Effectiveness of Web- and Mobile-Based Treatment of Subthreshold Depression With Adherence-Focused Guidance: A Single-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial

Evidence for the impact of psychological Interventions for subthreshold depression (sD) is conflicting. Moreover, human resources to deliver such treatments are limited. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a web-based intervention with adherence-focused guidance in the treatment of sD. Participants with sD (CES-D ≥ 16, no Major Depressive Disorder according to DSM-IV criteria, N = 204) recruited via a large health insurance were randomly allocated to a web-based mobile-supported cognitive-behavioral intervention or to a waitlist control condition with unrestricted access to usual care. The primary outcome was the reduction in depressive symptom severity as measured by blind diagnostic raters using the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS) at posttreatment. There was a statistically significant between-group difference in QIDS scores at posttreatment in favor of the intervention group, F(1, 201) = 11.31, p = .001, corresponding to a medium effect size of d = 0.37 (95% CI 0.09–0.64) and a NNT of 7 (95%–CI 3.7–41.2). Significant effects in favour of the intervention group were also found for secondary outcomes such as quality of life, anxiety, and insomnia severity. Web-based self-help interventions with adherence-focused guidance could be an acceptable and effective approach to reduce a range of negative consequences associated with subclinical depression.     

Reduced autobiographical memory specificity affects general distress through poor social support

ABSTRACT

Sharing specific autobiographical events is likely to influence the support people give us; a person who shares little detail of their lives may be unlikely to attract social support and this may in turn contribute towards anxious and depressive symptoms. Participants (N?=?142) reported memories evoked by negative and positive cue words and these memories were coded for whether or not they referred to a specific event lasting less than 24?h. At this time (T1) and one year later (T2), participants also completed the UCLA Life Stress Interview (LSI), which includes a measure of social support, and measures of depression and anxiety comprising a general distress latent construct. The tendency to recall fewer specific memories was associated with lower social support given by friends and romantic partners and this was in turn associated with elevated general distress at T2, even when accounting for T1 social support and general distress. Our findings contribute to the literature regarding the social function of memory and suggest another route via which reduced specificity contributes to emotional disorders.     

Unraveling the linguistic nature of specific autobiographical memories using a computerized classification algorithm

In the present study, we explored the linguistic nature of specific memories generated with the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) by developing a computerized classifier that distinguishes between specific and nonspecific memories. The AMT is regarded as one of the most important assessment tools to study memory dysfunctions (e.g., difficulty recalling the specific details of memories) in psychopathology. In Study 1, we utilized the Japanese corpus data of 12,400 cue-recalled memories tagged with observer-rated specificity. We extracted linguistic features of particular relevance to memory specificity, such as past tense, negation, and adverbial words and phrases pertaining to time and location. On the basis of these features, a support vector machine (SVM) was trained to classify the memories into specific and nonspecific categories, which achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of .92 in a performance test. In Study 2, the trained SVM was tested in terms of its robustness in classifying novel memories (n?= 8,478) that were retrieved in response to cue words that were different from those used in Study 1. The SVM showed an AUC of .89 in classifying the new memories. In Study 3, we extended the binary SVM to a five-class classification of the AMT, which achieved 64%–65% classification accuracy, against the chance level (20%) in the performance tests. Our data suggest that memory specificity can be identified with a relatively small number of words, capturing the universal linguistic features of memory specificity across memories in diverse contents.     

Visual properties and memorising scenes: Effects of image-space sparseness and uniformity

Previous studies have demonstrated that humans have a remarkable capacity to memorise a large number of scenes. The research on memorability has shown that memory performance can be predicted by the content of an image. We explored how remembering an image is affected by the image properties within the context of the reference set, including the extent to which it is different from its neighbours (image-space sparseness) and if it belongs to the same category as its neighbours (uniformity). We used a reference set of 2,048 scenes (64 categories), evaluated pairwise scene similarity using deep features from a pretrained convolutional neural network (CNN), and calculated the image-space sparseness and uniformity for each image. We ran three memory experiments, varying the memory workload with experiment length and colour/greyscale presentation. We measured the sensitivity and criterion value changes as a function of image-space sparseness and uniformity. Across all three experiments, we found separate effects of 1) sparseness on memory sensitivity, and 2) uniformity on the recognition criterion. People better remembered (and correctly rejected) images that were more separated from others. People tended to make more false alarms and fewer miss errors in images from categorically uniform portions of the image-space. We propose that both image-space properties affect human decisions when recognising images. Additionally, we found that colour presentation did not yield better memory performance over grayscale images.     

