bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Childhood social arena and cognitive sets in eating disorders
Authors: Troop Nicholas A. , Bifulco Antonia 
Published: February 2003

Objective: While there is much evidence to suggest that women with eating disorders experience difficulties in the social domain, little has been done to establish whether such difficulties play a causal role or the extent to which these involve cognitive factors. The purpose of this report is to determine whether difficulties in certain aspects of the childhood social arena are reported as existing prior to developing an eating disorder.Method: A sample of 43 women with a history of eating disorders and 20 women with no such history were interviewed retrospectively about their feelings and experiences of loneliness, shyness and inferiority in childhood and adolescence.Results: Women with a history of anorexia nervosa of the binge/purge subtype reported higher levels of loneliness, shyness and feelings of inferiority in adolescence than did women with no history of an eating disorder, and women with a history of bulimia nervosa reported higher levels of shyness. However, this was not true for earlier childhood where such feelings did not differ significantly between groups. This difference could not be accounted for by current depressive disorder, recovery from the eating disorder or level of victimization in adolescence.Conclusion: There are a number of differences in the aetiology of subtypes of eating disorder. The present results suggest that cognitive styles pertaining to the social arena in adolescence, and prior to the onset of any eating disorders, may play a causal role in the development of anorexia nervosa of the binge/purge subtype, but not anorexia nervosa of the restricting subtype.
Maternal expressed emotion, attributions and depression and entry into therapy for children with behaviour problems
Authors: Calam Rachel , Bolton Catherine , Roberts Janine 
Published: February 2003

Objectives: Maternal expressed emotion (EE), attributions, depression and parenting stress in mothers of children with behaviour problems referred for therapy were tested for associations with entry to therapy.Method: In all, 57 mothers were assessed prior to first appointment using the Camberwell Family Interview coded for EE and attributions (LACS), and completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Parenting Stress Index (PSI).Results: Mothers who did not attend scored higher on EE dimensions of critical comments, hostility or emotional over‐involvement, BDI or PSI.Conclusions: Some of the most distressed families referred may not attend, and need a different approach to engagement.
Cognitive and emotional predictors of predisposition to hallucinations in non‐patients
Authors: Morrison Anthony P. , Wells Adrian , Nothard Sarah 
Published: February 2003

Background: This study reports the development of a self‐report measure to assess interpretations of voices (Interpretations of Voices Inventory: IVI) and a revision of the Launay‐Slade Hallucination Scale (RHS) to measure predisposition to hallucinations in non‐patients. We aimed to test the specific hypothesis that positive interpretations of voices would predict frequency of hallucinatory experiences.Method: There were 132 non‐clinical participants who were asked to complete questionnaires assessing interpretations of voices, predisposition to hallucinations, meta‐cognitive beliefs, anxiety and delusional ideation.Results: The results showed that three empirically distinct subscales were measured by the IVI (meta‐physical beliefs about voices, positive beliefs about voices and interpretations of loss of control). The RHS was also found to have three subscales (vividness of imagination and daydreaming, tendency towards experiencing visual disturbances and hallucinations, and tendency towards experiencing auditory hallucinations). The scales possessed acceptable internal consistency and were moderately stable over a period of 4‐6 weeks. Consistent with predictions, it was found that positive beliefs about voices were significantly associated with predisposition to auditory hallucinations, and negative interpretations of voices were associated with endorsing the item assessing troublesome voices.Conclusions: The theoretical and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.
Which schizotypal dimensions abolish latent inhibition?
Authors: Gray Nicola S. , Fernandez Michelle , Williams Jayne , Ruddle Roy A. , Snowden Robert J. 
Published: February 2003

Objective: To evaluate which dimensions of schizotypy are associated with a reduction in latent inhibition (LI), akin to that seen in schizophrenia.Design: LI was compared in low and high scorers on the four dimensions of the OLIFE questionnaire (Mason, Claridge, & Jackson, 1995), with the predictions that the unusual experiences and impulsive non‐conformity subscales would be associated with loss of LI, while the introvertive anhedonia subscale would not be.Methods: A total of 80 healthy volunteers completed a visual LI task. Half of these participants were pre‐exposed to the conditioning stimulus; the others were not. The primary outcome measure was the number of trials taken to learn the task.Results: LI was reduced for the dimensions of unusual experiences, impulsive non‐conformity and cognitive disorganization. There was no effect of introvertive anhedonia. The effect of unusual experiences and impulsive non‐conformity upon LI was mediated via changes in the pre‐exposure group and not in the non‐pre‐exposed group. Conversely, high scorers on the cognitive disorganization scale showed slower learning in non‐pre‐exposure, but with no effect upon stimulus pre‐exposure. As the unusual experiences and implusive non‐conformity scales were correlated, we examined if either of these was primary. Analysis showed unusual experiences to be primary, with impulsive non‐conformity not contributing significant additional independent variance.Conclusions: Our results support the proposition that the cognitive processes underlying the mediation of LI are related to the genesis of unusual experiences in schizotypy and, by extension, the positive symptoms of schizophrenia.
Practice improvement methods: Conceptual base, evidence‐based research, and practice‐based recommendations
Authors: Cape John , Barkham Michael 
Published: February 2003

