"Memory illusions: False recall and recognition in adults with Asperger's syndrome": Correction to Bowler et al. (2000).

Reports an error in "Memory illusions: False recall and recognition in adults with Asperger's syndrome" by Dermot M. Bowler, John M. Gardiner, Sarah Grice and Pia Saavalainen (Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 2000[Nov], Vol 109[4], 663-672). On page 665, Figure 1, the figure caption incorrectly reads, "Serial position effects for the Asperger and control groups of participants. Gray boxes = Asperger; black boxes = controls." The correct Figure 1 caption appears in the correction. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2000-12687-011.) As persons on the autistic spectrum are known not to use semantic features of word lists to aid recall, they might show diminished susceptibility to illusory memories that typically occur with lists of associated items. Alternatively, since such individuals also have poor source monitoring, they might show greater susceptibility. The authors found that adults with Asperger's syndrome (n?=?10) recalled similar proportions of a nonpresented strong associate of the study list items, compared with controls (n?=?15). In Exp 2, rates of true and false recognition of study list associates did not differ significantly between Asperger (n?=?10) and control (n?=?10) participants. Moreover, the Asperger participants made fewer remember and more know judgments than controls for veridical but not for false recognitions. Thus, deficits found in some aspects of memory in people with Asperger's syndrome do not affect their susceptibility to memory illusions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The results of a 6-month treatment for depression on symptoms, life satisfaction, and community activities among individuals aging with a disability.

Objective: To evaluate the results of treating major depression in individuals aging with a disability. Design: Pre-post quasi-experimental design with a treatment and comparison group over 6 months. Participants: Participants were people with a disability living in a community in Southern California. Fifty-four participants who accepted treatment were compared with 22 individuals who declined treatment. Interventions: Combination of psychotherapy and antidepressant medication. Measures: Depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, and community activities. Results: Treated individuals improved significantly on all 3 measures. Average depression scores declined 50% (p = .001). There was a nonsignificant 12% decline in the comparison group. Conclusion: These results suggest that depression is treatable in this population. Studies that overcome obstacles to randomized clinical trials are needed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of homework compliance on treatment outcomes for participants with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.

Purpose: This study examined the relationship between level of treatment engagement through completion of homework on treatment outcomes within nonpharmacological interventions for participants with ME/CFS. Method: A sample of 82 participants with ME/CFS was randomly assigned to one of four nonpharmacological interventions. Each intervention involved 13 sessions over the course of 6 months. Change scores were computed for self-report measures taken at baseline and 12-month follow-up. Homework compliance was calculated as the percentage of completed assignments across the total number of sessions and grouped into three categories: minimum (0–25%), moderate (25.1–75%), or maximum (75.1–100%). Results: Findings revealed that after controlling for treatment condition, those who completed a maximum amount of homework had greater improvement on a number of self-report outcome measures involving role, social, and mental health functioning. There were no differential improvements in physical and fatigue functioning based on level of homework compliance. Implications: Findings from this study suggest homework compliance can have a positive influence on some aspects of physical, social, and mental health functioning in participants with ME/CFS. It should be emphasized that these interventions do not cure this illness. The lack of significant changes in physical functioning and fatigue levels suggests a need for more multidisciplinary treatment approaches that can elicit improvement in these areas. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of cognitive behavioral and mindfulness meditation interventions on adaptation to rheumatoid arthritis for patients with and without history of recurrent depression.

This research examined whether cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness interventions that target responses to chronic stress, pain, and depression reduce pain and improve the quality of everyday life for adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The 144 RA participants were clustered into groups of 6-10 participants and randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatments: cognitive behavioral therapy for pain (P); mindfulness meditation and emotion regulation therapy (M); or education-only group (E), which served as an attention placebo control. The authors took a multimethod approach, employing daily diaries and laboratory assessment of pain and mitogen-stimulated levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a proinflammatory cytokine. Participants receiving P showed the greatest Pre to Post improvement in self-reported pain control and reductions in the IL-6; both P and M groups showed more improvement in coping efficacy than did the E group. The relative value of the treatments varied as a function of depression history. RA patients with recurrent depression benefited most from M across several measures, including negative and positive affect and physicians' ratings of joint tenderness, indicating that the emotion regulation aspects of that treatment were most beneficial to those with chronic depressive features. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)