Psychometric properties of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire in a clinical anxiety disorders sample.

With the advent of DSM-III-R, the diagnostic criteria for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) shifted in emphasis from the autonomic arousal to the cognitive component of the disorder, namely worry. The Penn State Worry Questionnaire was developed to assess the trait of worry and has proven to be a reliable and valid measure in a series of studies largely based on college student samples. The purpose of the present study was to assess the psychometric properties and utility of the PSWQ in a clinical sample of 436 anxiety disorder patients and 32 normal controls. Factor analysis indicated that the PSWQ assesses a unidimensional construct. Furthermore, the PSWQ evidenced quite favorable internal consistency using GAD patients and each of the other anxiety disorder groups and normal controls. The validity of the PSWQ was supported by an analysis indicating that the measure distinguished. GADs from each of the other anxiety disorder groups including those with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Moreover, correlations between the PSWQ and measures of anxiety, depression, and emotional control supported the convergent and discriminant validity of the measure. Collectively, the findings speak favorably to the use of the PSWQ in research examining the nature and treatment of GAD and the processes of normal and pathological worry.     

Behavioral contrast: Pavlovian effects and anticipatory contrast.

Two sources of behavioral contrast have been identified previously: Pavlovian stimulus-reinforcer relations and component sequence effects (anticipatory contrast). This study sought to isolate these sources of control procedurally in a four-ply multiple schedule composed of two fixed two-component sequences. Different cues were associated with the first component of each sequence, and contrast effects were studied in these target components. In Experiment 1, differential cuing of Component 2 between sequences and availability of reinforcement during target components were varied across three groups of pigeons; the stimulus-reinforcer relation between target-component cues and schedule of reinforcement in Component 2 was varied within subjects. Control by the Pavlovian relation was demonstrated under all conditions, and anticipatory contrast was not observed. In Experiment 2, target-component duration was systematically varied in the three groups of Experiment 1. Control by the Pavlovian relation was reliably obtained only when target-component behavior was unreinforced, and diminished with increases in component duration. Anticipatory contrast emerged in the two groups for which target-component reinforcement was available. These and other data indicate that Pavlovian effects in multiple schedules may be obscured when the requisite conditions for anticipatory contrast are present.     

Response to hyperventilation and inhalation of 5.5% carbon dioxide-enriched air across the DSM-III-R anxiety disorders.

Anxiety disorder patients (n = 198; under criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; rev. 3rd ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) and nonanxious control subjects (n = 25) underwent challenges of 90 s of voluntary hyperventilation and 15 min of 5.5% carbon dioxide in air. Panic disorder subjects showed a greater subjective response to both challenges than did subjects with other anxiety disorders, who in turn responded more than did control subjects. Furthermore, subjects with panic disorder as an additional diagnosis tended to report more subjective response than did anxiety disorder subjects without panic disorder. The best prechallenge predictor of response to each procedure was a measure of fear of physical symptoms. The findings support previous results that have pointed to a greater fear or anxiety-inducing effect of these challenge procedures in panic disorder patients, as compared with other subjects.     

Psychiatric history and stress: predictors of severity of unipolar depression.

Unipolar depression is frequently a recurrent or chronic disorder. In studies on predicting its course, outcomes are typically linked to either psychiatric features or stressful life events. In order to integrate the 2 approaches, 51 unipolar patients were assessed periodically over at least 1 year for symptoms, stressful events, and chronic stressors. It was hypothesized that adverse family history and early age of onset impair role functioning and coping capabilities, thereby contributing to stressful circumstances that predict severity of depressive reactions. Results of causal modeling analyses supported a model in which background factors were associated with severity of depressive outcomes as mediated by their effects on stress variables. Such a model implicates the self-perpetuating nature of clinical depression, both for the individual and across generations.     

Exploring the Meaning and Usefulness of Measures of Subjective Goal Difficulty1

Despite the critical role of the goal difficulty construct in predicting the effects of goals on task performance, the choice of goal difficulty measure(s) has not played a prominent role in goal setting research. The current laboratory study, using 92 college students, examines three operationalizations of the goal difficulty construct: assigned goal level (objective or direct measure), self-referenced goal difficulty perception. and an externally-referenced goal difficulty perception. The results clearly demonstrated that the choice of a goal difficulty measure matters in relation to other constructs in goal setting theory. Furthermore, it was found that the externally-referenced goal difficulty perception measure corresponded best with assigned goal level.     

Fear of future illness, chemical AIDS, and cancerphobia: a review.

A review of the literature indicates that fear of future illness shares many characteristics with a wide variety of conditions. Concepts such as hypochondriasis, adjustment disorders, generalized anxiety, and mass hysteria must be considered. Also, factors such as reporting bias, influential others, collective behavior, political groups, and litigation appear to induce symptom reporting from patients complaining of fear of illness and cancerphobia. Cancerphobia may result in impairment ranging from avoidance behaviors to cognitive dysfunctions. Various treatment modalities have been used successfully in treating cancerphobia, and the prognosis is typically good. Complaints of chemical AIDS, universal allergy, or twentieth century disease have little medical or empirical support and require further investigation. Researchers and clinicians must recognize multiple factors contribute to fear of future illness or cancerphobic complaints, and additional research must be undertaken if a thorough understanding of fear of future illness, cancerphobia, and perceptions of chemical AIDS is to be obtained.     

The roleof availabilityinthe estimationof nationalpopulations

In two parallel experiments, conducted 17 months apart, we examined the relations among population estimates, availability, and media coverage of the 100 countries with populations of 4 million or more. The results were consistent with the main hypothesis, that availability influences population estimates. Specifically, we found that (1) rated knowledge of each country (our measure of availability) was strongly correlated with estimated population for that country; (2) rated knowledge was more strongly correlated with estimated population than were other plausible predictors, such as land area; (3) a strong partial correlation between rated knowledge and estimated population remained even after true population and true land area were partialed out; and (4) longitudinal changes in rated knowledge predicted longitudinal changes in estimated population. Also as hypothesized, media coverage was positively related to availability and to population estimates. Further, we found that population estimates, rated knowledge, and amount of media coverage that each country received were very stable over the year-and-a-half period. These results led us to consider when availability is most likely to be relied upon heavily in quantitative estimation and how it may be integrated with other knowledge to derive quantitative estimates.     

False recognition and perception without awareness

Jacoby and Whitehouse (1989) demonstrated that the probability of calling new test words "old" (i.e., false recognition) is biased by context words. When context words were briefly exposed and subjects were not informed of their presence, new words were called "old" more often if the context and test words were identical than if the context and test words were different. When the context words were presented at longer exposure durations and subjects were informed of their presence, the opposite pattern of results occurred. In Experiment 1, we replicated the critical qualitative difference across conditions reported by Jacoby and Whitehouse. In addition, the combined results of Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrated that the exposure duration of the context words, and not the instructions to the subjects, is the primary factor determining which pattern of false recognition occurs. However, in contrast with the findings of Jacoby and Whitehouse, both patterns of false recognition were associated with significant recognition memory for the context words. The latter finding presents problems for any interpretation of false recognition, which implies that the briefly exposed context words are perceived without awareness.     

Working with Bangladeshi families in the East End of London

This paper is an account of the author's evolving practice in working with Bangladeshi families in the East End of London. It considers first of all the circumstances of such families: their socio-economic situation, and their beliefs about family life, mental illness and seeking help. Then it describes two case examples illustrative of those styles of working and techniques of intervention from different family therapy approaches which have proven most applicable to working with families from this community.