Objectives: To provide (1) an overview of the purpose of practice improvement methods and a conceptual base for the relationship between the various practice improvement methods; (2) an evidence‐based review of the range of practice improvement methods; and (3) practice‐based recommendations.Design and method: Secondary research design using electronic literature search of PsycINFO database was carried out on eight practice improvement methods (PIMs) and the evidence for effectiveness presented.Results: There is evidence of effectiveness in changing practice for each of the PIMs reviewed, and for some, there is also evidence of effects on patient outcomes. Each has strengths and weaknesses. However, the stronger conclusion from reviews is that use of multiple PIMs is more likely to impact clinical practice and patient outcomes than use of a single PIM.Conclusion: The development of PIMs should concentrate on combination and integration between methods to maximize their effectiveness.
Hypomanic traits and response styles to depression
Authors: Thomas Justin , Bentall Richard P. 
Published: February 2003

Objectives: To test the hypothesis that the manic defence involves specific response styles to depression, namely distraction and indulging in dangerous activities.Design: A correlational study was conducted with undergraduate participants assessed for hypomanic traits using Eckblad and Chapman's Hypomanic Personality Scale.Method: Participants also completed the Beck Depression Inventory, and an expanded version of Nolen‐Hoeksema's Response Styles Questionnaire.Results: Depression was strongly associated with a ruminative response style. Hypomanic traits were associated with rumination, a distraction response style and with indulging in dangerous activities. However, as only 17% of the variance in hypomania scores was accounted for, other factors must play an important role in determining this trait.Conclusions: Hypomania (and possibly mania) may be products of ineffective styles of coping with negative emotions.
People with an intellectual disability in the criminal justice system: Developing an assessment tool for measuring prevalence
Authors: Mason Jonathan , Murphy Glynis 
Published: February 2003

Objectives: To develop a screening tool to detect those who may have intellectual disabilities or borderline intellectual disabilities in the criminal justice system (CJS).Design: The items for the assessment tool were based on data from an earlier study. The assessment tool was piloted on 80 participants, who also completed a short form of the WAIS‐R.Method: Items for the screening tool were derived using a discriminant analysis procedure with data from a previous study (measuring IQ and other factors in people on probation). A sample of 40 participants with an intellectual disability and 40 with an IQ in the normal range then completed the screening measure and the WAIS‐R.Results: The screening measure showed good concurrent validity, and correctly classified 87% of participants.Conclusions: The screening measure is a useful tool for people working in the CJS to use in the identification of those who may be in need of further support owing to an intellectual disability or borderline intellectual disability.
Food deprivation fails to affect preoccupation with thoughts of food in anorectic patients
Authors: Pietrowsky Reinhard , Krug Rosemarie , Fehm Horst L. , Born Jan 
Published: February 2003

Objectives: Memory for food words was used to investigate effects of hunger and satiety on information processing in acute and recovered anorectics.Design: In Expt 1, recall of words related to food and unrelated to food was compared between anorectics and controls. In Expt 2, the same procedure was undertaken in recovered anorectics and controls.Methods: Tests were performed in each subject after starvation and after food intake.Results: When hungry, recall of food words did not differ between anorectics and controls. During satiety, however, anorectics recalled significantly more food words than controls. Recall of food unrelated words did not differ between both groups. Recall in recovered anorectics was comparable with that in acute anorectics.Conclusions: Results indicate that cognitive processing of food stimuli does not depend on food deprivation in anorectics.
Cognitions and post‐stroke depression
Authors: Nicholl Catherine R. , Lincoln Nadina B. , Muncaster Katie , Thomas Shirley 
Published: February 2003

