Influence of co-morbid generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder and personality disorders on the outcome of cognitive behavioural treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder

This study examined co-morbid generalized anxiety disorder and/or panic disorder and personality disorders as predictors of treatment outcomes in adult outpatients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. The patients received exposure with response prevention (ERP) treatment with the addition of either elements of cognitive therapy (ERP+CT) or relaxation training (ERP+REL). It was hypothesized that the addition of cognitive interventions would yield better treatment outcomes for patients with co-morbid generalized anxiety disorder and/or panic disorder. It was also hypothesized that patients with any personality disorder would show less treatment gains in both conditions. Using intention-to-treat criteria, patients with generalized anxiety disorder and/or panic disorder co-morbidity showed less treatment gains at post-treatment across both treatment conditions. This group showed significantly more treatment gains in the ERP+CT condition at the post-treatment and the 12-month follow-up assessments compared with patients in the ERP+REL condition. However, this was not significant when comparing treatment completers. Patients with a co-morbid Cluster A or B personality disorder showed significantly less treatment gains in both treatment conditions at the 12-month follow-up assessment. Among treatment completers, patients with a Cluster C personality disorder showed significantly better outcomes at the post-treatment assessment in the ERP+REL treatment condition. These results, clinical implications, and the importance of further investigations are discussed.     

Mortality salience and religion: divergent effects on the defense of cultural worldviews for the religious and the non‐religious

Religious and non‐religious individuals differ in their core beliefs. The religious endorse a supernatural, divinely inspired view of the world, while the non‐religious hold largely secular worldviews. As a result they may respond differently to existential threats. Three studies confirmed this prediction. After a mortality salience (MS) or control prime, Canadian participants read, and responded to, an essay hostile to Western civilization, allegedly written by a radical Muslim student. Results indicated that the non‐religious reliably showed the conventional cultural worldview defense by devaluating the content of the message and decreasing support for the civil rights of anti‐Western individuals when death was salient. No such effect was found for the religious. Religious and non‐religious participants did not differ in self‐esteem levels or in death‐thought accessibility. These results suggest that a religious stance among believers plays a defensive role against the awareness of death. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Self‐Awareness Revisited: Reconsidering a Core Value of the Counseling Profession

The construct of self‐awareness is highly valued by the counseling profession. However, the foundational assumptions that support this construct have not been systemically examined and critiqued. The author provides an overview of self‐awareness in light of humanistic, psychoanalytic, and postmodernist ideologies. The author concludes that the construct of self‐awareness should be replaced by self‐storying. Implications of self‐storying for counseling practice are discussed.     

Antecedents for achievement of alignment in organizations

This study investigated potential antecedents of the alignment of organizational subunits' processes and goals with the organization's primary goals and therefore with each other. Alignment data of 329 aggregated subunits (7,359 employees), organization‐wide, of a large US manufacturing company were examined. Managerial effectiveness, communication about goals and objectives, and employee enhancement positively related with alignment at a group or subunit level. Alignment, in‐turn, positively related with company satisfaction at an individual level. Moreover, 95% of the variation in satisfaction across subunits could be explained by alignment and its antecedents.     

The application of Memory‐Work in consumer research

• Memory‐Work is by origin a feminist, social constructionist method devoted to the investigation of socially constructed and culturally embedded phenomena. In this paper, Memory‐Work is presented to consumer research in order to (1) widen the methodological scope of interpretive consumer research and thus advance new insights, (2) present a method well known to other scientific fields that may supplement micro‐social studies of consumer's practices with more macro‐cultural insights, and finally (3) to illustrate the application of the general method to the study of consumer behaviour. Apart from a few notable exceptions, Memory‐Work has not yet been applied to consumer research and its benefits for this kind of research have not been discussed. This paper seeks to fill this gap, by illustrating how consumer research may apply and benefit from Memory‐Work.

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Psychoanalysis and Humanism: A Review and Critical Examination of Integrationist Efforts With Some Proposed Resolutions

Psychoanalysis and psychological humanism are theories that provide ways of understanding the psychotherapeutic process. These orientations have somewhat incompatible assumptions, thereby making integration difficult. Efforts at theoretical integration of psychoanalysis and humanism are critically reviewed along the lines of F. Pine's (1990) 4 psychologies of psychoanalysis. The author concludes that psychoanalysis and humanism have certain compatible features, but that they generally represent opposing vantage points in the study of subjectivity. Each orientation is grounded in a particular epistemic value system that dictates the way knowledge about others should be acquired. Recommendations for integrating these orientations in the psychotherapeutic process are provided.     

Presidential Debate Watching,Issue Knowledge,Character Evaluation,and Vote Choice

This study employs NES (National Election Survey) data from several presidential elections to investigate the effects of presidential debate watching on voters' issue knowledge, character evaluation, and vote choice. Debates can instill issue knowledge; however, voters are less likely to learn about incumbent presidents seeking re‐election after a four‐year term in office than about other candidates. Debates are also capable of changing voters' impressions of the candidates' character. Finally, at times debates help viewers make a vote choice; they are more likely to strengthen existing preferences (increasing confidence in their vote choice) than alter vote preferences.     

Exercise duration and mood state: how much is enough to feel better?

The effects of exercise duration on mood state were examined. In a repeated-measures design, the Profile of Mood States inventory (D. M. McNair, M. Lorr, & L. F. Droppleman, 1971) was administered before and after 1 quiet resting trial and 3 exercise trials of 10, 20, and 30 min on a bicycle ergometer. Heart rate levels were controlled at 60% of the participant's estimated VO2max level. An overall analysis of variance found improved levels of vigor with reduced levels of confusion, fatigue, and total negative mood. Planned analyses revealed that the improvements in vigor, fatigue, and total mood occurred after 10 min of exercise, with progressive improvements in confusion over 20 min and with no additional improvement over longer periods. These results complement current recommendations, which suggest that to experience positive fitness and health benefits, healthy adults should participate in a total of 30 min of moderate physical exercise daily, accumulated in short bouts throughout the day.     

A randomized controlled trial of a coping group intervention for adults with HIV who are AIDS bereaved: longitudinal effects on grief.

The authors sought to study the longitudinal effects of a cognitive-behavioral group intervention for coping with AIDS bereavement among a diverse sample of adults who were HIV positive. Participants (N = 267) were randomly assigned to receive the 12-week intervention or individual therapy upon request. Measures were administered at baseline, postintervention, and 4-, 8-, and 12-month follow-ups. Longitudinal data were analyzed with linear mixed models to examine change in grief by condition across the study period and the effect of the intervention on grief through its interaction with psychiatric distress. The authors used the Grief Reaction Index to assess grief and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised to assess global psychiatric distress. Participants in both conditions reported decreases in grief severity. However, among those with higher levels of psychiatric distress, participants in the group intervention had significantly lower grief severity scores compared with participants in the individual therapy condition. The long-term effectiveness of this AIDS-bereavement intervention for psychiatrically distressed people with HIV/AIDS supports the need for tailored interventions among those at risk for complicated grief responses.