Presence of PTSD is Associated with Clinical and Functional Impact in Veterans with Depression Treated in Community-Based Clinics

Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings - Providers in non-traditional mental health settings (e.g., primary care, community medical clinics) face challenges involving patients who often...     

“亚当·斯密问题”的逻辑张力

“亚当·斯密问题”是指斯密的《国富论》与《道德情操论》之间存在着对立或不一致的问题,最初由十九世纪中叶的德国历史学派所提出。此后,随着现实与理论的发展,出现了不同的看法。学者们普遍认为,斯密的两大著作之间、经济学与伦理学之间存在着对立或者不存在对立,而是相互一致的。这些看法都具有各自的积极合理的内容,但缺乏辩证的观点,而没有看到“斯密问题”自身的逻辑张力,也就是说,“斯密问题”所指涉的是现实的经济与伦理之间及作为其理论表现的经济学与伦理学之间的关系。“斯密问题”所含的这些关系呈现出了一个动态的、由肯定到否定再到否定之否定的辩证过程。     

Presence and television.

Film and a number of emerging entertainment technologies offer media consumers an illusion of nonmediation known as presence. To investigate the possibility that television can evoke presence, 65 undergraduate students were shown brief examples of rapid point‐of‐view movement from commercially available videotapes on a television with either a small screen (12 inches [30.5 cm], measured diagonally) or a large screen (46 inches [116.8 cm]). Participants' responses were measured via a questionnaire and a computer‐based recording of arousal (electrodermal activity). Viewers of both televisions reported an enjoyable sense of physical movement, excitement, involvement, and a sense of participation. Furthermore, as predicted, participants who watched the large screen television thought the movement in the scenes was faster, experienced a greater sense of physical movement, enjoyed the movement to a greater extent, found the viewing experience more exciting, and were more physiologically aroused. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.     

The Nature of Generalized Anxiety in Older Primary Care Patients: Preliminary Findings

Clinical features of older primary care patients with GAD (PC-GAD; n = 22) were examined relative to older patients with GAD recruited for two academic clinical trials (M. A. Stanley, J. G. Beck, et al., 2003; J. L. Wetherell, M. Gatz, & M. G, Craske, 2003) and to a sample of older primary care patients without psychiatric diagnoses (No Dx; n = 10). Comparisons revealed similar levels of worry, anxiety, depressive symptoms, quality of life, and functional status between the PC-GAD subsample and patients recruited for academic trials, although primary care patients were older, less well educated, and more ethnically diverse. The PC-GAD subgroup, however, reported greater symptom severity, reduced quality of life, and poorer perceived general health, mental health, and vitality than the No Dx subgroup (² = .23–.43). Service utilization was not different between PC-GAD and No Dx subgroups, with the exception of psychotropic medication use. The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) and an abbreviated version of this measure may be useful for identifying late-life GAD in primary care. Cutoff scores of 50 and 22 on the full and abbreviated versions of the PSWQ, respectively, demonstrated excellent specificity, sensitivity, and positive predictive value. Negative predictive value was less impressive, probably as a result of high base rates for GAD in this sample.     

Age,Emotion Regulation Strategies,Temperament, Creative Drama,and Preschoolers' Creativity

Based on Yeh's (2004) Ecological Systems Model of Creativity Development, this study investigated the effects that age, the use of emotion regulation strategies, temperament, and exposure to creative drama instruction have on the development of creativity among preschool children. Participants were 1164‐ to 6‐year‐old preschool children. This study categorized the emotion regulation strategies used by preschool children and developed a creativity test which includes the measurement of usefulness, an indicator of creativity that has, until now, been ignored. The main findings are that (a) 6‐year‐olds outperform 4‐ and 5‐year‐olds in terms of creativity; (b) emotion regulation strategies as well as a positive temperament have positive effects on children's creativity; (c) creative drama instruction contributes to children's creativity; and (d) age group, emotion regulation strategies, temperament, and creative drama instruction can collectively predict children's creativity.     

Age-Related Personality Differences in Inpatients with Personality Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Study

There are few empirical studies of age-associated differences in personality characteristics of individuals diagnosed with Personality Disorder (PD), and none that comparatively examine multiple personality characteristics, with a variety of psychological measures, across a wide age range in adults diagnosed with PD and coexisting substance abuse. Personality test data of 392 psychiatric inpatients diagnosed with PD were analyzed by age group. Patients were assessed with the California Psychological Inventory, Psychological Inventory of Personality and Symptoms, Diagnostic Inventory of Personality and Symptoms, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-1, and the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-1. There were no age differences in the number of patients diagnosed with PD, but older adults were significantly less likely to be diagnosed with more than one PD. Older patients with PD were significantly less impulsive, paranoid, high-energy, antisocial, and irresponsible than younger patients with PD. It appears that, with aging, there is a general mellowing of personality for those diagnosed with PD, which may be related to the proposed geriatric variants of PD.     

Psychological Distress Among Religious Nonbelievers: A Systematic Review

Studies of religious belief and psychological health are on the rise, but most overlook atheists and agnostics. We review 14 articles that examine differences between nonbelievers and believers in levels of psychological distress, and potential sources of distress among nonbelievers. Various forms of psychological distress are experienced by nonbelievers, and greater certainty in one’s belief system is associated with greater psychological health. We found one well-documented source of distress for nonbelievers: negative perceptions by others. We provide recommendations for improving research on nonbelievers and suggest a model analogous to Pargament’s tripartite spiritual struggle to understand the stresses of nonbelief.     

A Review of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Panic Disorder in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: The Rationale for Interoceptive Exposure

Panic disorder commonly co-occurs in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and translational interventions are needed to address the fear of physiological arousal in this population. This paper examines the utility of interoceptive exposures (IE), a key component of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for panic disorder, in patients with comorbid panic and COPD. Our translational review of the literature suggests that IE is supported by both cognitive- and learning-theory perspectives of panic, and that the breathing exercises associated with IE are safe and highly compatible with existing pulmonary rehabilitation exercises for COPD. Unfortunately, few research studies have examined the use of CBT to treat anxiety in COPD patients, and none have included IE. Given the strong theoretical and empirical support for the use of IE, we suggest that mental health providers should consider incorporating IE into CBT interventions for patients with comorbid panic and COPD.