Fear of contagion: a response to stress?

Alterations of neutrophil functions by tobacco products may play a central role in the pathogenesis of periodontal diseases and several smoking-related systemic diseases. In the present study, we examined the in vitro effects of cigarette smoke on neutrophils at times and concentrations that may be encountered during smoke exposure. We measured the level of smoke exposure in the in vitro system by measuring the levels of nicotine and comparing these to levels in the oral cavity in smokers before and after smoking. We examined both the unstimulated and stimulated release of 2 oxidative burst products: superoxide (O-2) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Salivary washings were collected from 7 smokers (> 1 pack/day) before smoking a cigarette. Immediately after they smoked a cigarette, a second set of washings was collected. In vitro exposure to smoke involved incubating aliquots of neutrophils in phosphate-buffered saline for 1 to 5 minutes. Nicotine and cotinine levels were quantitated using gas chromatography, with detection by electron impact mass spectrometry. Peripheral neutrophils were isolated from medically healthy non-smoking volunteers via a double-density gradient technique and incubated in vitro with whole cigarette smoke for 0 to 5 minutes. Phorbol myristate acetate (PMA; 10(-7) M) was used to stimulate half of the cell aliquots. Superoxide generation was assessed through the superoxide dismutase (SOD) inhibitable reduction of ferricytochrome c. H2O2 production was assessed through the H2O2-dependent breakdown of dichlorofluorescin diacetate to its fluorophore and measured by flow cytometry. There was a marked elevation in salivary nicotine concentration from before smoking (mean: 80.8 ng) to after smoking (mean 1,685 ng/mL). In the in vitro smoke box system, there was a time-related elevation in nicotine from 1 to 5 minutes (50-->136 ng/mL). In PMA-stimulated cells exposed to smoke, there was a time-related inhibition of both superoxide and H2O2 production. However, in unstimulated cells exposed to smoke, there was a time-related increase in the release of superoxide and H2O2. A novel finding in unstimulated cells exposed to smoke was that there appeared to be 2 distinct populations of cells--one of "high" H2O2 producers and one of "low" H2O2 producers. The proportion of high H2O2 producers increased relative to smoke exposure. The relative production of H2O2 in the unstimulated high producers was comparable to PMA-stimulated cells at 5 minutes. This release of superoxide and H2O2 in unstimulated cells exposed to smoke may alter the pathogenic processes both in periodontal diseases and other systemic diseases.     

An algorithm for determining use of trauma-focused cognitive–behavioral therapy.

The shift toward dissemination of evidence-based practices has led to many questions about who is appropriate for a particular treatment model, particularly with complex clients, in diverse community settings, and when multiple evidence-based models have overlapping target populations. Few research-based tools exist to facilitate these clinical decisions. The research on trauma-focused cognitive–behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), an evidence-based treatment for children suffering from posttraumatic stress reactions, is reviewed to inform development of an algorithm to assist clinicians in determining whether a particular client is appropriate for TF-CBT. Recommendations are made for future research that will facilitate matching TF-CBT and other evidence-based practices to particular child clients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social–cognitive mediators of the association between community violence exposure and aggressive behavior.

There is increased awareness that exposure to violence in the community can influence students’ aggressive behavior at school; however, less is known about the mechanisms that mediate this process. Having an enhanced understanding of how community violence exposure relates to students’ aggressive behavior at school may inform the use of preventive interventions aimed at reducing school violence. Consistent with social–cognitive theory, the current study tested whether the association between exposure to community violence and teacher-reported aggressive behavior was mediated by biased social information processing. Data on 184 suburban adolescents and their teachers were analyzed with structural equation modeling. Community violence exposure and aggressive behavior in the classroom were significantly related and mediated by negatively biased social–cognitive factors. Results suggest that even relatively low levels of community violence exposure may increase the risk of students displaying aggressive behavior at school. Although gender differences were explored, social information processing appeared to be an important mediator for both boys and girls. (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)     

Psychotherapy in two-plus-one sessions: Outcomes of a randomized controlled trial of cognitive–behavioral and psychodynamic–interpersonal therapy for subsyndromal depression.

