would be mediated by peritraumatic state dissociation and state anxiety.

Design and methods: The trauma film paradigm was used and the participants were students (N?=?148) experimentally exposed to an aversive film to model a traumatic experience. Thought and emotion suppression were measured before the trauma exposure. After exposure, the participants completed scales for measuring state dissociation and state anxiety. Intrusive images and thoughts of the film were recorded in the subsequent week using an intrusion diary.

Results: Thought suppression predicted intrusive thoughts frequency, and this effect was mediated by the peritraumatic anxiety. State anxiety predicted both intrusive images and thoughts, while state dissociation only predicted intrusive images.

Conclusions: Intrusive images and intrusive thoughts are different phenomena and they are predicted by different variables. The practical implications of these results for posttraumatic stress disorder treatment and secondary traumatization are discussed.     

The differential role of premotor frontal cortex and basal ganglia in motor sequence learning: evidence from focal basal ganglia lesions

There has been a growing interest in the differential role of various neural structures in implicit learning processes. The goal of our study was to clarify how focal lesions restricted to the basal ganglia interfere with different aspects of implicit visuo-motor sequence learning. A version of the Serial Reaction Time Task (SRTT) of Nissen and Bullemer using a 12-trial sequence was administered. A total of 20 subjects with focal basal ganglia lesions caused by ischemic or hemorrhagic infarction and 20 matched control subjects participated in this study. The results indicate that subjects with focal basal ganglia lesions showed unimpaired implicit learning of a 12-item motor sequence. Subjects with basal ganglia lesions, however, had more difficulties improving their general proficiency with the reaction-time task independent of sequence-specific learning. We observed a tendency toward smaller regional volumes in the cerebellum and left pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) of subjects with basal ganglia lesions. Smaller cerebellar and pre-SMA volumes were related to lower implicit learning performance in the lesion group. The size of lesions in the basal ganglia was not related to sequence-specific implicit learning but had a significant influence on subjects' general proficiency for execution of the reaction-time task. We propose that implicit learning is achieved by a distributed network of cortical and subcortical structures. The basal ganglia seem to be responsible for adjusting to the general requirements of a task rather than for learning specific associations between stimuli that might be accomplished by premotor frontal areas and the cerebellum instead.     

Warmth and contingency and their relationship to maternal attitudes toward parenting

In this study, the authors addressed the question of whether maternal parenting behaviors in terms of sensitivity, warmth, and contingency with respect to small infants were equally represented in attitudes toward parenting. Sixty mothers from central Germany with middle-class socioeconomic backgrounds were videotaped with their 1st born 3-month-old infant in a free-play and a caregiving episode in their home. The different maternal parenting components were behaviorally analyzed. Maternal attitudes toward parenting were assessed with self-report measures. The results showed that behavioral sensitivity was significantly associated with attitudes related to contingency, whereas behavioral warmth and contingency were not associated with maternal attitudes. The authors interpreted differential associations as a reflection of intuitive and explicit parenting strategies, with only sensitivity being explicitly represented.