Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy最新文献

Introduction: Following a period of social isolation from the COVID-19 pandemic, social interactions may be particularly complicated for individuals with elevated levels of social anxiety. One potential implication relates to the use of face masks. Face masks have been used as an effective tool to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. However, for individuals with elevated social anxiety, face masks may be a form of avoidance and type of safety behavior and discontinued use of face masks may be associated with increases in social anxiety. In response to these possibilities, the purpose of this study was to develop a measure to assess potential anxiety-related reactions to face masks. Method: Participants were 564 nonreferred young adults who completed a measure developed for this study to assess behaviors and reactions to face masks (Reaction to Face Masks Questionnaire), including anxiety and avoidance behaviors. Measures of social anxiety, more general avoidance, and safety behaviors were also included. Results: Based on an exploratory factor analysis, a two-factor model was retained. Safety-Seeking and Avoidance (SSA) measures reductions in social anxiety derived from a feeling of safety when wearing a face mask, and Social Interference measures increases in social anxiety symptoms related to the interference/inhibition of social interactions related to wearing masks. Both subscales were found to be associated with general measures of social anxiety, more general avoidance, and safety behaviors; however, the correlations were more robust for the SSA subscale. Discussion: Based on the current findings, general social anxiety and common correlates of social anxiety, including safety-seeking behaviors, were found to be associated with face mask anxiety and avoidance. Implications for future research and potential clinical practice are discussed.

There is emerging interest in understanding positive affect dysfunction in relation to anxiety, including worry. This set of two studies examined the association between the inhibition of affect expression (general affect expressivity in Study 1, positive affect expressivity in Study 2) and worry, with a particular interest in the moderating role of proneness to experience positive affect. Subjects were US-residing adults (Study 1 N = 502, Study 2 N = 250) who were recruited through a crowdsourcing website and completed self-report measures of study variables. Moderated regression was used to examine study predictions that affect expression would negatively correlate with worry when coupled with diminished positive affect. Proneness toward negative affect was included as a covariate within multivariate analyses. An interactive effect between affect expressivity and positive affect was supported in Study 2 (positive affect expressivity) but not Study 1 (general affect expressivity) in relation to worry. A diminished tendency to express positive affect was associated with greater worry when coupled with less positive affect. Study results and future directions are discussed in terms of the potential emotion-regulatory functions of positive affect expressivity as it relates to worry.

This study aimed to examine the mediating role of self-compassion and social anxiety in the relationship between cognitive distortions and emotional eating. The research was carried out on 406 adult individuals between the ages of 18-25 living in different regions of Turkey. To measure research variables, Liebowitz social anxiety, thought types, self-sensitivity, and Turkish emotional eating scale were used. The scales were distributed to the participants online. The data were analyzed through the SPSS program. In the study, it was determined that self-compassion predicted emotional eating negatively and social anxiety predicted emotional eating positively. According to the results of the serial mediation analysis, it was determined that self-compassion and social anxiety mediated the relationship between cognitive distortions and emotional eating separately.

This study aims to examine the relative contribution of anger cognitions and anger rumination in predicting externalizing and internalizing problems among 180 adolescents (aged 11-18 years) using correlational and linear regression analysis. Our findings showed that anger rumination predicted both externalizing (aggressive behaviors) and internalizing problems (anxious, depressive, and somatic symptoms). In contrast, biased anger cognitions did not appear to meaningfully predict either externalizing or internalizing symptoms, with the only exception of the hostile verbal labels and catastrophic cognitive attributions, a factor that was significantly associated with both rule-breaking behaviors (ß = .339, p < .01) and aggressive behaviors (ß = .238, p < .05). Anger rumination accounted for a higher rate of variance of psychopathology compared with anger cognitions and should be addressed in interventions for either externalizing or internalizing symptoms in adolescence.

Emerging research suggests that psychological inflexibility may be a factor contributing to the development and maintenance of insomnia. However, less is known about the potential cognitive pathways that may explain this relationship. In this study, we investigated the serial mediating effects of psychological inflexibility and daytime insomnia-related rumination on the association between dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep (DBAS) and insomnia symptoms. The sample included 490 college students who underwent assessments at two time points over a 1-month period. The results of our mediational tests yielded significant indirect effects, supporting the prediction that psychological inflexibility and daytime insomnia rumination serially mediate the relationship between DBAS and insomnia. The study provides insights into potential mechanisms for insomnia, emphasizing the role of psychological inflexibility in perpetuating maladaptive cognitive processes associated with insomnia. Future researchers should explore other maladaptive responses to insomnia-related concerns and distress, such as worry and safety behaviors, and replicate findings in clinically elevated insomnia samples.

While exposure therapy is the most effective psychological treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety, and traumatic stress-related disorders, it is not universally effective, indicating a need for further treatment optimization. This study investigated a shift in approach to exposure therapy with 29 treatment-refractory adults in an OCD clinic not responding to standard treatment, comprising habituation-based exposure therapy. Participants completed standard exposure as a continuation of standard clinic treatment, followed by an acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) consultation session to assess psychological inflexibility processes interfering with treatment progress, and then an ACT-based exposure targeting behavior change through increasing psychological flexibility. After each exposure, participants and independent raters reported levels of psychological flexibility, rituals, distress, treatment engagement, and treatment perceptions. We observed that the shift to ACT-based exposure was associated with greater psychological flexibility, treatment engagement, treatment acceptability, and treatment preference. These findings suggest that there may be situations where ACT-based exposure has particular utility.