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CONTENTS ORIGINAL RESEARCH
ABSTRACTS
In a cognitive model, Clark and Wells (1995) proposed that individuals with social phobia use bodily information to construct a distorted impression of their observable selves. In this study, we conducted a preliminary test of this hypothesis by manipulating the provision of heart rate information in four groups of participants scoring high or low on social-evaluative anxiety (SEA), and examined the effects of this manipulation on anxiety, perspective taking, and social performance. Comparisons were made between two high SEA and two low SEA groups who received information suggesting their heart rate had increased, or no information, prior to a threatening social interaction task. The results showed that high SEA individuals receiving information concerning an increase in heart rate reported significantly greater anxiety, negative social performance, and greater proportion of observer perspectives than high SEA individuals receiving no such information. This bodily information, however, did not affect participants' heart rates. The results provide support for Clark and Wells's model. McElroy, Keck, and Phillips (1995) hypothesized that compulsive buying belongs to a compulsive-impulsive spectrum and should be related to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This study compared compulsive buyers to noncompulsive buyers on hoarding and OCD symptoms. Compulsive buyers scored higher on both types of symptoms, but the relationship between buying and OCD was mainly mediated by hoarding. A measure of buying that emphasized financial consequences correlated highly with measures emphasizing the psychological function of possessions and the acquisition of free things (e.g., handouts at a lecture, free newspapers, etc.). The latter 2 buying measures were more closely associated with hoarding and OCD than the buying measure emphasizing financial concerns. A reconceptualization of compulsive buying is proposed incorporating the broader construct of acquisition. This study examined the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire–IV (GAD-Q-IV), a revised self-report diagnostic measure of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) based on the fourth edition of the DSM. GAD-Q-IV diagnoses were compared to structured interview diagnoses of individuals with GAD, social phobia, panic disorder, and nonanxious controls. Using Receiver Operating Characteristics analyses, the GAD-Q-IV showed 89% specificity and 83% sensitivity. The GAD-Q-IV also demonstrated test-retest reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, and kappa agreement of .67 with a structured interview. Students diagnosed with GAD by the GAD-Q-IV were not significantly different on two measures than a GAD community sample, but both groups had significantly higher scores than students identified as not meeting criteria for GAD, demonstrating clinical validity of the GAD-Q-IV. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an empirically supported treatment of body-image dissatisfaction and dysphoria, even when largely self-administered with only modest therapist contact. The present investigation compared the relative effectiveness of selected components of Cash's (1997) body-image CBT program administered in self-help modality. Participants were 89 body-dissatisfied persons who enrolled in the program and were randomly assigned to one of two 6-week, self-help conditions: (a) psychoeducation plus self-monitoring, or (b) this intervention combined with procedures to identify and alter dysfunctional body-image cognitions. All assessments and materials were distributed and returned by postal mail. Among program completers, both conditions produced statistically and clinically significant improvements in multiple facets of body image and psychosocial functioning. Despite high levels of program attrition (53%), results were confirmed by the more conservative intent-to-treat analyses. Predictors of attrition were identified. Further analyses ruled out several variables as moderators of program effectiveness. The unexpected lack of differential effectiveness between the two self-help conditions was possibly the result of low compliance with the added cognitive-change components. We discussed the limitations and implications of our findings vis-à-vis the clinical use and scientific study of components of body-image CBT in various modalities of program delivery. Traditionally, psychotherapy outcome research has been analyzed using statistical tests of significance. Inherent limitations in this approach, however, have contributed to the assessment of clinical significance being advocated as a method by which to evaluate change. In this study, Tingey, Lambert, Burlingame, and Hansen's (1996a, 1996b) extensions and clarifications of Jacobson, Follette, and Revenstorf's (1984) method for evaluating clinically significant change were applied to the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961; Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979). A three-sample normative continuum (asymptomatic community, community, and clinically symptomatic) was formulated from the community and the existing literature. The distinctness of the normative samples was assessed by using three statistical procedures, including a t test, a d test, and a test of bioequivalence; and reliable change indices and cutoff points were calculated. The cutoff scores that were developed may prove useful in research and clinical practice. Injury is the leading killer of children in the United States, yet little research has focused on this vital subject. One of the distinct barriers to injury prevention is the absence of effective assessment devices. Epidemiological aspects of injury have been assessed, but these provide little information at a level sufficient to allow conclusions about potential behavioral prevention methods. This paper describes an alternative, the Participant Event Monitoring (PEM) system. In this paper, the PEM system is used to examine a sample of 170 toddlers (ages 18 to 36 months), over a 6-month period, resulting in data on over 4,200 injuries, 1,000 proactive interventions, and 300 reactive interventions. PEM involves a structured interview, producing detailed information concerning measures of antecedents, events, and consequences of injury. Sample PEM data are included. Its ultimate goal is to guide effective interventions to decrease childhood injury. In a sample of married couples, approximately half of which included a wife with major depression, we evaluated whether mood reactivity (i.e., pre- to post-interaction changes in mood) to marital conflict resolution interactions was associated with marital dissatisfaction, depression, or both. In support of the marital discord model of depression, results indicated that greater marital dissatisfaction was associated with greater increases in depressed mood for both wives and husbands; depressed wives also reported greater increases in depressed mood than nondepressed wives. In comparison, husbands of depressed wives did not differ in their mood reactivity from husbands of nondepressed wives, which failed to support Coyne's (1976b) interpersonal theory of depression. Results suggest that the mood-reactivity paradigm may provide an important framework for evaluating partners' experiences of changes in moods following intimate interactions. Although panic expectancy and the experience of anxiety are clearly related, their causal relationship remains unclear. A series of autoregressive latent trajectory models was used to evaluate the relationship between the highest level of daily anxiety and panic expectancy over time. Participants (N = 45) who met criteria for panic disorder with agoraphobia filled out daily diary measures over a 10-day period. It was hypothesized that expectation of panic (measured in the morning) would be primarily responsible for the maintenance of daily anxiety (measured in the evening). Daily anxiety was found to be influenced by a traitlike anxiety component, anxiety from the previous day, and morning expectation of panic. Panic expectancy was found to be influenced by a traitlike expectancy component, but not by the previous day's anxiety. Limitations of the model and future applications are discussed. |
COSTAS PAPAGEORGIOU AND ADRIAN WELLS.