Factors associated with outcome of cognitive-behavioural treatment of chronic post-traumatic stress disorder

The study examined factors that were associated with outcome in the treatment of PTSD. A trial of cognitive therapy compared to imaginal exposure of chronic PTSD showed that although clinical improvements were obtained after treatment and at 6 month follow-up one type of treatment was not significantly superior to the other. Characteristics of the patient, the trauma and treatment and of pretreatment clinical measures were investigated as predictors of PTSD outcome. Eleven variables were significantly associated with the pre- to post-treatment change in CAPS severity scores. Of these, three (duration of therapy, gender and suicide risk) were selected into a step-wise multiple regression equation to explain 36.5% of the outcome. Similarly, nine variables were significant associated with the pretreatment to follow-up change with three variables (number of missed therapy sessions, residential status and co-morbid GAD) being selected into the equation and explaining 36.9% of the outcome. The best predictor of outcome was inconsistent attendance at therapy.     

Predicting negative spousal attitudes toward depressed persons: a test of Coyne's interpersonal model

The utility of Coyne's (1976a) interactional model in predicting negative spousal attitudes toward depressed patients was examined. Eighty-nine couples with at least 1 member in treatment for depression were selected on the basis of semistructured diagnostic interviews. Overall, spouses living with a depressed patient reported significantly more distress than population norms. Consistent with prediction, patients' reassurance seeking and spouses' mood contributed to negative spousal attitudes. Additional analyses demonstrated that these effects persisted even after controlling for spouse marital adjustment, suggesting that negative spousal attitudes were more than a simple reflection of marital maladjustment.     

Implicit memory bias for threat-relevant information in individuals with generalized social phobia

The authors used a noise judgment task to investigate implicit memory bias for threat in individuals with generalized social phobia (GSP). Participants first heard neutral sentences (e.g., "The manual tells you how to set up the tent.") and social-threat sentences (e.g., "The classmate asks you to go for drinks."). Implicit memory for these sentences was then tested by asking participants to rate the volume of noise accompanying the presentation of these "old" sentences intermixed with "new" sentences that had not been previously presented. Implicit memory for old sentences is revealed when participants rate the noise accompanying old sentences as less loud than the noise accompanying new sentences. Those with GSP demonstrated an implicit memory bias for social-threat sentences, whereas controls did not. This differential priming effect suggests that information about threat may be automatically accessed in GSP.     

Where's the ball? Two- and three-year-olds reason about unseen events

Children 2, 2 1/2, and 3 years of age engaged in a search task in which they opened 1 of 4 doors in an occluder to retrieve a ball that had been rolled behind the occluder. The correct door was determined by a partially visible wall placed behind the occluder that stopped the motion of the unseen ball. Only the oldest group of children was able to reliably choose the correct door. All children were able to retrieve a toy that had been hidden in the same apparatus if the toy was hidden from the front by opening a door. Analysis of the younger children's errors indicated that they did not search randomly but instead used a variety of strategies. The results are consistent with the Piagetian view that the ability to use representations to guide action develops slowly over the first years of life.     

Parent coping styles and schizophrenic patient behavior as predictors of expressed emotion

Several studies have examined relationships between levels of expressed emotion in relatives of individuals with schizophrenia and the coping strategies these relatives employ. In an attempt to elucidate these relationships, 44 parents were assessed using the Camberwell Family Interview and the Strategic Approach to Coping Scale. Associations between these measures were examined. Additionally, interactions between parent coping style and patient aggression were assessed with respect to expressed emotion. The results indicate that scores on the coping scale generally were not directly related to levels of expressed emotion. However, an interaction was found between parent coping style and patient behavior which predicted level of expressed emotion. This finding supports the idea that research into the variables underlying expressed emotion should include the assessment of both parent and patient characteristics and examine the interactions between these variables.     

"Factor analyses of the family assessment device," by Ridenour, Daley, & Reich

Ridenour, Daley, and Reich conducted a series of factor analyses using the correlational matrix of the subscale scores of the Family Assessment Device (FAD), published in Family Process, December, 1999. They conclude that "the FAD subscales be reorganized from their current seven-subscale format" (p. 507). We propose that this suggestion for reorganization is premature and based on the inappropriate application of an "internal consistency" model of scale construction to the FAD. We further suggest that the most important criteria regarding an assessment instrument are those of reliability, validity, and clinical utility. In the absence of this kind of data regarding alternative organizations of the FAD, we believe that the original subscales remain the best choice.     

Evaluating gene x psychological risk factor effects in the pathogenesis of anxiety: a new model approach

The present study evaluated the singular and interactive effects of a functional polymorphism (variation) in the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene and a psychological trait (anxiety sensitivity [AS], i.e., fear of arousal symptoms) in predicting subjective and physiological responses to a 35% carbon dioxide (CO2) challenge in a community sample (N = 72). Genotypes were divided into 2 groups in accord with prior research. Findings were partially supportive of the hypothesized risk model. These indicated that the Group L genotype (homozygous for the 1 allele), compared with the Group S genotype (homozygous for the s allele plus heterozygous individuals), predicted greater fearful response to the biological challenge. There was also an AS x Genotype interaction predicting heart rate variability (HRV) in response to the CO2, suggesting that high AS plus Group L status predicts decreased HRV.     

Postattentive vision

Much research has examined preattentive vision: visual representation prior to the arrival of attention. Most vision research concerns attended visual stimuli; very little research has considered postattentive vision. What is the visual representation of a previously attended object once attention is deployed elsewhere? The authors argue that perceptual effects of attention vanish once attention is redeployed. Experiments 1-6 were visual search studies. In standard search, participants looked for a target item among distractor items. On each trial, a new search display was presented. These tasks were compared to repeated search tasks in which the search display was not changed. On successive trials, participants searched the same display for new targets. Results showed that if search was inefficient when participants searched a display the first time, it was inefficient when the same, unchanging display was searched the second, fifth, or 350th time. Experiments 7 and 8 made a similar point with a curve tracing paradigm. The results have implications for an understanding of scene perception, change detection, and the relationship of vision to memory.     

Perceiving circular heading in noncanonical flow fields

Five experiments examined circular heading perception with optical flows that departed from the canonical form. Noncanonicity was achieved through nonrigidity of the environment (Experiments 1 and 2), oscillations of the point of observation (Experiment 3), and the bending of light (Experiments 4 and 5). In Experiments 1 and 2, perception was impaired more by nonrigidity of the ground plane than by nonrigidity of the medium. In Experiment 3, perception was unimpaired by noncanonical flows induced by the bounce and sway of observer locomotion. In Experiments 4 and 5, perception was not impaired when light paths were distorted by a spherical projection, but perception was impaired when they were distorted by a sine function. Results are discussed in relation to the hypothesis that the information for perceiving heading is the ordinal pattern of optical flow.     

Cross-modal source monitoring confusions between perceived and imagined events

Two experiments tested the prediction based on the source monitoring framework that imagination is most likely to lead to false memories when related perceived events have occurred. Consistent with this, people were more likely to falsely remember seeing events when the events had been both imagined as seen and actually heard than when they were just heard, just visually imagined, or imagined both visually and auditorily. Furthermore, when people considered potential sources for memories or more carefully evaluated features of remembered events, source errors were reduced. On average, misattributed ("false") memories differed in phenomenal qualities from true memories. Taken together, these findings show that as different qualities of mental experience flexibly enter into source attributions, qualities derived from related perceptual events are particularly likely to lead to false claims that imagined events were seen, even when the event involves a primary modality (auditory) different from the target event (visual).