Efficacy of a Manualized and Workbook-Driven Individual Treatment for Social Anxiety Disorder

Social anxiety disorder is a prevalent and impairing disorder for which viable cognitive-behavioral therapies exist. However, these treatments have not been easily packaged for dissemination and may be underutilized as a result. The current study reports on the findings of a randomized controlled trial of a manualized and workbook-driven individual cognitive-behavioral treatment for social anxiety disorder (Hope, Heimberg, Juster, & Turk, 2000; Hope, Heimberg, & Turk, 2006). This treatment package was derived from an empirically supported group treatment for social anxiety disorder and intended for broad dissemination, but it has not previously been subjected to empirical examination on its own. As a first step in that examination, 38 clients seeking treatment for social anxiety disorder at either the Adult Anxiety Clinic of Temple University or the Anxiety Disorders Clinic of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln were randomly assigned to receive either immediate treatment with this cognitive-behavioral treatment package or treatment delayed for 20 weeks. Evaluation at the posttreatment/postdelay period revealed substantially greater improvements among immediate treatment clients on interviewer-rated and self-report measures of social anxiety and impairment. Three-month follow-up assessment revealed maintenance of gains. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Comparing Japanese International College Students' and U.S. College Students' Mental‐Health‐Related Stigmatizing Attitudes

This study examined differences between Japanese international college students and U.S. college students on stigma toward people with psychological disorders, stigma tolerance in help seeking, and self‐concealment. Japanese international students had greater stigma toward individuals with psychological disorders than did their U.S. counterparts. No interrelationships between these variables, however, were found in the Japanese international student group. Este estudio examinó las diferencias entre estudiantes universitarios internacionales japoneses y estudiantes universitarios estadounidenses en lo concerniente al estigma hacia las personas con trastornos psicológicos, la tolerancia del estigma al buscar ayuda y la auto‐ocultación. Los estudiantes internacionales japoneses mostraron un mayor estigma hacia los individuos con trastornos psicológicos que sus homólogos estadounidenses. Sin embargo, no se encontró ninguna interrelación entre estas variables en el grupo de estudiantes internacionales japoneses.     

Personality correlates of success in total quality manufacturing

This study examined the relation of the Big Five factors of normal personality to individual performance in total quality manufacturing. One hundred thirty-six automobile plastic-part injection molding machine operators completed the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI). Criteria included behaviorally-based performance ratings. Successful employees had significantly lower scores on Openness (HPI: Intellectance) and Extraversion (HPI: Sociability) than less successful employees, but higher Conscientiousness scores (HPI: Prudence). A new HPI scale was developed to predict performance in this environment.We would like to thank Robert Hogan, Maryalice Citera, and Bob Gordon for their comments on earlier drafts. Please send comments about this report to Ted Hayes, Department of Psychology, 309 Oelman Hall, Wright State University, Dayton, OH, 45435     

THE TROUBLE WITH LANGUAGE:

Abstract— Experiential avoidance is the attempt to escape or avoid certain private experiences, such as particular feelings, memories, behavioral predispositions, or thoughts. In this article, we discuss evidence that experiential avoidance is both pervasive and often harmful to human functioning. We argue that experiential avoidance can be explained by two verbal processes, and we provide basic behavioral evidence on both the bidirectionality of derived stimulus relations in verbal humans and the insensitivity to the effects of responding produced by verbal rules. If this analysis is correct, experiential avoidance is built into human language and thus can be undermined only with difficulty.     

A study of the concurrent validity of the Screening Test of Adolescent Language with recent immigrants.

The concurrent validity of the Screening Test of Adolescent Language was investigated by correlating the total scores for 152 first-year medical students with their performances on the Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery. The sample included many recent immigrants from southeastern Asia who were not yet highly proficient in English. The Pearson correlation of .78 between the two measures was high and statistically significantly different from zero.     

Stimulus equivalence and arbitrarily applicable relational responding.

Subjects' responses to nonarbitrary stimulus relations of sameness, oppositeness, or difference were brought under contextual control. In the presence of the SAME context, selecting the same comparison as the sample was reinforced. In the presence of the OPPOSITE context, selecting a comparison as far from the sample as possible on the physical dimension defined by the set of comparisons was reinforced. Given the DIFFERENT context, selecting any comparison other than the sample was reinforced. Subjects were then exposed to arbitrary matching-to-sample training in the presence of these same contextual cues. Some subjects received training using the SAME and OPPOSITE contexts, others received SAME and DIFFERENT, and others received SAME, OPPOSITE, and DIFFERENT. The stimulus networks established allowed testing for a wide variety of derived relations. In two experiments it was shown that derived performances were consistent with relational responding brought to bear by the contextual cues. In contexts relevant to the relation of sameness, stimulus equivalence emerged. Other kinds of relational networks emerged in the other contexts. Arbitrarily applicable relational responding may give rise to a very wide variety of derived stimulus relations. The kinds of performances seen in stimulus equivalence do not appear to be unique.