Responses to symptom induction exercises in panic disorder

Exposure to panic symptoms (interoceptive exposure) is often included as part of treatment for panic disorder (PD), although little is known about the relative effects of particular symptom induction exercises. This study describes responses of individuals with PD and nonclinical controls to 13 standard symptom induction exercises and 3 control exercises. Generally, individuals with PD responded more strongly to symptom induction exercises than did controls. The exercises producing the most fear included spinning, hyperventilation, breathing through a straw, and using a tongue depressor. This study also reports findings regarding specific symptoms triggered by each exercise, the percentage of participants reporting fear during each exercise, and predictors of fear.     

The Role of Maternal Acceptance in the Relation Between Community Violence Exposure and Child Functioning

Children in the United States are exposed to considerable community violence that has been linked to child functioning. However, not all those exposed, experience negative outcomes. Recent research has focused on factors that “buffer” or protect children from negative consequences of violence exposure. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the potential buffering or moderating role of maternal acceptance in the relationship between community violence exposure and internalizing and externalizing problems. Subjects were 268 urban African American first graders. Community violence exposure was significantly related to symptoms of post-traumatic stress, but did not correlate with either internalizing or externalizing problems for all children, after control for demographics, maternal mental health, and general life stress. However, children's perceptions of maternal acceptance moderated the relationship between violence exposure and internalizing and externalizing problems which included being withdrawn, anxious-depressed, and demonstrating delinquent behavior. Children with the lowest levels of self-reported maternal acceptance were most impacted by community violence. In this sample of urban first graders, low levels of maternal acceptance placed children at greater risk for adverse outcomes associated with community violence exposure compared to moderate and high levels of maternal acceptance.     

Efficacy of self-administered treatments for pathological academic worry: A randomized controlled trial

Research on treatments for reducing pathological worry is limited. In particular, academic worry is a common theme in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) samples as well as non-clinical student samples. Given the high cost of anxiety disorders to society, research is needed to examine the efficacy of self-administered treatments designed to reduce pathological worry. The primary goal of this study was to investigate the benefits of three self-administered interventions for reducing academic worry. College students (N = 113) experiencing clinically significant academic worry were randomized to either: (a) worry exposure (WE); (b) expressive writing (EW); (c) relaxation consisting of pulsed audio-photic stimulation (APS); or (d) waitlist control (WLC). Participants were instructed to practice their interventions three times per week for one month and completed home practice logs online to track treatment adherence. Academic worry, general anxiety, and perceived stress were assessed at baseline and post-treatment. Academic worry and general anxiety were also assessed at a three-month follow-up. Those assigned to the WE and APS conditions showed significant improvement relative to EW and WLC at post-treatment. All treatment conditions showed continued improvement by follow-up, with no between-group differences. Treatment and public health implications are discussed.     

Couple Therapy and Addictions

Abstract

Therapies for alcoholism, substance abuse, and other addictions traditionally focus on characteristics of individuals such as behaviors, thoughts, and emotions. These kinds of programs tend to target problems inside the abusing person rather than a relational system. Treatments that are more recent locate the problems within systems of people. Regardless of the locus or cause of the abuse or addiction, seen as arising from disease processes, systemic dynamics, or other mechanisms that lead to unfortunate habits and behaviors, utilizing the individual's partner or family in therapy has become an important part of successful treatment. This article reviews models of couple treatment for alcoholics and substance abusers in terms of initiation into treatment, primary treatment, and relapse prevention.     

Influence of Co‐Morbid Generalized Anxiety Disorder,Panic Disorder and Personality Disorders on the Outcome of Cognitive Behavioural Treatment of Obsessive‐Compulsive Disorder

This study examined co‐morbid generalized anxiety disorder and/or panic disorder and personality disorders as predictors of treatment outcomes in adult outpatients with obsessive‐compulsive disorder. The patients received exposure with response prevention (ERP) treatment with the addition of either elements of cognitive therapy (ERP+CT) or relaxation training (ERP+REL). It was hypothesized that the addition of cognitive interventions would yield better treatment outcomes for patients with co‐morbid generalized anxiety disorder and/or panic disorder. It was also hypothesized that patients with any personality disorder would show less treatment gains in both conditions. Using intention‐to‐treat criteria, patients with generalized anxiety disorder and/or panic disorder co‐morbidity showed less treatment gains at post‐treatment across both treatment conditions. This group showed significantly more treatment gains in the ERP+CT condition at the post‐treatment and the 12‐month follow‐up assessments compared with patients in the ERP+REL condition. However, this was not significant when comparing treatment completers. Patients with a co‐morbid Cluster A or B personality disorder showed significantly less treatment gains in both treatment conditions at the 12‐month follow‐up assessment. Among treatment completers, patients with a Cluster C personality disorder showed significantly better outcomes at the post‐treatment assessment in the ERP+REL treatment condition. These results, clinical implications, and the importance of further investigations are discussed.     