Objectives: Studies investigating the efficacy of cognitive‐behavioural treatment for post‐stroke depression have produced contradictory results (Flannaghan, 2000; Lincoln, Flannaghan, Sutcliffe, & Rother, 1997). This study aimed to assess whether depressed stroke patients experienced more negative and less positive cognitions than non‐depressed stroke patients in order to ascertain whether post‐stroke depression is suitable for cognitive‐behavioural therapy.Design: A questionnaire‐based study compared stroke patients who were assessed as depressed or not depressed.Methods: A Cognitions scale was developed from transcripts of cognitive‐behavioural therapy sessions with depressed stroke patients. A total of 50 stroke patients, the majority of whom were still in hospital, were assessed on the Beck and Wakefield Depression Inventories and the Cognitions scale.Results: The prevalence rate for depression was similar to that found in previous studies. The internal reliability and construct validity of the scale were found to be acceptable. Significantly more negative cognitions and less positive cognitions were found in stroke patients who were depressed as compared with stroke patients who were not depressed.Conclusions: The study suggests that post‐stroke depression does not differ qualitatively from general depression and that general theories and thus treatments for depression may be valid within this population.
Hopelessness and the anticipation of positive and negative future experiences in older parasuicidal adults
Authors: Conaghan Susan , Davidson Kate M. 
Published: February 2003

Objectives: This study examined whether older people who were depressed or had engaged in parasuicidal behaviour could be identified by a decrease in positive future‐directed thinking in the absence of any increase in negative future‐directed thinking, in comparison with a community control group.Design: A mixed design was used that compared three groups (community controls, depressed controls and parasuicidal participants) in terms of future‐directed thinking (positive and negative), in relation to three future time periods (one week, one year and 5‐10 years).Methods: In all, 22 participants over 65 years of age, who had been admitted to hospital following a non‐fatal suicidal act, were compared with 22 older people being treated for depression and 22 older community volunteers who were not experiencing any significant psychological symptoms. The main measure was an adaptation of the traditional verbal fluency paradigm and attempted to quantify future‐directed thinking.Results: Parasuicidal and depressed participants showed decreased positive future thinking, but no increase in negative future thinking, in comparison with the community control group.Conclusions: The results confirm that older parasuicidal and older depressed participants are characterized by a reduction in positive anticipation and that this may be accounted for by depression rather than hopelessness.
Independence of ‘reaction to hypothetical contradiction’ from other measures of delusional ideation
Authors: Hurn Catherine , Gray Nicola S. , Hughes Ian 
Published: February 2003

Background: Given the increasing pressure on Community Mental Health Teams to provide effective services for people with serious mental health problems and the relative scarcity of clinicians working therapeutically with this group, the ongoing search for reliable prognostic factors has both economic and clinical implications. Although previously somewhat overlooked, ‘reaction to hypothetical contradiction’ (RTHC) has been described as a potential predictor of amenability to psychological treatment for people holding delusional beliefs.Method: A one‐way between‐groups design was used to explore the independence of RTHC (accepting vs. non‐accepting) from a range of other clinical variables, using a mixed‐diagnosis group of 50 people holding delusional beliefs.Results: Associations were found between RTHC and a range of other clinical variables, including the existence of perceptual experiences and the impact and extent of delusional beliefs. These factors can be difficult to measure, and it is argued that RTHC may be easier to assess than these other variables. RTHC was found to be independent from other variables such as insight, degree of conviction, degree of preoccupation anxiety and depression.Implications: Previous research has shown that RTHC is a potential predictor of both spontaneous recovery and response to treatment for people holding delusional beliefs and that assessment of RTHC should be incorporated into initial screening procedures for cognitive‐behaviour therapy. The current research found that RTHC was associated with the extent to which delusional beliefs influence thoughts, behaviour and distress levels. One of the major implications of this study is that evaluation of RTHC at initial screening assessments may be important as it provides information not available from mental‐state assessments and assessment of insight.
Behavioural inhibition and symptoms of anxiety and depression: Is there a specific relationship with social phobia?
Authors: Neal Jo Anne , Edelmann Robert J. , Glachan Martin 
Published: February 2003

Objectives: The aim of the study was to examine the relationships between tendencies towards different mental health problems assessed via questionnaires (social phobia, agoraphobia, general anxiety/panic, depression), the two latent dimensions of behavioural inhibition (childhood social/school fears, non‐social fears/ illness), and sensory‐processing sensitivity.Design: A cross‐sectional design was employed.Method: Volunteer participants (N = 234) from anxiety and depression self‐help organizations completed five mailed questionnaires. These were the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory II and Beck Anxiety Inventory; the Highly Sensitive Person Scale, a measure of trait sensitivity to environmental stimuli; and the Retrospective Self‐Report of Inhibition.Results: Higher levels of anxiety, but not depression, were associated with increased self‐reported sensitivity to environmental stimuli. Recalled childhood social/school fears were related to elevated scores on measures of social phobia and depression, while recalled non‐social fears/illness were not associated with any index of psychopathology.Conclusion: These results extend those of previous research by suggesting specific patterns of relationships of both sensitivity to environmental stimuli and behavioural inhibition with symptoms of anxiety and depression. It is suggested that in investigating long‐term outcome, prospective behavioural inhibition studies would benefit from examining the temporal corollaries of the underlying social and non‐social dimensions. Sample and design limitations are discussed.
Parasuicidal behaviour and interpersonal problem solving performance in older adults
Authors: Howat Susie , Davidson Kate 
Published: February 2003

