Experiences of Patients in Cognitive Behavioural Group Therapy: A Qualitative Study of Eating Disorders

The aim of this study was to investigate whether there was a difference in skin conductance response between 2 groups of military personnel when exposed to emotionally neutral and charged stimuli. The 2 groups were a combat experience group (n?=?10) with prior experience of emotionally charged war situations and a comparison group (n?=?10) with no such experience. Results showed that the comparison group reacted more strongly to exposure to both charged and neutral pictures than did the combat experience group, regardless of exposure time. The results are discussed in terms of emotional numbing and differences in anxiety state between the 2 groups.     

Clinicians' Perspectives on Negative Effects of Psychological Treatments

Negative effects of psychological treatments is a fairly unexplored area of clinical research. Previous investigations have indicated that a portion of all patients experience negative effects in terms of deterioration and various adverse events. Meanwhile, evidence suggests that many clinicians are untrained in identifying negative effects and unaware of the current research findings. The objective of the current study is thus to investigate clinicians' own perspectives and experiences of possible negative effects of psychological treatments. An invitation to participate in an anonymous online survey consisting of 14 open-ended questions was distributed via three mailing lists used by clinicians that primarily identify themselves as cognitive behavior therapists. The responses were analyzed using a qualitative method based on thematic analysis. In total, 74 participants completed the survey. A majority agreed that negative effects of psychological treatments exist and pose a problem, and many reported having experienced both deterioration and adverse events among patients in their own practice. The thematic analysis resulted in three core themes: characteristics of negative effects, causal factors, as well as methods and criteria for evaluating negative effects. The clinicians recognize that negative effects exist, but many are unaware of the current research findings and are unfamiliar with methods and criteria for identifying and preventing deterioration and adverse events. The results provide evidence for further dissemination of the present knowledge regarding negative effects, particularly during basic clinical training, as well as the need for raising awareness of the available methods for identifying and preventing negative effects.     

Development and initial validation of the Brief Adolescent Life Event Scale (BALES)

We report initial validity analyses of the Brief Adolescent Life Event Scale (BALES). This instrument addresses negative and positive events pertinent to the well being of adolescent boys and girls, and is designed for use in studies utilizing an extended research protocol. Selection of items was guided by emerging perspectives on positive psychology , action theory , and personality vulnerability , as well as by new developments in statistical modeling theory. The 36 items of the scale tap negative and positive events, each of which addresses interpersonal and achievement life domains. Using a large sample of early-adolescents ( N = 895), we confirmed the hypothesized structure that includes four domain-level latent factors (i.e., negative interpersonal events, negative achievement events, positive interpersonal events, positive achievement events), and two overarching factors (negative events and positive events). Indices of positive and negative events predicted adolescent depressive symptoms in expected ways, and positive events buffered the effect of negative events on depressive symptoms. These findings encourage an informed use of the BALES and highlight considerations involved in the development of brief measures of stress and coping processes.     

Associations between miscellaneous symptoms and symptom dimensions in adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Abstract

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating psychiatric condition with a heterogeneous array of obsessions and compulsions. Although factor analytic studies have identified symptom dimensions comprising the clinical presentation of OCD, many frequently reported miscellaneous symptoms are not considered in factor analytic studies because they do not fit conceptually within a particular symptom category, despite being functionally related. In the present study, we examined the associations between miscellaneous symptoms and OCD symptom dimensions in a sample of 111 adults with OCD. Overall, most miscellaneous symptoms were associated with one or more symptom dimensions in previously identified four- (14 of the 22 symptoms) and five-factor models (12 of the 22 symptoms). In both models, Contamination/Cleaning was the only dimension not related to any miscellaneous symptom. The present results provide information about which miscellaneous symptoms may be related to particular symptom dimensions, which will assist in clinical evaluations and help planning behavioral psychotherapy (e.g., hierarchy development).     

The physical activity and sport anxiety scale (PASAS): Scale development and psychometric analysis

Research suggests that social anxiety may be elicited in athletic or sporting situations, resulting in decreased physical activity due to avoidance behavior. Given the myriad physical and psychological health consequences of a non-active lifestyle, valid assessment of social anxiety and avoidance in this domain is warranted. However, none of the common measures of social anxiety appear to assess social anxiety in physical activity or sporting domains. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a brief measure of social anxiety in physical activities and sports. A 16-item self-report questionnaire, the Physical Activity and Sport Anxiety Scale (PASAS), was extracted from a larger pool on empirical and theoretical grounds. The PASAS demonstrated excellent internal consistency across a number of samples, and excellent temporal stability. The PASAS also demonstrated good convergent and divergent validity, and is related to self-perceived performance biases as postulated by cognitive-behavioral models of social anxiety.     

