Publications by authors named "Bert Lenaert"

Introduction: Excessive fear generalization has been associated with pathological anxiety, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, studies investigating the longitudinal relationship between generalization and the development of anxiety symptomatology are scarce. This study aims to test the predictive value of fear generalization for PTSD symptoms in a high-risk profession sample and to explore the relationship between generalization and neuroticism, which are both linked to PTSD.

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Purpose: Evidence-based treatments for fatigue after brain injury are scarce and often not personalized. An approach to foster personalization is Experience Sampling Methodology (ESM), consisting of repeated daily measurements of fatigue and related factors in daily life. We investigated the feasibility and usability of a novel six-week ESM-based intervention for fatigue after brain injury.

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Background: Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) are among the most feared age-related conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate a brief psychological intervention to promote adaptive coping in older adults experiencing heightened fear of ADRD and investigate positive downstream effects on health-related secondary outcomes, including frequency of reported memory failures, psychosocial functioning, and quality of life.

Methods: Eighty-one older adults were recruited and randomized into REFRAME or active control intervention arms.

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Introduction: Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) are among the most feared conditions. However, research around ADRD-specific fear and avoidance behaviors is lacking. Here, we validated a novel measure of fear and avoidance specific to memory loss, the Fear and Avoidance of Memory Loss (FAM) scale, and examined associations between fear avoidance and psychosocial functioning in older adults.

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Fatigue is a frequently occurring and persistent symptom after stroke. Many biological, psychosocial, and behavioural factors are associated with poststroke fatigue, but research into associations with personality traits is relatively sparse. In this study, we explored whether personality traits were related to poststroke fatigue measured with conventional fatigue questionnaires as well as experience sampling methodology (ESM).

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Introduction: Decentering describes the ability to voluntarily adopt an objective self-perspective from which to notice internal, typically distressing, stressors (eg, difficult thoughts, memories and feelings). The reinforcement of this skill may be an active ingredient through which different psychological interventions accrue reductions in anxiety and/or depression. However, it is unclear if decentering can be selectively trained at a young age and if this might reduce psychological distress.

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Background: Previous studies indicated that about 20% of the individuals undergoing back surgery are unable to return to work 3 months to 1 year after surgery. The specific factors that predict individual trajectories in postoperative pain, recovery, and work resumption are largely unknown. The aim of this study is to identify modifiable predictors of work resumption after back surgery.

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Background: Dementia is the most feared disease associated with aging. Prolonged fears about memory loss and dementia can have harmful consequences even in the absence of cognitive decline. Fear of dementia is associated with poorer health outcomes and psychological well-being and increased memory failures in older adults.

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Background And Objectives: Fatigue is an adaptive state after prolonged effort and often goes hand in hand with changes in behavior and motivation, such as the urge to stop exerting further effort. However, fatigue may become chronic in nature, as seen in multiple psychiatric disorders and chronic diseases, thereby losing its adaptive function. The etiology of fatigue symptoms remains poorly understood.

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Background: Fatigue in haemodialysis (HD) patients is a prevalent but complex symptom impacted by biological, behavioural, psychological and social variables. Conventional retrospective fatigue questionnaires cannot provide detailed insights into symptom variability in daily life and related factors. The experience sampling methodology (ESM) overcomes these limitations through repeated momentary assessments in patients' natural environments using digital questionnaires.

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Improving our understanding of post-stroke fatigue is crucial to develop more effective interventions. This effort may be hampered by the methods used to assess fatigue, which usually rely on retrospective memory reports. However, such reports are prone to memory bias and may not capture variability in fatigue in daily life; thereby failing to adequately represent symptom experience.

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Background: The aetiology of postdialysis fatigue (PDF), an intermittent but debilitating fatigue occurring after haemodialysis (HD) treatment, is still unclear. In other inflammatory diseases, increasing evidence points toward the involvement of the immune system in the onset of fatigue symptoms. Altered serum levels of inflammatory cytokines have also been shown in HD patients.

