International Journal of Cognitive Therapy最新文献

Increased quality of life (QoL) is rated by patients as a primary factor in determining recovery from psychopathology. Cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBTs) are the most well-researched psychotherapies for internalizing disorders and appear effective at reducing symptoms even when delivered by trainees. Existing research suggests that the effects of CBTs on QoL are more modest than their effects on symptoms. However, little is known about the effects of trainee-delivered CBT on life satisfaction, a subjective measure of QoL. We analyzed data from 93 clients treated by students (n=23) in a graduate-level training clinic using an intent-to-treat approach, completers case analyses, and random forest imputation. Across methods of handling missing data, improvements in anxiety, depression, and CBT skills were more marked than improvements in QoL. Exploratory analyses suggested baseline life satisfaction was the strongest predictor of end-of-treatment life satisfaction. Future research should explore alternatives to "standard" CBT for clients with low life satisfaction.

Research has shown threat overestimation is significantly associated with intolerance of uncertainty (IU), and both processes predict higher anxiety and safety behavior usage. However, the extent to which threat overestimation predicts subsequent COVID-19-related distress may vary as a function of IU. The present study examined IU as a moderator of the relationship between COVID-19 threat estimation and subsequent COVID-19 fear and safety behavior use. Between February 27 and March 26, 2020, participants (N = 57) completed a self-report measure of IU and estimated the number of people they believed had died from COVID-19. Four weeks later, participants completed measures of COVID-19 fear and safety behavior use. Results revealed IU significantly predicted subsequent COVID-19 fear and safety behavior use. IU also moderated the effect of threat estimation on COVID-19 fear such that those who underestimated threat and experienced low to moderate levels of IU reported experiencing lower levels of COVID-19 fear 1 month later.

This study was aimed at exploring the possible roles of the cognitive attentional syndrome (CAS) and metacognitive beliefs in moderating the relationships between fear of coronavirus during the pandemic and health anxiety. Because some symptoms of health anxiety may overlap with symptoms of other anxiety disorders, we also tried to ascertain whether our hypothesized relations would be maintained when taking other anxiety disorder symptoms into account. We hypothesized that CAS strategies and meta-beliefs would play a role in the progression from fears of the coronavirus to coronavirus health anxiety. The method done was a cross-sectional study with n = 783 participants who completed questionnaires on fear of coronavirus, coronavirus-specific health anxiety, CAS, and symptoms of anxiety disorders. Fear of coronavirus and coronavirus health anxiety are correlated with medium effect size. CAS and metacognitive beliefs moderate the relationship between fear of coronavirus and symptoms of coronavirus-specific health anxiety. CAS predicts a unique part of health anxiety symptoms variance above symptoms of other anxiety disorders. The results of this cross-sectional study preclude causal inferences but tentatively suggest that CAS strategies may play a role in moderating the relationship between fear of coronavirus and coronavirus-related health anxiety. These relationships were obtained after controlling for variance shared with agoraphobia, social phobia, and general physical symptoms of anxiety.

Suicide is a public health concern which warrants considerable attention, especially with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study sought to examine the relationship between behavioral, psychological, and economic impacts of COVID-19 on suicidal ideation severity in a sample of 90 undergraduate students who completed a comprehensive survey on mental health in January 2020 and were re-assessed in April, June, and July of 2020. Multiple regression analyses showed that changes in experience of loneliness, loneliness due to social distancing, pandemic-related concerns, COVID contagion anxiety, and quarantining alone positively and significantly correlated with peri-pandemic suicidal ideation severity after accounting for pre-pandemic suicidal ideation and sexual orientation, while time spent talking to romantic partner and time spent talking to friends and family were negatively correlated. Findings provide insights into the psychological and behavioral effects of social distancing measures and the pandemic, but further research is needed to generalize findings.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s41811-022-00140-2.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s41811-021-00123-9.].

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered increased rates of depression, especially among college students. Due to social distancing guidelines, loneliness has been suspected as a prominent factor in depression during the pandemic. Research is needed to identify possible mechanisms through which loneliness conveys risk for pandemic-era depression. Two potential mechanisms are boredom and repetitive negative thinking (RNT). This study examined cross-sectional associations between depression, loneliness, boredom, and RNT in a sample of college students (N = 199) in April 2020 immediately following campus closure. Results showed a serial indirect effect of loneliness on depression through boredom then RNT. Moreover, specific indirect effects of loneliness on depression were found through boredom and RNT, individually. Though limited by the cross-sectional design, these data align with cognitive-behavioral theory and identify boredom and RNT as possible mechanisms of the association between loneliness and depression in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research on the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 has found significant levels of distress among the general population, and among those especially vulnerable due to chronic social or health challenges. Among these are individuals aging with HIV infection, who are encountering COVID-19 as a new infectious threat to their health and wellbeing. In a longitudinal observational study of the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 in middle-aged and older people living with HIV, we identified a subset of participants who expressed heightened levels of distress and were referred for clinical intervention. This paper describes the supportive and contemporary cognitive-behavioral interventions that were provided and presents data on changes in distress in this case series. This work provides a model for identifying people in at-risk groups in acute need of psychological intervention and for implementing an individualized clinical response that can be safely delivered in the context of COVID-19 and future crisis situations.

Chronic worry and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms are associated with infrequent savoring, and high dampening, of positive emotions. The goal of the present study was to investigate the indirect role of GAD-relevant processes, including intolerance of uncertainty (IU), fear of negative emotional contrasts, and negative beliefs about positive emotion and its regulation, in the relationship between GAD symptom severity and the tendency to engage in dampening and not savor positive emotions. Community participants (N = 233) completed questionnaires online. In separate models, IU, fear of negative emotional contrasts, and negative beliefs about positive emotion and its regulation fully mediated the relationships between GAD symptom severity and greater dampening and lower savoring. However, controlling for depression, only IU remained a significant mediator. A post hoc latent analysis of the mediators provided support for an underlying construct that may reflect intolerance of uncomfortable states. Intolerance of uncomfortable states was found to significantly mediate the relationship between GAD symptoms and greater dampening and lower savoring. Difficulty withstanding uncertainty may be particularly relevant in understanding why people with elevated GAD symptoms engage in efforts to avoid experiencing positive emotions. Further, the findings suggest that there may be a common factor underlying a variety of GAD-associated constructs reflecting a broad intolerance of uncomfortable inner states. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s41811-022-00145-x.

Dusseldorf Illustrated Schema Questionnaire for Children (DISC) measures early maladaptive schemas (EMS) in childhood. EMS are emotional and cognitive rules and patterns formed in childhood and adolescence because of unmet emotional needs which are maintained throughout life and negatively affect one's potential. The first aim of the current study is to adapt DISC to the Turkish language and examine its psychometric properties to facilitate preventive intervention during early childhood. The second aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between schemas and childhood difficulties. The sample consisted of 771 (419 females, 352 males) children of first graders (8-year-old) to twelfth graders (14-year-old) from 54 of the 81 cities in Turkey. Cronbach's α value for the total of 36 items was calculated as .89 and α values for subscales ranged between .42 and .83. The test-retest reliability coefficient of the total of the scale was .79 at 1 month and subscales' test-retest values ranged between .31 and .91. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit for the purported 18-factor model of the original DISC in the Turkish version within a sample of children from diverse socio-economic and cultural backgrounds from Turkey. The Turkish version of the DISC indicated a reliable and valid instrument to assess maladaptive schemas in children.