Psychological sequelae of remote exposure to the September 11th terrorist attacks in Canadians with and without panic

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the psychological impact of remote exposure to the events and aftermath of the terrorist attacks in the USA on September 11th, 2001, and to assess what differences, if any, exist between individuals classified with probable panic disorder and those without. Telephone interviews were conducted with 122 residents of the capital city of the Canadian prairie province of Saskatchewan in spring 2002 in order to gather information regarding current mood, fears and avoidance behaviours as well as current post‐traumatic stress disorder symptoms specific to September 11th. Consistent with previous findings and despite the remote nature of exposure, results indicated that the psychological well‐being and behaviour of participants with probable panic disorder was more adversely affected by the events and aftermath of September 11th than those without panic disorder. These results suggest that remote viewing of traumatic events can have a significant and lingering impact on psychological well‐being and behaviour and that these effects are more pronounced in those with panic disorder. Implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed.     

Name Letter Preferences Are Not Merely Mere Exposure: Implicit Egotism as Self-Regulation

People prefer the letters in their own names to letters that are not in their own names. Furthermore, people prefer the numbers in their own birthdays to numbers not in their own birthdays. In this article we argue that these examples of implicit egotism are best conceptualized as the product of unconscious self-regulation processes rather than a result of mere exposure. In support of this hypothesis, a study of name-letter preferences showed that people preferred their own name letters even when these letters were relatively rare. Furthermore, the name-letter and birthday-number preferences of high and low self-esteem participants diverged in response to an experimentally manipulated self-concept threat. We conclude that implicit egotism, specifically name-letter and birthday-number preferences, represent a form of unconscious self-regulation. Implications of these results for the mere exposure explanation of name-letter preferences and for theory and research in implicit egotism are discussed.     

小鼠新颖寻求特质对酒精的运动激活效应的影响

新颖寻求(或感觉寻求)特质与许多成瘾药物的易感性密切相关。例如, 高、低新颖寻求动物对可卡因、苯丙胺和吗啡等成瘾药物的奖赏、运动激活、强化效应的反应存在差异。长期饮用酒精也容易成瘾, 但尚未发现关于新颖寻求特质影响酒精成瘾的报道。本实验采用药物成瘾研究中常用的自发活动模型, 考察了高、低新颖寻求动物在酒精急性处理、慢性处理和激发过程中的行为表现。实验过程中首先采用两种新颖寻求模型, 即新颖环境中自发活动模型和新颖客体偏爱模型, 将昆明小鼠分别区分为高、低自发活动组和高、低新颖客体偏爱组, 连续10天给予酒精(2g/kg/d, i.p.)或等量盐水处理, 戒断2天后所有小鼠接受酒精(2g/kg)激发。实验结果表明, 新颖环境低自发活动小鼠比新颖环境高自发活动小鼠对酒精急性、慢性处理导致的运动激活效应更敏感; 在酒精激发期前者的自发活动水平也高于后者。本实验结果说明新颖环境中自发活动特质影响动物对酒精导致的运动激活效应的反应。     

酒精对前注意加工的影响：失匹配负波的证据

前注意是指在注意之前对事物进行该不该注意分析的心理过程, 它对人适应不断变化的环境具有很重要的作用。近年来一些研究者用失匹配负波(Mismatch Negtivity, MMN)作为前注意加工的ERP指标探讨了酒精对人前注意加工的影响, 结果发现：1)急性摄入超过0.3g/kg的酒精, 人的MMN波幅会显著减小, 波峰潜伏期显著延长; 2)长期慢性摄入酒精, 人的MMN不仅表现为波幅减小和波峰潜伏期延迟, 而且在戒断酒精之后, MMN又会逐渐恢复正常; 3)有酒精成瘾家族史的子代的MMN没发现异常。这些研究结果说明酒精的急性和慢性摄入会损害人的前注意加工, 但尚未发现这种损害会影响到下一代的证据。     

流动人口的饮酒行为及其影响因素分析

选择从农村流入到北京打工的18-30岁的年轻流动人口共2201人参加问卷调查,要求被试自我报告他们的饮酒行为、流动时间、流动城市数量以及抑郁和满意度状况,并根据他们所从事的13种职业的性质将之归类为“低危”和“高危”两类,以考察环境和个体因素与流动人口饮酒行为的关系。结果表明:(1)在过去1个月中,27%的流动人口曾醉过酒,男性流动人口的醉酒率是女性的2倍(35%vs.16%)。但流动人口的饮酒行为不存在显著的年龄、教育水平和婚姻状况的差异;(2)相关分析表明,高危职业流动人口的饮酒行为显著地高于低危职业的流动人口。同时,与没有醉过酒的流动人口相比,曾醉酒者的抑郁情绪更多,生活和工作满意度更低;(3)Amos结果表明,环境和个体因素相互作用影响流动人口的饮酒行为。流动性通过满意度以及抑郁情绪间接地影响流动人口的饮酒行为,职业性质对饮酒行为产生直接的影响,同时,职业性质又通过生活满意度和抑郁情绪间接地作用于流动人口的饮酒行为。