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Objective: Fatigue and depressed mood are considered main impediments to physical activity in haemodialysis (HD) patients. A better understanding of their interrelationships is crucial to develop effective therapies. Moreover, measurement of daily physical activity (DPA) in HD patients is tricky, as it is usually assessed by subjective self-report questionnaires.

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Context: Fatigue is prevalent among hemodialysis (HD) patients and associated with depressive mood. To advance our understanding of its etiology and develop appropriate treatments, reliable measurement instruments are needed. However, conventional fatigue and mood questionnaires are prone to bias because of their retrospective nature and may misrepresent or overestimate actual symptom experience (i.

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Objective: To advance our understanding of poststroke fatigue by investigating its momentary and time-lagged relationship with daily activities.

Design: Longitudinal observational study using the experience sampling method (ESM).

Setting: Outpatient rehabilitation care.

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Background: Little is known about the underlying aetiology of fatigue in haemodialysis (HD) patients apart from a significant association and overlapping symptomatology with depressive symptoms. Growing evidence exists for the involvement of the immune system, by pro-inflammatory cytokines, in the development of fatigue in other inflammatory diseases. In HD patients, increased exposure to bacterial endotoxins may contribute to an inflammatory response and may potentially lead to fatigue.

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Sleep disturbances and anxiety disorders exhibit high comorbidity levels, but it remains unclear whether sleep problems are causes or consequences of increased anxiety. To experimentally probe the aetiological role of sleep disturbances in anxiety, we investigated in healthy participants how total sleep deprivation influences fear expression in a conditioning paradigm. In a fear conditioning procedure, one face stimulus (conditioned stimulus [CS+]) was paired with electric shock, whereas another face stimulus was not (unpaired stimulus [CS-]).

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Context: Fatigue is one of the most prevalent symptoms among hemodialysis (HD) patients. To design effective treatments, it is crucial to understand the diurnal pattern of fatigue in this population.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to assess diurnal changes in fatigue in patients undergoing hemodialysis and their relation with depressive symptoms and to explore whether fatigue may become a classically conditioned response to the hospital environment.

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Cognitive models of emotional disorders suggest that reduced autobiographical memory specificity that results from exposure to traumatic events may play an important role in the aetiology and maintenance of these disorders. However, there has yet to be a comprehensive meta-analysis of the association between trauma exposure and memory specificity, and the role of posttraumatic stress symptoms on this association. We searched PsycINFO and MEDLINE databases and extracted data from studies regarding the mean number or proportion of specific memories that participants with and without trauma exposure recalled on the Autobiographical Memory Test.

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Chronic fatigue is highly prevalent in the general population as well as in multiple chronic diseases and psychiatric disorders. Its etiology however remains poorly understood and cannot be explained by biological factors alone. Occurring in a psychosocial context, the experience and communication of fatigue may be shaped by social interactions.

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Chronic fatigue complaints are frequently reported in the general population and fatigue ranks among the most commonly reported symptoms in chronic disease. In contrast to its high prevalence and impact on quality of life, relatively little is understood about the etiology of chronic fatigue. We present a cognitive-behavioral framework, the 'ALT+F' model, that conceptualizes fatigue from an associative learning perspective, and we will evaluate the current evidence for this position.

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The experience sampling method (ESM) is a structured diary method with high ecological validity, in that it accurately captures the everyday context of individuals through repeated measurements in naturalistic environments. Our main objective was to investigate the feasibility of using ESM in individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI). A second goal was to explore the usability of ESM data on a clinical level, by illustrating the interactions between person, environment, and affect.

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Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder involves making eye movements (EMs) during recall of a traumatic image. Experimental studies have shown that the dual task decreases self-reported memory vividness and emotionality. However valuable, these data are prone to demand effects and little can be inferred about the mechanism(s) underlying the observed effects.

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