Fibromyalgie und Leistungseinschränkung

Interdisciplinary guidelines allowed for new quality standards in pain appraisal. Simultaneously, the scientific notion of fibromyalgia changed from a subjectively overvalued malaise to a central disturbance of coping with stress, which is neurobiologically determined. Therefore, in this article a psychosomatics-based guide is given for the socio-medical appraisal of fibromyalgia with reference to the new International Classification for Functioning and Disability (ICF) of the World Health Organization (WHO). As illustration a case study is presented.     

Detection of emotional expressions in rapidly changing facial displays in high- and low-socially anxious women

Facial information and attention to facial displays are distributed over spatial as well as temporal domains. Thus far, research on selective attention to (dis)approving faces in the context of social anxiety has concentrated primarily on the spatial domain. Using a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigm, the present study examined the temporal characteristics of visual attention for happy and angry faces in high- (n=16) and low-socially anxious individuals (n=17), to test whether also in the temporal domain socially anxious individuals are characterized by threat-confirming attentional biases. Results indicated that presenting angry faces as the first target (T1) did not aggravate the detection of the emotional expression of the second target (T2). Yet, participants generally showed superior detection of the emotional expression of T2, if T2 was an angry face. Casting doubt on the role of such attenuated attentional blink for angry faces in social anxiety, no evidence emerged to indicate that this effect was relatively strong in high-socially anxious individuals. Finally, the presentation of an angry face as T2 resulted in a relatively hampered identification of a happy-T1. Again, this "backward blink" was not especially pronounced in high-socially anxious individuals. The present anger superiority effects are consistent with evolutionary models stressing the importance of being especially vigilant for signals of dominance. Since the effects were not especially pronounced in high-anxious individuals, the present study adds to previous findings indicating that socially anxious individuals are not characterized by a bias in the (explicit) detection of emotional expressions [Philippot, P., & Douilliez, C. (2005). Social phobics do not misinterpret facial expression of emotion. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 43, 639-652].     

Effects of a Fluency-Building Program on the Reading Performance of Low-Achieving Second and Third Grade Students

This study evaluated the effects of a fluency-based reading program with 15 second and third grade students and 15 matched controls. Gains in oral reading fluency on untrained CBM probes were evaluated using a matched-pairs group-comparison design, whereas immediate and two-day retention gains in oral reading fluency on trained passages were evaluated using an adapted changing criterion design. Increases in WRCM due to training and number of trainings to criterion were also evaluated as a function of pre-training fluency levels. Results showed statistically significant gains on dependent measures for the treatment group, mean increases of two to three grade levels in passages mastered, and an optimal pre-training fluency range of 41-60 WRCM. Implications for fluency-based reading programs are discussed.     

Diagnostic Discrimination of Patients with Different OCD Main Symptom Domains from each Other and from Anxious and Depressive Controls

The extent to which the subscales of multidimensional OCD measures accurately distinguish patients with specific OCD main symptom domains from controls at different cutscores has not yet been examined. Diagnostic accuracy of OCD measures usually is determined by comparing the total scores of heterogeneous OCD samples and controls and therefore may underestimate the measures’ discrimination potential. In the current study, subtype-specific diagnostic accuracy and criterion-related validity of the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R) subscales were examined in 327 patients with OCD, anxiety, and/or depressive disorders. All subscales demonstrated good to excellent criterion-related validity and diagnostic accuracy for distinguishing patients with specific OCD main symptom domains from controls. As expected, the single OCI-R subscales lead to more accurate diagnostic decisions than the total scale. Thus, the subscale-specific cutscores significantly improve the OCI-R’s utility for subtype-specific treatment planning and outcome measurement. Furthermore, an alternative classification algorithm distinguishing patients with OCD from controls based on subscale cutscores leads to a better sensitivity, but also to a lower specificity than discrimination based on the total scale cutscore.     

Cannabiskonsum und -missbrauch bei Jugendlichen und jungen Erwachsenen

After a long time of growth current studies on representative samples of adolescents indicate that the number of adolescent cannabis users in Germany is possibly decreasing. However, it may be presumptuous to expect a similar trend concerning the number of clients with cannabis-related disorders. Even if there is in fact a downward trend which is not yet proven, the rapidly growing number of clients presenting with these disorders in recent years cannot be explained by a similar growth in the number of regular cannabis users. Treatment centres should therefore expect a further inreasing number of especially male adolescents and young adults seeking help for problems related to cannabis use. The development, evaluation and implementation of specific treatment options concerning cannabis use disorders will be increasingly needed in the future. Cognitive-behavioral and motivational interventions have been shown to be evidence-based treatments. The paper describes some promising or already successful treatment approaches and related research projects in Germany.     

