Exploring meaning in life as a potential target for early intervention - results from a randomized trauma analogue study.

Previous studies in individuals exposed to stressors, including traumatic ones, have shown inverse relations between life meaning and distress. Furthermore, meaning-related treatments can benefit (traumatic) stressor-exposed individuals. However, the evidence regarding the effect of life meaning interventions on PTSD symptoms is limited.

Psychometric Properties of the Dutch Surrender to God Scale: Relationships with Religious Behavior, God Representation, Well-being, and Health.

Given that surrender to God has been associated with health and well-being in believers, research in this area would benefit from the availability of scales outside the United States, where these were first developed. To this end, we conducted two studies (N = 130 and N = 574) in Christian samples in the Netherlands to test the psychometric properties of a Dutch translation of the Surrender to God Scale (D-StGS). In addition, the abbreviated Religious Surrender Scale-2 was tested to examine whether the two-item scale would show validity and reliability, as this would benefit research in which there are time (and other) constraints on assessment.

Cost-effectiveness of a mindful yoga intervention added to treatment as usual for young women with major depressive disorder versus treatment as usual only: Cost-effectiveness of yoga for young women with depression.

In a randomized controlled trial in the Netherlands, we studied the (cost)effectiveness of adding a mindful yoga intervention (MYI+TAU) to treatment as usual (TAU) for young women with major depressive disorder (MDD). In this paper, we present the results of the economic analyses. Societal costs and health outcomes were prospectively assessed during 15 months for all randomized participants (n = 171).

The Effects of a Meaning-Centered Intervention on Meaning in Life and Eating Disorder Symptoms in Undergraduate Women With High Weight and Shape Concerns: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Low meaning in life has been proposed as an important factor in the maintenance of eating disorders and previous findings suggest that targeting meaning might optimize treatment effectiveness. The current randomized controlled trial aimed to investigate the efficacy of meaning-centered psychotherapy adjusted for eating disorders (MCP-ED) to improve meaning in women with high weight and shape concerns. Female students with high weight and shape concerns (N = 134) were randomly assigned to the waiting-list control condition or the experimental condition, in which they followed six weekly individual sessions of MCP-ED.

Psychosocial predictors of distress in East and West Germans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Psychological (meaning in life, science attitude, internal locus of control, religiosity), and social factors (social support, cohesion) can counteract stressor-related distress. We investigated these factors' links with peri-pandemic distress (depression, anxiety, intrusions) and whether they weakened the impact of being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We compared prior East and West Germans on predictors and distress to investigate if their different backgrounds created lasting differences.

Mindful yoga intervention as add-on to treatment as usual for young women with major depressive disorder: Results from a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To examine the added value of a 9-week mindful yoga intervention (MYI) as add-on to treatment as usual (TAU) in reducing depression for young women (18-34 years) with major depressive disorder (MDD).

Method: Randomized controlled trial (RCT; n = 171) comparing TAU + MYI with TAU-only. Assessments were at baseline, postintervention, and at 6- and 12-month follow-up.

The role of meaning in life in psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background/objective: Meaning in life may function as a protective factor in the context of potentially traumatic experiences, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated the associations between meaning and psychological distress (i.e.

Satisfaction with normative life domains and the course of anorexia nervosa.

Objective: Satisfaction with normative life domains has been proposed as an important factor in the persistence of anorexia nervosa (AN). Initial evidence from a cross-sectional study indicated that individuals with AN reported lower satisfaction with normative life domains than individuals without an eating disorder. As an important next step in understanding causal relations, the present study used a longitudinal design to examine whether an improvement in AN symptoms is paralleled by an increase in satisfaction with normative life domains from baseline to follow-up and whether relatively low satisfaction with normative life domains at baseline is related to less improvement in AN symptoms.

Fear of the unknown as a mechanism of the inverse relation between life meaning and psychological distress.

Background And Objectives: Although there is accumulating evidence for an inverse relation between life meaning and psychological distress, little is known about the mechanisms of this relation. Using cross-sectional, observational methods, this research examined fear of uncertainty as one potential mechanism.

Design And Methods: Study 1 ( = 141) was completed with a convenience sample, a unidimensional measure of life meaning, and general measures of anxiety and depression.

Best research practices for using the Implicit Association Test.

Interest in unintended discrimination that can result from implicit attitudes and stereotypes (implicit biases) has stimulated many research investigations. Much of this research has used the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to measure association strengths that are presumed to underlie implicit biases. It had been more than a decade since the last published treatment of recommended best practices for research using IAT measures.

Effectiveness of attentional bias modification training as add-on to regular treatment in alcohol and cannabis use disorder: A multicenter randomized control trial.