A total of 116 clients with a range of subsyndromal depression received 3 therapy sessions: 2 sessions 1 week apart followed by a 3rd session 3 months later (the 2?+?1 model). Clients were stratified for severity on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) as stressed, subclinical, or low-level clinically depressed. In a 2?×?2 design, they received either cognitive–behavioral (CB) or psychodynamic–interpersonal (PI) therapy, either immediately or after a 4-week delay. An initial advantage for the immediate condition disappeared once the delayed-condition clients received treatment. Improvement rates at the end of treatment were 67% (stressed), 72% (subclinical), and 65% (low-level clinically depressed). There were no significant differences between CB and PI treatment methods, with the exception at 1-year follow-up, when the BDI showed a significant advantage for CB. Implications for designing very brief planned interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do cognitive models help in predicting the severity of posttraumatic stress disorder, phobia, and depression after motor vehicle accidents? A prospective longitudinal study.

The study investigated the power of theoretically derived cognitive variables to predict posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), travel phobia, and depression following injury in a motor vehicle accident (MVA). MVA survivors (N = 147) were assessed at the emergency department on the day of their accident and 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months later. Diagnoses were established with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. Predictors included initial symptom severities; variables established as predictors of PTSD in E. J. Ozer, S. R. Best, T. L. Lipsey, and D. S. Weiss's (2003) meta-analysis; and variables derived from cognitive models of PTSD, phobia, and depression. Results of nonparametric multiple regression analyses showed that the cognitive variables predicted subsequent PTSD and depression severities over and above what could be predicted from initial symptom levels. They also showed greater predictive power than the established predictors, although the latter showed similar effect sizes as in the meta-analysis. In addition, the predictors derived from cognitive models of PTSD and depression were disorder-specific. The results support the role of cognitive factors in the maintenance of emotional disorders following trauma. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rates of DSM–IV–TR trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder among newly matriculated college students.

The negotiation of the freedoms and responsibilities introduced as adolescents begin college may be particularly challenging for those with a trauma history and traumatic stress sequelae (posttraumatic stress disorder; PTSD). The present study examined the prevalence of and risk for trauma and PTSD in a large sample of college students. Matriculating students (N = 3,014; 1,763 female, 1,251 male) at two U.S. universities completed online and paper assessments. Sixty-six percent reported exposure to a Criterion A trauma. Nine percent met criteria for PTSD. Female gender was a risk factor for trauma exposure. Gender and socioeconomic status (SES) were associated with trauma severity. Although in bivariate models, gender and SES were associated with PTSD, multivariate analyses suggested this risk was a function of trauma severity. Thus, students enter college with significant trauma histories and PTSD symptoms. Findings highlight the potential for outreach to incoming students with trauma and point to research directions to enhance understanding of the psychological needs of entering college students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

"The MMPI–2 Restructured Clinical Scales in the assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder and comorbid disorders”: Correction.

Reports an error in "The MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical Scales in the assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder and comorbid disorders" by Erika J. Wolf, Mark W. Miller, Robert J. Orazem, Mariann R. Weierich, Diane T. Castillo, Jaime Milford, Danny G. Kaloupek and Terence M. Keane (Psychological Assessment, 2008[Dec], Vol 20[4], 327-340). The URL for the supplemental material was incomplete. The complete URL is http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0012948.supp (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2008-17693-002.) This study examined the psychometric properties of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) Restructured Clinical Scales (RCSs) in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) receiving clinical services at Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers. Study 1 included 1,098 men who completed the MMPI-2 and were assessed for a range of psychological disorders via structured clinical interview. Study 2 included 136 women who completed the MMPI-2 and were interviewed with the Clinician Administered Scale for PTSD. The utility of the RCSs was compared with that of the Clinical Scales (CSs) and the Keane PTSD (PK) scale. The RCSs demonstrated good psychometric properties and patterns of associations with other measures of psychopathology that corresponded to current theory regarding the structure of comorbidity. A notable advantage of the RCSs compared with the MMPI-2 CSs was their enhanced construct validity and clinical utility in the assessment of comorbid internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. The PK scale demonstrated incremental validity in the prediction of PTSD beyond that of the RCSs or CSs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mother–child play and maltreatment: A longitudinal analysis of emerging social behavior from infancy to toddlerhood.

