"Psychotherapy" Versus "Treatment".

Presents a comment on "Psychological treatments" (see record 2004-21168-001) by D. H. Barlow. Barlow proposed that we distinguish between the terms "treatment" and "psychotherapy." The author believes that not only is the distinction unnecessary, but that its implications could have negative consequences for the field of clinical psychology. It is the proposed distinguishing feature that treatments are "specifically tailored to the pathological process that is causing the impairment and distress" that is most problematic. Clinical psychology does not need a distinction that further exacerbates the split between researchers and practitioners. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anxiety and perceived causation in social success and failure experiences: Disconfirmation of an attribution hypothesis in two experiments.

Two experiments were designed to test hypotheses derived from an attribution model of psychopathology as applied to social anxiety. In the 2 studies with 64 male undergraduates each, Ss first interacted with a female confederate who behaved either warmly (success) or coldly (failure) toward them. All Ss then interacted with a 2nd confederate who behaved warmly. It was predicted that high social anxiety (Social Avoidance and Distress Scale) would be associated with the internal attribution of social failure and the external attribution of social success (Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale). By contrast, it was predicted that low social anxiety would be associated with the internal attribution of social success and the external attribution of social failure. In Exp I, patterns of attribution were manipulated in normal Ss, and the effects of the manipulations were examined with respect to their subsequent social anxiety. In Exp II, the attributional patterns of high and low socially anxious men were examined in success and failure situations. Neither study provided any support for the hypothesis relating attibutional patterns to social anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The efficacy of motivational interviewing: A meta-analysis of controlled clinical trials.

A meta-analysis was conducted on controlled clinical trials investigating adaptations of motivational interviewing (AMIs), a promising approach to treating problem behaviors. AMIs were equivalent to other active treatments and yielded moderate effects (from .25 to .57) compared with no treatment and/or placebo for problems involving alcohol, drugs, and diet and exercise. Results did not support the efficacy of AMIs for smoking or HIV-risk behaviors. AMIs showed clinical impact, with 51% improvement rates, a 56% reduction in client drinking, and moderate effect sizes on social impact measures (d=0.47). Potential moderators (comparative dose, AMI format, and problem area) were identified using both homogeneity analyses and exploratory multiple regression. Results are compared with other review results and suggestions for future research are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preliminary report on practice dating and feedback as treatment for college dating problems.

Matched 14 male and 14 female undergraduates who volunteered for a program to increase their dating effectiveness for 6 dates, each date with a different opposite-sex S. Matching was random within S-specified constraints of age, height, race, and distance from campus. After each date, Ss exchanged feedback forms via the E. Feedback forms called for 4 positive aspects of the other and 1 behavior that the other should change. Heterosexual interaction frequency and subjective measures of comfort (e.g., a Social Anxiety and Distress scale, the Fear of Negative Evaluation scale, and the S-R Inventory of Anxiousness) increased significantly with treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Therapist differences in cognitive–behavioral psychotherapy for generalized anxiety disorder: A pilot study.

Little is known about factors differentiating more and less effective therapists or the mechanisms through which therapists influence outcome. In the present study, the performance of a small sample of 4 therapists was compared in the context of delivering cognitive–behavioral psychotherapy (CBT) to 32 clients with generalized anxiety disorder. More effective therapists were characterized by higher observer-rated CBT competence, higher client outcome expectations and client treatment credibility assessments, and higher early treatment client ratings of therapeutic alliance quality. Higher early CBT competence was associated with higher client midtreatment outcome expectations, which in turn were associated with better posttreatment outcomes. Although these findings are preliminary given the small sample of therapists and clients, they suggest that the common factor of outcome expectations might be a mechanism through which the specific factor of psychotherapist competence exerts its influence on treatment outcome. The implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Efficacy of self-administered treatments for depression and anxiety.

Self-administered treatments (SATs) are widely used by the general public and mental health professionals. Previous reviews of the efficacy of SATs have included under this category interventions for nonclinical problems, group interventions, and interventions involving significant amounts of therapist contact. The efficacy of SATs for clinical levels of depression and anxiety with minimal therapeutic contact was examined by meta-analyzing 24 studies. The results show large effects for SATs when compared with no-treatment control groups (d=1.00). However, unlike previous meta-analyses that found nonsignificant differences between SATs and therapist-administered treatments, in this sample SATs resulted in significantly poorer outcomes (d=-0.31). Some differences in effect size were observed between the clinical targets of depression and anxiety. However, there were high correlations between clinical target, methodological quality of the study, and amount of contact. This makes it impossible to determine whether the observed differences could be explained by the nature of the disorders, methodological quality, or the amount of contact with a member of the research team. The implications of the findings for the clinical use of SATs and for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multimodal evaluation of practice interactions as treatment for social isolation.

Socially isolated college students, 28 men and 26 women, who volunteered for a program to increase social comfort and activity in friendship interactions, were randomly assigned to a treatment involving 12 real-life practice interactions with other Ss, a treatment involving 12 practice interactions plus 9 hrs of social skills training, a minimal treatment control condition, or a delayed treatment control condition. Outcome was evaluated by multiple criteria that included self-report, self-monitoring, peer rating, and behavioral measures (including the Social Avoidance and Distress Scale). Results indicate no significant differences between the 2 treatment groups or between the 2 control groups. The 2 treatment groups showed substantial and significant improvements in contrast to each control group on measures of social anxiety and social activity. These gains were maintained at follow-up assessments 3 and 15 mo posttreatment. It is argued that the practice interaction treatment may function as in vivo desensitization, thereby reducing social anxiety and leading to increased social activity. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The response of others to face-to-face interaction with depressed patients.

Coyne (1976b) has developed an interactional model of depression which proposes that the behavior of depressed people elicits a characteristic type of negative social response from others that serves to maintain the depressive state. To evaluate the model in the context of a first acquaintanceship, 34 female volunteers engaged in brief face-to-face same-sex dyadic interactions with depressed psychiatric outpatients, nondepressed outpatients, or normal controls. Behavioral and self-report measures of mood, interpersonal attraction, and interpersonal perception were taken. Contrary to our expectations, we identified no characteristic patterns in the response of others to depressed patients. Implications of the findings for the interactional theory of depression are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)