Homework Completion, Patient Characteristics, and Symptom Change in Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD.

We evaluated the impact of homework completion on change in PTSD symptoms in the context of two randomized controlled trials of Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD (CPT). Female participants (n = 140) diagnosed with PTSD attended at least one CPT session and were assigned homework at each session. The frequency of homework completion was assessed at the beginning of each session and PTSD symptoms were assessed every other session.

Testing a Web-Based, Trained-Peer Model to Build Capacity for Evidence-Based Practices in Community Mental Health Systems.

Objective: Use of expert-led workshops plus consultation has been established as an effective strategy for training community mental health (CMH) clinicians in evidence-based practices (EBPs). Because of high rates of staff turnover, this strategy inadequately addresses the need to maintain capacity to deliver EBPs. This study examined knowledge, competency, and retention outcomes of a two-phase model developed to build capacity for an EBP in CMH programs.

Implementation of transdiagnostic cognitive therapy in community behavioral health: The Beck Community Initiative.

Objective: Progress bringing evidence-based practice (EBP) to community behavioral health (CBH) has been slow. This study investigated feasibility, acceptability, and fidelity outcomes of a program to implement transdiagnostic cognitive therapy (CT) across diverse CBH settings, in response to a policy shift toward EBP.

Method: Clinicians (n = 348) from 30 CBH programs participated in workshops and 6 months of consultation.

What changes in cognitive therapy for depression? An examination of cognitive therapy skills and maladaptive beliefs.

This study examined effortful cognitive skills and underlying maladaptive beliefs among patients treated with cognitive therapy (CT) for depression. Depressed patients (n=44) completed cognitive measures before and after 16 weeks of CT. Measures included an assessment of CT skills (Ways of Responding Scale; WOR), an implicit test of maladaptive beliefs (Implicit Association Test; IAT), and a self-report questionnaire of maladaptive beliefs (Dysfunctional Attitude Scale; DAS).

Assessing Patients' Cognitive Therapy Skills: Initial Evaluation of the Competencies of Cognitive Therapy Scale.

In Cognitive Therapy (CT), therapists work to help patients develop skills to cope with negative affect. Most current methods of assessing patients' skills are cumbersome and impractical for clinical use. To address this issue, we developed and conducted an initial psychometric evaluation of self and therapist reported versions of a new measure of CT skills: the Competencies of Cognitive Therapy Scale (CCTS).

Cognitive Therapy Skills Predict Cognitive Reactivity to Sad Mood Following Cognitive Therapy for Depression.

Both patients' competence in the coping skills taught in Cognitive Therapy (CT) and patients' endorsement of dysfunctional cognitions following a sad mood induction (i.e., their cognitive reactivity) have been found to predict risk of relapse following a successful course of CT for depression.

Quality of coping skills predicts depressive symptom reactivity over repeated stressors.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the quality of coping skills as a predictor of change in depressive symptoms surrounding a series of naturally occurring stressors.

Method: A total of 213 undergraduate students completed study measures surrounding 3 stressors (involving 6 assessments per participant). Primary analyses focused on occasions of disappointing exam performance.

Cognitive biases in three prediction tasks: a test of the cognitive model of depression.

Cognitive therapy for depression is based on an assumption that depressed individuals have inaccurate, negative biases. Whether this assumption is accurate remains unresolved. Thus, this study sought to examine the relationship between depressive symptoms and bias in three sets of predictions (i.

A developmental examination of amygdala response to facial expressions.

Several lines of evidence implicate the amygdala in face-emotion processing, particularly for fearful facial expressions. Related findings suggest that face-emotion processing engages the amygdala within an interconnected circuitry that can be studied using a functional-connectivity approach. Past work also underscores important functional changes in the amygdala during development.

Specificity of facial expression labeling deficits in childhood psychopathology.

Background: We examined whether face-emotion labeling deficits are illness-specific or an epiphenomenon of generalized impairment in pediatric psychiatric disorders involving mood and behavioral dysregulation.

Method: Two hundred fifty-two youths (7-18 years old) completed child and adult facial expression recognition subtests from the Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy (DANVA) instrument. Forty-two participants had bipolar disorder (BD), 39 had severe mood dysregulation (SMD; i.

Abnormal attention modulation of fear circuit function in pediatric generalized anxiety disorder.

Context: Considerable work implicates abnormal neural activation and disrupted attention to facial-threat cues in adult anxiety disorders. However, in pediatric anxiety, no research has examined attention modulation of neural response to threat cues.

Objective: To determine whether attention modulates amygdala and cortical responses to facial-threat cues differentially in adolescents with generalized anxiety disorder and in healthy adolescents.

fMRI predictors of treatment outcome in pediatric anxiety disorders.

Introduction: A growing number of studies have found evidence that anxiety and depressive disorders are associated with atypical amygdala hyperactivation, which decreases with effective treatment. Interest has emerged in this phenomenon as a possible biological marker for individuals who are likely to benefit from tailored treatment approaches.

Objective: The present study was designed to examine relationships between pretreatment amygdala activity and treatment response in a sample of anxious children and adolescents.