Validation of the Impulsive/Premeditated Aggression Scale in College Students

ABSTRACT

Impulsive (IA) and premeditated (PM) aggression reflect functions of aggressive behavior that may have differential correlates and clinical utility. The purpose of this study was to extend the use of the Impulsive/Premeditated Aggression Scale (IPAS) for characterizing aggression in a college student sample. Three hundred forty students completed the IPAS, Buss and Perry's (1992) Buss, A. H. and Perry, M. 1992. The Aggression Questionnaire. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63: 452–459. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] Aggression Questionnaire (AQ), and measures of childhood maltreatment and negative life events. Principal components analyses supported reliable IA and PM factors. The degree of IA was significantly higher than that of PM. Convergent validity for the IA scale was supported with significant relationships with certain AQ scales. Implications for studying aggressive functions in this age group may inform violence prevention and treatment on college campuses.     

“Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater!” Interpersonal strain at work and burnout

Interpersonal strain represents the feeling of discomfort and disengagement in the relationships with people at work resulting from exceeding social requests and pressures. This article has three aims: (1) to introduce the Interpersonal Strain at Work scale (ISW), (2) to examine its construct validity and reliability, and its relationship with the Maslach Burnout Inventory exhaustion and cynicism; and (3) to test the generalizability of the ISW across different work settings. Multilevel CFA on two samples of call centre agents (5407) and hospital professionals (753), nested in 191 and 43 units, respectively, confirmed the good psychometric properties of the ISW and its distinctiveness from established burnout dimensions. The generalizability of ISW was also supported. Interpersonal strain at work seems to be a promising construct to recapture the interpersonal nature of the burnout syndrome that was lost when the concept of burnout was extended beyond the human services.     

Diagnosing organizational cultures: A conceptual and empirical review of culture effectiveness surveys

This review traces the development of survey research methods within the organizational culture tradition and focuses specifically on those instruments that measure the aspects of culture that are related to organizational effectiveness. Our review suggests that the reliability and validity of most instruments in this category is quite limited. This review outlines the recommended logic for the development and validation of culture effectiveness surveys and identifies three key challenges for future culture researchers to address: (1) the confirmatory testing of nested models, (2) the guidelines for aggregating data to the organizational level, and (3) the establishing of criterion-related validity. Using data from the Denison Organizational Culture Survey, we present an empirical illustration of the three challenges identified above and conclude by considering limitations and opportunities for future research.     

An outline explanation of how therapy heals

Therapists are unable to provide a comprehensive account of therapy as an intelligible activity. This is at least partly due to the unresolved problem of explaining how phenomenology is even possible. An alternative to providing a comprehensive account of therapy is to take the fact of phenomenology for granted and provide just an outline account of how therapy heals. One way this can be achieved is to set therapy in the context of medical anthropology which will facilitate a view of therapy as just another healing ritual. Insight into how healing rituals heal is provided in this paper by a long and in-depth look at the so-called ‘paradox’ of the placebo effect. This will reveal the so-called ‘placebo effect’ as a misunderstood, modern example of healing ritual self-healing. In fact, the single term ‘placebo effect’ will be abandoned and replaced by the two concepts of ‘SMCH’ (‘specifically modified consultation and health care’) and ‘RMH’ (‘response to modified health care’). These two concepts provide an outline explanation of how all healing rituals heal and so provide an outline explanation of how the healing ritual of therapy heals, also. At least one problem arises out of explaining therapy as healing ritual self-healing, namely that this conception conflicts with the idea in therapy circles that, in therapy, it is the relationship that counts. Nonetheless, it will be maintained that the purpose of therapy is healing, that the healing that is achieved is self-healing and that its fulfilment is not dependent upon one-to-one relationships. Finally, it will be argued that the further development of therapy requires a better understanding of what aids and obstructs psycho-emotional self-healing.     

Acceptance and values-based action in chronic pain: a three-year follow-up analysis of treatment effectiveness and process

Recent developments in CBT emphasize the promotion of psychological flexibility to improve daily functioning for people with a wide range of health conditions. In particular, one of these approaches, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), has been studied for treatment of chronic pain. While trials have provided good support for treatment effectiveness through follow-ups of as long as seven months, the longer-term impact is not known. The present study of 108 participants with chronic pain examined outcomes three years after treatment completion and included analyses of two key treatment processes, acceptance of pain and values-based action. Overall, results indicated significant improvements in emotional and physical functioning relative to the start of treatment, as well as good maintenance of treatment gains relative to an earlier follow-up assessment. Effect size statistics were generally medium or large. At the three-year follow-up, 64.8% of patients had reliably improved in at least one key domain. Improvements in acceptance of pain and values-based action were associated with improvements in outcome measures. A “treatment responder” analysis, using variables collected at pre-treatment and shorter term follow-up, failed to identify any salient predictors of response. This study adds to the growing literature supporting the effectiveness of ACT for chronic pain and yields evidence for both statistical and clinical significance of improvements over a three-year period.