Mother–child play of maltreating and nonmaltreating families was analyzed when infants were 12 months old (Time 1), and 2 years old (Time 2), as a context to examine children's developing cognitive and social skills. At Time 1, infants from abusing families demonstrated less independent and more imitative behavior during play than did infants from neglecting and nonmaltreating families, suggesting a delay in emerging social behaviors. In this longitudinal follow-up, mother–child play was reassessed 1 year later (N = 78), with a focus on children's engagement in nonplay and pretend play and on children's abilities to initiate social exchanges and respond to parental requests. Play and social behavior were coded from semistructured and unstructured play paradigms at both time points. Maternal attention-directing behavior and limit setting also was assessed. At Time 2, children from abusing, neglecting, and nonmaltreating families did not differ in cognitive play complexity. However, children from abusing families engaged in less child-initiated play than did children from neglecting and nonmaltreating families, demonstrating less socially competent behavior. Longitudinal analyses revealed child initiated play at Time 2 was negatively associated with abuse and with maternal physical attention directing behavior at Time 1. Child negative reactivity at Time 2 was positively associated with Time 1 maternal physical behavior and child imitation and with Time 2 maternal controlling behavior. Implications for early intervention efforts are emphasized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attributional orientations and the prediction of behavior: The attribution–prediction bias.

Consistent with the proposal that people rely on implicit causal theories that relate different types of attributions to behaviors that differ in valence, 3 studies showed that in addition to predicting more positive than negative behavior in the target, participants produced an attribution–prediction bias. This bias indicated that persons with a dispositional orientation predicted more negative and less positive behavior from the target than persons with a situational orientation. The authors produced these findings in Studies 1 and 2 by manipulating the perceived characteristic motives of a target (dispositional, situational). In Study 3 the authors used a cultural operationalization of attributional orientations by examining the responses of Western students (dispositionalists) and East Asian students (situationalists). Finally, in support of the underlying mechanism, Study 4 showed that activating dispositional or situational knowledge facilitated the encoding of negative and positive behaviors, respectively. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Repetition of the remembered past: Patterns of separation–individuation in two generations of mothers and daughters.

Interviews with 72 mothers and their young adult daughters provided a transgenerational view of daughters' separation from mothers in early adulthood. Young adult daughters of mothers who remembered their own mothers as enabling autonomy described interdependent mother–daughter relationships based on mutual support. In contrast, daughters whose mothers gave incoherent accounts of their own mother's efforts to constrain autonomy strivings were highly dependent on their mothers. Finally, daughters whose mothers coherently described their own mothers as constraining were stridently independent, but their self-reliance appeared to be more defensive than proactive. The discussion considers how taking account of working models of separation–individuation, as conceptually distinct from models of attachment, may clarify issues in the therapeutic process, especially those associated with termination. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conceptual structure and social functions of behavior explanations: Beyond person–situation attributions.

The traditional approach to studying behavior explanations involves treating them as either person causes or situation causes and assessing them by using rating scales. An analysis of people's free-response behavior explanations reveals, however, that the conceptual distinctions people use in their explanations are more complex and sophisticated than the person-situation dichotomy suggests. The authors, therefore, introduce a model of the conceptual structure of folk behavior explanations (the network of concepts and assumptions on which explanations are based) and test it in 4 studies. The modes and features of behavior explanations within this conceptual structure also have specific social functions. In 2 additional studies, the authors demonstrate that people alter distinct features of their explanations when pursuing particular impression-management goals and that listeners make inferences about explainers' goals on the basis of these features. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Postconcussive symptoms in OEF–OIF veterans: Factor structure and impact of posttraumatic stress.

Purpose: Veterans with a history of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) are reporting postconcussive symptoms (PCSx) in addition to experiencing postdeployment physical and emotional comorbidities. The Veterans Health Administration has mandated specialized evaluation and treatment for veterans with a history of mTBI and has suggested widespread use of the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI) as a measure of PCSx. This study evaluated the NSI’s factor structure and assessed the impact of posttraumatic stress (PTS) on the scale at the item and factor levels. Research Method: Five hundred twenty-nine charts of returning veterans who screened positive for traumatic brain injury were reviewed, and 345 who met criteria for mTBI were included in the study. Results: Results of factor analysis on the NSI revealed a difficult-to-interpret factor structure that was inconsistent with the results of civilian studies. PTS explained 5%–38% of the variance in individual PCSx, and after controlling for this variance, the factor structure more closely paralleled findings from the civilian literature. Conclusion: PTS is an important variable to account for when evaluating PCSx in veterans. Research and clinical implications for the measurement and interpretation of self-reported PCSx are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Setting goals to switch between tasks: Effect of cue transparency on children’s cognitive flexibility.