Background: Attentional bias for substance-relevant cues has been found to contribute to the persistence of addiction. Attentional bias modification (ABM) interventions might, therefore, increase positive treatment outcome and reduce relapse rates. The current study investigated the effectiveness of a newly developed home-delivered, multi-session, internet-based ABM intervention, the Bouncing Image Training Task (BITT), as an add-on to treatment as usual (TAU).

Feasibility of a Manualized Mindful Yoga Intervention for Patients With Chronic Mood Disorders.

Chronic mood disorders pose an important mental health problem. Individuals with these disorders experience a significant impairment, often fail to seek help, and their illnesses frequently do not respond to treatment. It is therefore important to develop innovative and attractive treatments for these disorders.

The Causal Influence of Life Meaning on Weight and Shape Concerns in Women at Risk for Developing an Eating Disorder.

Although previous studies have shown an inverse relation between life meaning and eating disorder symptoms, the correlational nature of this evidence precludes causal inferences. Therefore, this study used an experimental approach to test the causal impact of life meaning on individuals' weight and shape concerns. Female students at risk for developing an eating disorder ( = 128) were randomly assigned to the control or the meaning condition, which involved thinking about and committing to pursue intrinsically valued life goals.

Low satisfaction with normative life domains in adolescents with anorexia nervosa.

Objective: Low satisfaction with normative life domains might be an important factor in the persistence of anorexia nervosa (AN). Initial evidence in non-clinical samples showed that lower satisfaction with normative life domains was related to more intense eating disorder symptoms. As a critical next step, the current study examined satisfaction with normative life domains in a clinical sample.

Meaning in life and resilience to stressors.

and Objectives: This research examined whether life meaning promotes resilience to stressor-related psychological distress and repetitive negative thinking. Three studies (total  = 273) used cross-sectional (Study 1) and prospective (Studies 2 and 3) designs to assess the relation between life meaning and response to various stressors. Results showed that in Study 1, greater life meaning was inversely related with repetitive negative thinking and psychological distress.

Visual attention to food cues and the course of anorexia nervosa.

Previously, adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN) showed reduced attentional engagement with food cues compared to adolescents without eating disorder (Jonker, Glashouwer, Hoekzema, Ostafin, & De Jong, 2019). This study tested whether (i) improvement in eating disorder symptoms and BMI are related to an increase in attentional engagement with food, and whether (ii) relatively low attentional engagement is related to persistent AN symptomatology, in the same sample of adolescents with AN (N = 69) from the study of Jonker et al. (2019).

Heightened self-reported punishment sensitivity, but no differential attention to cues signaling punishment or reward in anorexia nervosa.

This study examined whether adolescents with anorexia nervosa (AN) are more sensitive to punishment and less sensitive to reward than a non-eating disorder comparison group. Both self-report and performance measures were used to index reward and punishment sensitivity. Participants were adolescents with AN (n = 69) and an individually matched comparison group with healthy weight (n = 69).

A mindful yoga intervention for young women with major depressive disorder: Design and baseline sample characteristics of a randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: Despite the gains made by current first-line interventions for major depressive disorder (MDD), modest rates of treatment response and high relapse indicate the need to augment existing interventions. Following theory and initial research indicating the promise of mindful yoga interventions (MYIs), this study examines mindful yoga as a treatment of MDD.

Methods/design: This randomized controlled trial uses a sample of young females (18-34 years) to examine the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of a 9-week manualized MYI added to treatment as usual (TAU) versus TAU alone.

Attentional bias for alcohol cues in visual search-Increased engagement, difficulty to disengage or both?

Cognitive models emphasise the importance of attentional bias in addiction. However, many attentional bias tasks have been criticised for questionable psychometric properties and inability to differentiate between engagement and disengagement processes. This study therefore examined the suitability of two alternative tasks for assessing attentional bias within the context of alcohol use.

A new approach to facilitating attentional disengagement from food cues in unsuccessful dieters: The bouncing image training task.

This study tested the capacity of a modified Bouncing Image Training Task (BITT) to enhance unsuccessful dieters' attentional disengagement from food cues. Unsuccessful dieters were assigned to a training group performing daily BITT sessions for one week (n = 57) or a waitlist control group (n = 56). Change in attention was assessed using a visual search task and an odd-one-out task.

Attentional engagement with and disengagement from food cues in Anorexia Nervosa.

This study examined differences in food-related Attentional Bias (AB) between patients with Anorexia Nervosa (AN) and adolescents without an eating disorder. AB was assessed with an Attentional Response to Distal versus Proximal Emotional Information (ARDPEI) task that was specifically designed to differentiate between attentional engagement with and attentional disengagement from food. We tested if patients with AN would show less attentional engagement and less difficulty to disengage their attention from food cues than individuals without an eating disorder.