Frequency and duration of mood fluctuations: effects of dependency, self-criticism, and negative events

Few studies have examined the relation between depressive vulnerability factors and the duration of symptom disturbance, defined as the length of time during which mood states are elevated above a certain threshold. We examined the duration of mood disturbances in male (N=31) and female (N=71) college-aged individuals who completed mood checklists twice weekly for 10 weeks. Results showed that dependency and self-criticism were related to the mean severity of ratings across all checklists and the mean duration of disturbances, as well as the number of disturbances lasting at least 7 or 14 days. Some evidence for the congruency model was found. Dependency and self-criticism moderated the relation between vulnerability congruent hassles and mood. Sensitivity analyses showed that altering the threshold at which symptom scores were designated as symptom disturbances did not affect the pattern of results for dependency and self-criticism. Results have implications for the debate concerning the relation between vulnerability factors and depressive severity.     

Avoiding interference: adult attachment and emotional processing biases

The present study investigated attachment-related differences in emotional processing biases. Consistent with the proposal that avoidant individuals limit attention to potentially distressing information, attachment avoidance was associated with reductions in emotional Stroop (ES) interference for attachment-related words (e.g., intimate, loss). These biases were strongest among individuals who were currently in a romantic relationship, suggesting that being in a close relationship may activate avoidant defensive strategies. In addition, avoidant attentional biases were attenuated under cognitive load, suggesting that inhibiting attention to attachment-related information requires cognitive effort. Finally, avoidance was unrelated to ES performance for emotional, nonattachment-related words, demonstrating the specificity of these attentional biases. The present findings suggest that avoidant individuals can inhibit attention to potentially threatening information, that this ability requires cognitive effort, and that relationship status may be an important moderator of avoidant defensive strategies. The implications of these strategies for emotional functioning and well-being are discussed.     

Expertise and attunement to kinematic constraints

Three experiments were undertaken to ascertain the extent to which expertise in natural anticipatory tasks is characterised by superior attunement to the biomechanical (kinematic) constraints of the movement pattern being observed. Twelve world-class and twelve non-expert badminton players were required to predict the depth of an opponent's stroke from either video displays or point-light displays of the opposing player's hitting action. The information available within the displays was manipulated through temporal and/or spatial occlusion. Consistent with predictions that can be derived from the constraint-attunement hypothesis (Vicente and Wang, 1998 Psychological Review 105 33-57), experts showed: (i) an unchanged pattern of information pick-up when the display was reduced from video to point-light and only kinematic information was available; (ii) superior information pick-up from kinematic features that non-experts could use; and (iii) attunement to early kinematic information from the lower body to which non-experts were not sensitive. Consistent with predictions that can be derived from a common-coding perspective (Prinz, 1997 European Journal of Cognitive Psychology 9 129-154), the anticipation of stroke depth was facilitated more for experts than non-experts when the perceptual display provided linked segment information reminiscent of the cross-segmental torque transfers that occur during expert movement production.     

‘Attentional Bias’ in correlation judgments? Smedslund (1963) revisited

Smedslund (1963) reports one of the first studies that investigated human judgments of correlation. Smedslund's conclusion, that people reason about correlation mostly from a consideration of the number of times two variables co-occur, has become textbook wisdom (e.g. Baron's "attentional bias", 1994). Yet the data reported in Smedslund's paper fall short of endorsing such a conclusion. After reviewing the original paper, we present the method with which we replicated Smedslund's main experiment. In Experiment 1 subjects were presented with symptom-disease correlation data through a simulated medical diagnosis task. Subjects clearly discriminated between data sets which shared an equal number of symptom-disease co-occurrences but which otherwise showed different levels of correlation. Subjects' diagnoses showed a propensity to predict the disease in the presence of the symptom, and symptom-disease co-occurrences were overestimated in two of the five data sets presented to the subjects. Experiment 2 used a novel abstract scenario with a symmetric predictor variable. Judgments again indicated good discrimination, and biases in prediction responses and case recall were eliminated. In both experiments, judgments of zero correlation were a function of the outcome base rate. We evaluate and contrast the extent to which Cheng's (1997) model of causal induction and two associative models, Rescorla and Wagner (1972) and Pearce (1987) can anticipate the observed pattern in the mean judgments.     

From ideal to real: a longitudinal study of the role of implicit leadership theories on leader-member exchanges and employee outcomes

The results of the present longitudinal study demonstrate the importance of implicit leadership theories (ILTs) for the quality of leader-member exchanges (LMX) and employees' organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and well-being. Results based on a sample of 439 employees who completed the study questionnaires at 2 time points showed that the closer employees perceived their actual manager's profile to be to the ILTs they endorsed, the better the quality of LMX. Results also indicated that the implicit-explicit leadership traits difference had indirect effects on employee attitudes and well-being. These findings were consistent across employee groups that differed in terms of job demand and the duration of manager-employee relation, but not in terms of motivation. Furthermore, crossed-lagged modeling analyses of the longitudinal data explored the possibility of reciprocal effects between implicit-explicit leadership traits difference and LMX and provided support for the initially hypothesized direction of causal effects.     

A randomized controlled comparison of guided self-help cognitive behavioral therapy and behavioral weight loss for binge eating disorder

We performed a randomized controlled study to test the relative efficacy of guided self-help (gsh) cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBTgsh) and behavioral weight loss treatment (BWLgsh) treatments for binge eating disorder (BED). To provide an additional partial control for non-specific influences of attention, a third control (CON) treatment condition was included. We tested the treatments using a guided self-help approach given the promising results from initial studies using minimal therapist guidance. Ninety consecutive overweight patients (19 males, 71 females) with BED were randomly assigned (5:5:2 ratio) to one of three treatments: CBTgsh (N=37), BWLgsh (N=38), or CON (N=15). The three 12-week treatment conditions were administered individually following guided self-help protocols. Overall, 70 (78%) completed treatments; CBTgsh (87%) and CON (87%) had significantly higher completion rates than BWLgsh (67%). Intent-to-treat analyses revealed that CBTgsh had significantly higher remission rates (46%) than either BWLgsh (18%) or CON (13%). Weight loss was minimal and differed little across treatments. The findings suggest that CBT, administered via guided self-help, demonstrates efficacy for BED, but not for obesity. The findings support CBT administered via guided self-help as a first step in the treatment of BED and provide evidence for its specific effects.     

Developing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Prevent Depressive Relapse in Youth

Relapse rates for children and adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD) range from 30% to 40% within 1 to 2 years after acute treatment. Although relapse rates are high, there have been relatively few studies on the prevention of relapse in youth. While acute phase pharmacotherapy has been shown to reduce symptoms rapidly in depressed youth, children and adolescents frequently report ongoing residual symptoms and often relapse following acute treatment. Recent adult trials have begun examining augmentation with psychosocial treatment after successful medication treatment to enhance medication response and prevent future relapse. This strategy has not yet been examined in youth with depression. Here we present initial efforts to develop a sequential, combination treatment strategy to promote rapid remission and to prevent relapse in depressed youth. We describe efforts to adapt CBT to prevent relapse (RP-CBT) in youth who respond to pharmacotherapy. The goals of RP-CBT include: preventing relapse, increasing wellness, and developing skills to promote and sustain well-being. We describe the rationale for, components of, and methods used to develop RP-CBT. The results from a small open series sample demonstrate feasibility and indicate that youth appear to tolerate RP-CBT well. A future test of the treatment in a randomized controlled trial is described.