Objectives: To test the hypothesis that interpersonal problem‐solving performance in older adults with a recent episode of parasuicide is poorer than that of depressed patients and community controls.Design: A cross‐sectional design was used to assess differences between older parasuicidal patients, depressed patients, and community controls in interpersonal problem solving performance.Method: An existing outcome measure of interpersonal problem‐solving, the Means End Problem‐Solving (MEPS) procedure, was modified in order to make it more suitable for older adults. It was then administered to 18 older adults with an episode of parasuicide in the previous 14 days, 18 older adults who were being treated for clinical depression, and 22 older adults attending community groups. Comparisons between the groups in terms of performance on the MEPS were made.Results: When level of depression was controlled for, parasuicidal patients were poorer at generating relevant means of reaching given outcomes to interpersonal problems than community controls. There was no difference between the parasuicidal and depressed groups in terms of relevancy scores. There were no significant differences between groups in terms of other MEPS outcome variables.Conclusions: Parasuicide in older adults is related to a deficit in interpersonal problem solving performance that cannot be completely explained in terms of depression. Further investigation of interpersonal problem‐solving in relation to parasuicide and depression in older adults is required, perhaps using process measures of interpersonal problem solving to clarify the nature of the difficulties. The modified MEPS is acceptable to older adults and can be easily administered.
Assessing caregiving distress: A conceptual analysis and a brief scale
Authors: Cousins Rosanna , Davies Ann D. M. , Turnbull Christopher J. , Playfer Jeremy R. 
Published: February 2003

Objectives: Although it is well known that informal caregiving can have negative outcomes, and is an important factor in institutionalization, there is currently no common model to assess psychological distress in caregivers. In this study, we considered the conceptualization of caregiving distress, and present a five‐dimension, 17‐item Caregiving Distress Scale (CDS).Design: The CDS was developed by administering several scales from the caregiving literature to a sample of 80 Parkinson's disease caregivers longitudinally.Method: A total of 58 items from published questionnaires were reduced initially by a hierarchical cluster analysis, then by factor analysis.Results: This procedure produced five distinctive subscales ‐ relationship distress, emotional burden, care‐receiver demands, social impact, and personal cost ‐ that also had high internal reliability.Conclusion: The CDS is quick to administer and score, and has the potential to be used to profile an individual caregiving situation. Of critical importance for the application of findings from the caregiving literature, the scale can be used to target the type of intervention for the amelioration of caregiving distress.
A brief psycho‐educational group intervention for postnatal depression
Authors: Honey Kyla L. , Bennett Paul , Morgan Michelle 
Published: February 2003

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a controlled psycho‐educational group (PEG) intervention for postnatal depression, compared with Routine Primary Care (RPC).Design and method: The participants were 45 women scoring above 12 on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale who were allocated to the study conditions using block randomization procedures. Short‐ and long‐term changes in mood and psychosocial measures were assessed.Results: Compared with RPC, the PEG significantly reduced the level of depressive symptoms, but had no impact on psychosocial outcome.Conclusion: A brief PEG is an effective form of treatment for women with low post‐partum mood.
Specificity of autobiographical memories in depression: An analysis of retrieval processes in a think‐aloud task
Authors: Barnhofer Thorsten , de Jong‐Meyer Renate , Kleinpaß Almut , Nikesch Sandra 
Published: February 2003

Objectives: According to J. M. G. Williams' (1996) concept of mnemonic interlock, the autobiographical memory retrieval of depressed patients tends to become deadlocked in a process characterized by iterative retrievals of overgeneral categoric memories. Following this concept, the study investigated whether depressed patients show consecutive retrievals of categoric memories.Design: Depressed and control participants were compared regarding the temporal progression of memory retrievals in a think‐aloud cued autobiographical memory task.Method: Depressed out‐patients (N = 15) and control participants (N = 15) were given cue words and asked to verbalize all thoughts while remembering details of an autobiographical event during a period of 2 min. Streams‐of‐consciousness were analysed regarding the number of different events. Event descriptions were judged as categoric, extended or specific.Results: Compared to control participants, depressed participants produced significantly higher total numbers of categoric memories. Depressed participants differed from control participants regarding the number of consecutive categoric memories following an initial categoric memory but not following an initial specific memory.Conclusion: Consistent with the concept of mnemonic interlock, results show that, instead of retrieving specific memories, depressed patients tend to produce sequences of consecutive categoric memories. This process may contribute to the maintenance of an overgeneral retrieval style.