Extension and Replication of an Internet-Based Treatment Program for Panic Disorder

This study describes an internet-based intervention for people with panic disorder that consisted of a 5-module program. Participants accessed the program for 5-8 weeks and were then re-assessed 3 months later. Use of the program was associated with reductions in severity of panic disorder and in catastrophic misinterpretation of ambiguous panic body sensations in 9 people with this anxiety disorder. There were also non-significant trends for body vigilance to decrease over the course of the study. Further investigations of the efficacy of this medium for the treatment of panic disorder and the associated mechanisms of change are warranted.     

The relationship between obsessive beliefs and symptom dimensions in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Research findings on the specific relationships between beliefs and OCD symptoms have been inconsistent, yet the existing studies vary in their approach to measuring the highly heterogeneous symptoms of this disorder. The Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (DOCS) is a new measure that allows for the assessment of OCD symptom dimensions, rather than types of obsessions and compulsions per se. The present study examined the relationship between OCD symptom dimensions and dysfunctional (obsessive) beliefs believed to underlie these symptom dimensions using a large clinical sample of treatment-seeking adults with OCD. Results revealed that certain obsessive beliefs predicted certain OCD symptom dimensions in a manner consistent with cognitive-behavioral conceptual models. Specifically, contamination symptoms were predicted by responsibility/threat estimation beliefs, symmetry symptoms were predicted by perfectionism/certainty beliefs, unacceptable thoughts were predicted by importance/control of thoughts beliefs and symptoms related to being responsible for harm were predicted by responsibility/threat estimation beliefs. Implications for cognitive conceptualizations of OCD symptom dimensions are discussed.     

Academic Underachievement and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: The Negative Impact of Symptom Severity on School Performance

Many children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) achieve academically at a lower level than would be predicted given their intellectual abilities. However, the extent to which this is due to behavioral problems versus cognitive deficits associated with the disorder is unclear. In the present study, a group of children with ADHD (with average intellectual abilities) performed significantly below prediction in reading, writing, and mathematics skills and demonstrated a greater discrepancy between actual and predicted achievement than did a group of non-ADHD children. Even when controlling for performance on a measure of executive functioning, severity of ADHD symptoms, based on parent report, significantly predicted academic underachievement in reading, writing, and mathematics. These results indicate that the more severe the behavioral symptomatology of children with ADHD is, the more negatively impacted their school performance may be. Results are discussed in terms of diagnostic and intervention implications.     

Recovery of single word comprehension: CT-scan correlates

9tory comprehension for single words, as measured by the BDAE Word Discrimination subtest, was studied longitudinally in a group of 37 aphasic patients. The majority of the patients had impaired performance at 1 month postonset, but recovery by Month 6 postonset was quite striking. Damage to Wernicke's area did not preclude recovery of single word comprehension to within the normal range. Only patients with very extensive left hemisphere lesions had incomplete recovery of single word comprehension.     

Menstrual cycle effects on task performance examined in the context of stress research

The study examined the effects of degree of paramenstrual distress, signal frequency, task load and time on task on psychomotor performance across the menstrual cycle. Simple reaction time, choice reaction time and pursuit tracking were the tasks employed, and performance was assessed using the metrics of mean level, variability, and errors of omission and commission. The results showed performance as a function of menstrual cycle phase and paramenstrual distress to be highly task and metric specific, a finding typical of stressor variables: pursuit tracking was affected by phase, with mean performance at its worst premenstrually; choice reaction time was dependent on a complex interaction of experimental variables and measurement metrics; simple reaction time showed no significant effects. Patterns of attention allocation in a time-sharing situation combining both pursuit tracking and choice reaction time components were also investigated. Trends here indicated relatively better performance both menstrually and intermenstrually as components increased in signal/response frequency, with a corresponding deterioration premenstrually. Overall performance capacity appeared to be greatest at menstruation, and the degree of attentional selectivity was least. High distress women performed better on low frequency components, whereas asymptomatic women did better at higher signal rates.     

Depression in aphasic patients: Frequency, severity, and clinical-pathological correlations

Twenty-five hospitalized nonfluent, fluent, and global aphasic patients who were several months past the onset of their illness were compared for presence and severity of depression based on four psychopathological measures. The nonfluent aphasic patients had both greater frequency and severity of depression than the other two groups. CT scans showed that the global aphasic patients had the largest lesion size (volumetric) and showed a strong correlation between lesion size and degree of depression. In contrast, patients with fluent aphasias showed an inverse correlation between severity of depression and lesion size; among the nonfluent aphasic patients there was no significant correlation. Depression appears to be common in this population of hospitalized aphasic patients with chronic illness and nonfluent patients are the most depressed group within this population. The increased frequency and severity of depression in the nonfluent patients did not appear to be related to their overall physical or cognitive impairment; two possible mechanisms are discussed.     

Evaluating Trainees' Skill Development: The Family Therapy Skills Checklist

Training competent therapists is the fundamental goal of supervisors. Supervisors and academic programs need to increase efforts to identify and operationalize therapeutic skills required for trainees. This study examines the Family Therapy Skills Checklist (FTSC) designed to assess therapists' conceptual, behavioral, and professionalism skills. The 315 separate evaluations by therapists-in-training and their supervisors' indicated a high level of inter-rater consistency and the ability to discriminate between advanced, struggling, and beginning therapists. Recommendations for further research are suggested.     

A Cross-Cultural Comparison of the Brief Symptom Inventory

A cross-cultural study of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) was conducted with a sample of university students from India and Canada. The results indicated much higher rates of symptom reporting in the Indian sample. Canadian students also had higher reported symptom scales when compared to a similar size USA sample. A small sample of older respondents was also compared with a British sample. Examination of the structure of the BSI scale was investigated using a multidimensional scaling analysis. The Indian data had a somatization—paranoid ideation dimension and a psychoticism—interpersonal sensitivity dimension. With the Canadian sample, there was a hostility—phobic anxiety dimension along with a somatization—paranoid ideation dimension.     

P-technique factor analyses of the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL)

The Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL) has been found to have five first-order factors representing Anxiety, Depression, Hostility, Positive Affect, and Sensation Seeking and two second-order factors representing Positive Affect and Sensation Seeking (PASS) and Dysphoria. The present study examines whether these first- and second-order conceptions of affect (based on R-technique factor analysis) can also account for patterns of intraindividual variability in affect (based on P-technique factor analysis) in eight elderly women. Although the hypothesized five-factor model of affect was not testable in all of the present P-technique datasets, the results were consistent with this interindividual model of affect. Moreover, evidence of second-order (PASS and Dysphoria) and third-order (generalized distress) factors was found in one data set. Sufficient convergence in findings between the present P-technique research and prior R-technique research suggests that the MAACL is robust in describing both inter- and intraindividual components of affect in elderly women.This paper is based on the doctoral research of the first author and was partially supported by the National Institute of Aging Grant T32 AC 00048-12 to The Pennsylvania State University and a Grant-in-Aid of Research from Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society. The authors wish to thank John R. Nesselroade for his helpful comments on an early draft of this paper.