Conceptualizing mindfulness and acceptance as components of psychological resilience to trauma.

Mindfulness- and acceptance-based conceptualizations of PTSD implicate experiential avoidance and non-mindful behavior in the etiology and maintenance of the disorder. If experiential avoidance is associated with vulnerability to PTSD, then a mindful and accepting orientation toward experience may confer psychological resilience following exposure to trauma. This article examines how mindfulness- and acceptance-based theories of psychopathology relate to risk of and resilience to PTSD.

Predictors of the impact of the September 11th terrorist attacks on victims of intimate partner violence.

This study examined the role of several hypothesized predictors of the impact of a potentially traumatic event, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11), on a sample of women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) and related posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). We found that IPV-related PTSS mediated the relationship between IPV and 9/11-related PTSS, confirming the hypothesis that severity of symptoms related to prior trauma plays a role in the development and severity of PTSS related to subsequent potentially traumatic events. Media exposure and threat appraisal were significantly positively associated with 9/11-related PTSS, whereas social support was significantly negatively associated with 9/11-related PTSS, with none of these variables serving as moderators of the relationship between IPV-related and 9/11-related PTSS.

Avoidant coping in panic disorder: a yohimbine biological challenge study.

Few studies have addressed whether the use of avoidance-oriented coping strategies is related to the development of panic in patients with panic disorder(PD). Self-report, clinician-rated, and physiological data were collected from 42 individuals who participated in a yohimbine biological challenge study, performed under double-blind, placebo-controlled conditions. Participants included 20 healthy controls and 22 currently symptomatic patients who met DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for PD.

Expectations.

Patients' expectations have long been considered a contributory factor to successful psychotherapy. Expectations come in different guises, with outcome expectations centered on prognostic beliefs about the consequences of engaging in treatment. In this article, we define outcome expectations and present assessment methods and clinical examples of outcome expectations.

Psychotherapy integration as practiced by experts.

Twenty-four psychotherapists who were experts in psychotherapy integration and had a mean of 32 years of clinical experience completed a questionnaire assessing their practice history and fidelity to various psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, humanistic, and family systems theories. They then completed the 100-item Psychotherapy Process Q set (Jones, Hall, & Parke, 1991) modified to be a self-report questionnaire, based on a client they had treated using integrative therapy. Most therapists reported some influence of all 4 orientations, but almost three-quarters indicated that only 1 was a salient influence.

The impact of the September 11th terrorist attacks on psychiatric patients: a review.

Studies of the general population have shown that the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 had a well-documented psychological effect, regardless of whether or not individuals were directly exposed to the events. In light of findings that pre-existing mental illness and prior exposure to trauma are associated with vulnerability to PTSD following a subsequent traumatic event, this article reviews research on the impact of the September 11th terrorist attacks on psychiatric patients. Findings suggest that, in general, psychiatric patients experienced immediate and long-term posttraumatic symptoms at levels greater than normal controls, although there were differential effects by diagnostic group and symptoms as observed did not always match complaints of subjective impairment.

Nonresponse and dropout rates in outcome studies on PTSD: review and methodological considerations.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) represents a frequent consequence of a variety of extreme psychological stressors. Lists of empirically supported treatments for PTSD usually include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), but nonresponse and dropout rates in these treatments often are high. We review the treatment dropout and nonresponse rates in 55 studies of empirically supported treatments for PTSD, review the literature for predictors of dropout and nonresponse, discuss methodological inconsistencies in the literature that make comparisons across studies difficult, and outline future directions for research.

Contributions of psychodynamic approaches to treatment of PTSD and trauma: a review of the empirical treatment and psychopathology literature.

Reviews of currently empirically supported treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) show that despite their efficacy for many patients, these treatments have high nonresponse and dropout rates. This article develops arguments for the value of psychodynamic approaches for PTSD, based on a review of the empirical psychopathology and treatment literature. Psychodynamic approaches may help address crucial areas in the clinical presentation of PTSD and the sequelae of trauma that are not targeted by currently empirically supported treatments.

Religious coping research and contemporary personality theory: an exploration of Endler's (1997) integrative personality theory.

Notable weaknesses in the literature on religion and mental health include theoretical inconsistencies and lack of integration with contemporary personality theory. The current study explored a potential solution to these theoretical limitations. A modified form of Endler's (1997) interactive model of personality was applied to the prediction of religious coping and tested using structural equation modelling.

The structure of worry: relations between positive/negative personality characteristics and the Penn State Worry Questionnaire.

The present studies investigated the structure, correlates, and predictors of worry, as assessed by the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ), in a large nonclinical sample (N=1439). Exploratory factor analysis of the PSWQ in Study 1 revealed a two-factor solution (Worry Engagement and Absence of Worry). Confirmatory factor analysis in Study 2 indicated that the two-factor solution provided a better fit to the data than a one-factor model.

The hoarding dimension of OCD: psychological comorbidity and the five-factor personality model.

Although hoarding has been associated with several psychological disorders, it is most frequently linked to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The present study assessed hoarding obsessions and compulsions in 204 individuals with OCD, and evaluated how hoarding was related to obsessive-compulsive symptom severity, psychological comorbidity, and personality as measured by the five-factor model. Results indicated that hoarding in OCD is a dimensional variable that is positively associated with dysphoria, total number of lifetime Axis I disorders, and lifetime histories of bipolar I, PTSD, and body dysmorphic disorder.