Goethes Studienkrise, Depression und seine Selbstbehandlungsstrategien

From a present day diagnostic viewpoint Goethe suffered from several episodes of depression beginning with his study crisis. In addition he wrote that he had a tendency towards dysthymic moods. In terms of modern psychotherapeutic procedures the various levels of Goethe’s self-therapy strategies are remarkable: acceptance of helpful bonding and relationships, correction of dysfunctional behavior and modification of pathogenic conceptions and beliefs as well as remembrance, enactment and mentalization of psychodynamic conflicts. Finally at an existential level his salutogenic strategies served to invoke a sence of coherence often threatened in his life. Anxieties, dysthymic moods, lack of self-esteem and existential conflicts were for him not only the reason and motive for realization of his extraordinary artistic potential. For modern psychotherapists and patients it is interesting that the acceptance of dysthymic moods and psychological conflicts and the transformation through relationships, cognitive behavior-oriented and psychodynamic strategies as well as an existential self-effective striving also lead to everyday creativity, i.e. coping with life.     

The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20): A measure of general psychological distress

The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (Bagby, R. M., Parker, J. D. A., & Taylor, G. J. (1994). The twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale-I. Item selection and cross-validation of the factor structure. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 38, 23–32.) is the most commonly used measure of Alexithymia (= difficulties identifying and describing one’s own feelings). Sixty-three persons (34 psychiatric inpatients, 29 healthy controls) first filled in the TAS-20 and were then interviewed about their interpersonal relationships. Two raters coded the emotional experiences that the participants reported during these interviews. Contrary to expectations, participants with higher TAS-20 scores reported more emotions (particularly negative ones), and more different emotions, questioning the validity of the TAS-20 as a measure of Alexithymia. Based on correlation patterns and a joint factor analysis with two well-established measures of psychopathology, it is concluded that the TAS-20 assesses a general psychological distress factor.     

Go no-go performance under psychosocial stress: beneficial effects of implementation intentions

Acute stress has been found to have negative and implementation intentions (IIs) to have positive effects on cognitive performance. This study was the first to examine the effects of IIs on executive action control under acute psychosocial stress. Forty-two male subjects aged 21-39 years were randomly assigned to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) versus a rest condition. In addition, the instruction to the executive task (a go no-go task) was manipulated (IIs versus standard instruction). After the stress test, a dual-task procedure including a go no-go task was conducted. The TSST resulted in increases in cortisol response, heart rate and state anxiety compared to the rest condition. Acute stress significantly impaired go no-go performance, but only in the group without IIs. We conclude that under acute stress conditions executive functioning is reduced, but the use of IIs can be an effective strategy to overcome this negative effect.     

How to make your own response boxes: A step-by-step guide for the construction of reliable and inexpensive parallel-port response pads from computer mice

Psychological research is based in large parts on response latencies, which are often registered by keypresses on a standard computer keyboard. Recording response latencies with a standard keyboard is problematic because keypresses are buffered within the keyboard hardware before they are signaled to the computer, adding error variance to the recorded latencies. This can be circumvented by using external response pads connected to the computer's parallel port. In this article, we describe how to build inexpensive, reliable, and easy-to-use response pads with six keys from two standard computer mice that can be connected to the PC's parallel port. We also address the problem of recording data from the parallel port with different software packages under Microsoft's Windows XP.     

On the expression and experience of surprise: no evidence for facial feedback, but evidence for a reverse self-inference effect

Three studies examined the effects of experimentally manipulated surprise expressions on the experience of surprise. Surprise was induced by a sudden, unannounced change of the stimulus presentation during a computerized task. Facial expression was manipulated by leading participants to adopt an expression akin to surprise, or by forcing them to look up steeply to a monitor. The expression manipulations had no intensifying effect on the experience of surprise, whereas manipulations of unexpectedness and mental load had strong effects. In addition, mental load was found to affect beliefs about facial expression, suggesting that the participants used their feelings of surprise to infer their probable facial displays. Path analyses supported this reverse self-inference hypothesis.