Scoring the DSM-IV personality disorders using the Five-Factor Model: development and validation of normative scores for North American, French, and Dutch-Flemish samples

Five-Factor Model (FFM) personality disorder (PD) counts have demonstrated significant convergent and discriminant validity with DSM-IV PD symptoms. However, these FFM PD counts are of limited clinical use without normative data because it is difficult to determine what a specific score means with regard to the relative level of elevation. The current study presents data from three large normative samples that can be used as norms for the FFM PD counts in the respective countries: United States (N = 1,000), France (N = 801), and Belgium-Netherlands (N = 549). The present study also examines the performance, with regard to diagnostic efficiency, of statistically-defined cut-offs at 1.5 standard deviations above the mean (T > or = 65) versus previously identified cut-offs using receiver-operator characteristics (ROC) analyses. These cut-offs are tested in three clinical samples-one from each of the aforementioned countries. In general, the T > or = 65 cut-offs performed similarly to those identified using ROC analyses and manifested properties relevant to a screening instrument. These normative data allow FFM data to be used in a flexible and comprehensive manner, which may include scoring this type of personality data in order to screen for DSM-IV PD constructs.     

Personality and personal network type

The association between personality and personal relationships is mostly studied within dyadic relationships. We examined these variables within the context of personal network types. We used Latent Class Analysis to identify groups of students with similar role relationships with three focal figures. We performed Latent Class Logistic Regression to explore the relationships of the latent classes with the Big Five personality factors. Personality was assessed with the Five Factor Personality Inventory. We found three personal network types: a primarily family oriented network, a primarily peer oriented network, and a mixed family/peer oriented network. We found significant associations between personality and personal network type. Extraverted students were more likely to have a primarily peer oriented network relative to a primarily family oriented network. Autonomous students were more likely to have a primarily family oriented network relative to a primarily peer oriented network. Autonomous students were also more likely to have a mixed family/peer oriented network relative to a primarily peer oriented network. Conscientious students were more likely to have a primarily family oriented network relative to a mixed family/peer oriented network.     

Psychosocial mediators of a lifestyle physical activity intervention in women

ObjectivesA lifestyle physical activity intervention in women based on the transtheoretical model and social–cognitive theory effectively increased physical activity. The aim of the present study was to examine possible mediators (perceived benefits and barriers of physical activity, self-efficacy, processes of change, and social support) of these physical activity changes.MethodsMembers of four units of a women's organization followed a six-month minimal-contact physical activity program. The intervention program included one group meeting, a self-help booklet and five monthly reminder letters. Members of two other units served as control group. Physical activity (accelerometer counts), and psychosocial constructs (self-report questionnaires) were assessed at baseline (pretest) and directly after the intervention (posttest). Women who completed all measurements (n = 101) were included in the mediation analyses.ResultsParticipants in the intervention group reported significantly greater increases in the use of behavioral processes from pretest to posttest than participants in the control group. None of the proposed psychosocial constructs showed a mediating effect on changes in physical activity.ConclusionsThe mechanisms proposed by the transtheoretical model and social–cognitive theory could not explain the positive effect of the intervention on physical activity. Identifying the working components of an intervention remains a challenging and necessary step in the development of effective low-cost and high-reach physical activity interventions.     

Individual versus collective responses to membership in a low-status group: the effects of stability and individual ability

To test predictions of social identity theory (SIT; M. A. Hogg & D. Abrams, 1988; H. Tajfel & J. C. Turner, 1979) and the 5-stage model (FSM; D. M. Taylor & D. J. McKirnan, 1984) concerning reactions to membership in a low-status group, the authors led 112 pupils to believe that another (anonymous) class outperformed their class. In an overall permeable and legitimate intergroup context, the authors manipulated the stability of the low group status and the individual ability of the group members. Contrary to SIT and FSM, the pupils generally favored collective normative action. Individual mobility was preferred only by group members, especially boys, with high individual ability who thought that the low status of their group was stable. The results support FSM assumptions (a) that individual ability is a powerful determinant of intergroup behavior but (b) that one should consider its impact in combination with perceived stability.     

The Janus face of power in intergroup contexts: a further exploration of the noblesse oblige effect

The authors examined the impact of power on in-group bias by manipulating group members' power over the in-group and power over the out-group as orthogonal factors. Each factor had 3 levels: 0%, 50%, and 100%. Participants were 216 male pupils (12-13 years old). Participants showed no in-group bias when they had 0% control over the in-group, strong in-group bias with 50% control, but less in-group bias with 100% control. Participants showed more in-group bias when they had 0% control over the out-group than when they had 50% or 100% control. The combination of these 2 main effects resulted in the noblesse oblige effect: Group members with complete control over both in-group and out-group expressed less in-group bias than did group members who shared control with an out-group.