Three experiments examined the difficulty of translating cues into verbal representations of task goals by varying the degree of cue transparency (auditory transparent cues, visual transparent cues, visual arbitrary cues) in the Advanced Dimensional Change Card Sort, which requires switching between color- and shape-sorting rules on the basis of cues. Experiment 1 showed that 5- and 6-year-old children’s performance improved as a function of cue transparency. Experiment 2 yielded the same pattern of results and showed that cue transparency effects cannot be accounted for by cue format only. Finally, Experiment 3 examined the effect of cue transparency in 7- and 9-year-olds and adults. The effect decreased over age for accuracy performance but not for latencies, suggesting that under some conditions, the difficulty of cue translation can still be observed in individuals whose inner speech is efficient. Overall, these findings showed that goal setting substantially contributes to children’s flexible behaviors and continues to influence adults’ performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive–behavioral therapy versus usual clinical care for youth depression: An initial test of transportability to community clinics and clinicians.

Community clinic therapists were randomized to (a) brief training and supervision in cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) for youth depression or (b) usual care (UC). The therapists treated 57 youths (56% girls), ages 8–15, of whom 33% were Caucasian, 26% were African American, and 26% were Latino/Latina. Most youths were from low-income families and all had Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) depressive disorders (plus multiple comorbidities). All youths were randomized to CBT or UC and treated until normal termination. Session coding showed more use of CBT by CBT therapists and more psychodynamic and family approaches by UC therapists. At posttreatment, depression symptom measures were at subclinical levels, and 75% of youths had no remaining depressive disorder, but CBT and UC groups did not differ on these outcomes. However, compared with UC, CBT was (a) briefer (24 vs. 39 weeks), (b) superior in parent-rated therapeutic alliance, (c) less likely to require additional services (including all psychotropics combined and depression medication in particular), and (d) less costly. The findings showed advantages for CBT in parent engagement, reduced use of medication and other services, overall cost, and possibly speed of improvement—a hypothesis that warrants testing in future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional modulation of cognitive control: Approach–withdrawal states double-dissociate spatial from verbal two-back task performance.

Emotional states might selectively modulate components of cognitive control. To test this hypothesis, the author randomly assigned 152 undergraduates (equal numbers of men and women) to watch short videos intended to induce emotional states (approach, neutral, or withdrawal). Each video was followed by a computerized 2-back working memory task (spatial or verbal, equated for difficulty and appearance). Spatial 2-back performance was enhanced by a withdrawal state and impaired by an approach state; the opposite pattern held for verbal performance. The double dissociation held more strongly for participants who made more errors than average across conditions. The results suggest that approach–withdrawal states can have selective influences on components of cognitive control, possibly on a hemispheric basis. They support and extend several frameworks for conceptualizing emotion–cognition interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Similarities and differences between practitioners of psychotherapy in Sweden: A comparison of attitudes between psychodynamic, cognitive, cognitive–behavioral, and integrative therapists.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 19(3) of Journal of Psychotherapy Integration (see record 2009-16521-006). The results of the post hoc tests were printed illegibly. In order to make it possible for the reader to understand which of the effect sizes belong to which of the comparisons, the tables are clarified in this erratum.] This study focuses on similarities and differences between Swedish psychotherapists of four orientations: psychodynamic, cognitive, cognitive–behavioral, and integrative therapy. The aim is to describe similarities and differences regarding (a) background factors, (b) focus in psychotherapy, (c) attitudes toward psychotherapy as art/craftsmanship, (d) scientific outlook, (e) what characterizes a good psychotherapist, and (f) how psychotherapy ought to be pursued. The therapists had very similar attitudes about the therapeutic relationship and rather similar attitudes about which effects psychotherapy ought to obtain. The greatest differences were related to psychotherapeutic techniques and science. The results are discussed with emphasis on the distance or proximity between the orientations. The conclusion is that there are differences between psychodynamic psychotherapy compared with cognitive and cognitive–behavioral therapies, which imply difficulties in integrating these orientations. However, the differences between the cognitive and cognitive–behavioral therapists are not of such a magnitude that they necessarily present an obstacle to integration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)