Technological Advances in Treating Anxiety Disorders.

There has been tremendous interest in utilizing digital interventions to assist in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders are widely prevalent and often characterized by avoidance, intolerance of uncertainty, interpersonal concerns, and worry. Digital mental health interventions, given their flexibility, may be particularly suited to this population.

College students' utilization of the Internet to search for mental health information: Effects on mental health literacy, stigma, and help-seeking.

Objective: The current study examined how college students search online for mental health information and the impact of these searches on mental health literacy, stigma, and help-seeking.

Method: Undergraduate participants ( = 270; Fall 2015 to Spring 2019) were randomly assigned to search online for information about coping with anxiety for themselves or a friend (experimental activity), or to utilize Google Maps to answer navigational questions (control).

Results: Participants who conducted an online search demonstrated greater mental health literacy including optimism about psychotherapy, and lower levels of certain types of stigma, but lower willingness to seek/recommend professional help.

Verbal Memory Interference in Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Meta-Analytic Review.

Objective: Interference control is used to overcome conflict among competing memory representations and may contribute to memory difficulties in ADHD. This meta-analytic review examined memory interference to evaluate susceptibility to proactive, retroactive, and memory control interference among those with ADHD.

Method: Twenty studies (1987-2019) examining verbal memory interference in ADHD met inclusion criteria (age: 8-36 years).

Development and preliminary testing of a web-based, self-help application for disaster-affected families.

Technology-based self-help interventions have the potential to increase access to evidence-based mental healthcare, especially for families affected by natural disasters. However, development of these interventions is a complex process and poses unique challenges. Usability testing, which assesses the ability of individuals to use an application successfully, can have a significant impact on the quality of a self-help intervention.

Randomized Controlled Trial of Home-Based Telehealth Versus In-Person Prolonged Exposure for Combat-Related PTSD in Veterans: Preliminary Results.

Objectives: Telehealth technology may reduce the effect of treatment barriers and improve participation in treatment for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present study is an ongoing randomized controlled trial comparing the effectiveness of prolonged exposure (PE) delivered via in person or home-based video telehealth modalities.

Method: A total of 52 veterans with combat-related PTSD were randomized to receive 8-12 weeks of PE through either home-based telehealth or standard in-person office-based care.

Access and completion of a Web-based treatment in a population-based sample of tornado-affected adolescents.

Although Web-based treatments have significant potential to assess and treat difficult-to-reach populations, such as trauma-exposed adolescents, the extent that such treatments are accessed and used is unclear. The present study evaluated the proportion of adolescents who accessed and completed a Web-based treatment for postdisaster mental health symptoms. Correlates of access and completion were examined.

Feasibility assessment of a brief, web-based behavioral activation intervention for adolescents with depressed mood.

Objective: Adolescent depression is a major public health concern. Efficacious interventions exist, but are underutilized. Novel approaches to improving access are therefore a top priority.

An open trial of videoconference-mediated exposure and ritual prevention for obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The gold-standard treatment for OCD is exposure and ritual prevention (ERP), yet despite its well-established efficacy, only a small percentage of OCD patients have access to this treatment. Remote treatments (e.g.

Predictors of completion of exposure therapy in OEF/OIF veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Background: Despite large-scale dissemination and implementation efforts of evidence-based psychotherapy to veterans from Operation Enduring/Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF), little is known regarding the factors that contribute to the successful completion of these treatments in this high-risk population. The present study investigated predictors of treatment completion during a standardized exposure-based psychotherapy for PTSD.

Methods: Ninety-two OEF/OIF combat veterans enrolled in a randomized controlled trial for an eight session exposure-based psychotherapy for PTSD.

mHealth: a mechanism to deliver more accessible, more effective mental health care.

Unlabelled: The increased popularity and functionality of mobile devices has a number of implications for the delivery of mental health services. Effective use of mobile applications has the potential to (a) increase access to evidence-based care; (b) better inform consumers of care and more actively engage them in treatment; (c) increase the use of evidence-based practices; and (d) enhance care after formal treatment has concluded. The current paper presents an overview of the many potential uses of mobile applications as a means to facilitate ongoing care at various stages of treatment.

Acceptance based behavior therapy for social anxiety disorder through videoconferencing.

Most individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) do not receive any type of treatment. Reasons include logistical barriers (e.g.

Treatment of social anxiety disorder using online virtual environments in second life.

Over 80% of people with social anxiety disorder (SAD) do not receive any type of treatment, despite the existence of effective evidence-based treatments. Barriers to treatment include lack of trained therapists (particularly in nonmetropolitan areas), logistical difficulties (e.g.

Long-term follow-up of a randomized controlled trial comparing acceptance and commitment therapy and standard cognitive behavior therapy for anxiety and depression.

The present study represents one of the first comparisons of the long-term effectiveness of traditional cognitive behavior therapy (i.e., Beckian cognitive therapy; CT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).

Behavioral activation and therapeutic exposure: an investigation of relative symptom changes in PTSD and depression during the course of integrated behavioral activation, situational exposure, and imaginal exposure techniques.

Effectiveness of exposure therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be adversely influenced by comorbid disorders. The present study investigated behavioral activation and therapeutic exposure (BA-TE), a new integrated treatment designed specifically for comorbid symptoms of PTSD and depression. Combat veterans with PTSD (N = 117) completed eight sessions of BA-TE that included two phases of treatment: (a) behavioral activation (BA) in which some activities involved situational exposures and (b) BA and situational exposures with imaginal exposures.

Using session-by-session measurement to compare mechanisms of action for acceptance and commitment therapy and cognitive therapy.

Debate continues about the extent to which postulated mechanisms of action of cognitive behavior therapies (CBT), including standard CBT (i.e., Beckian cognitive therapy [CT]) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) are supported by mediational analyses.

Home-based telehealth to deliver evidence-based psychotherapy in veterans with PTSD.

Although medical service delivery via home-based telehealth technology (HBT) is gaining wider acceptance in managing chronic illnesses such as diabetes or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, few studies have tested HBT applications of psychotherapy. Clinicians, administrators, and researchers question whether delivering psychotherapeutic services to patients in their homes via video-conferencing technology compromises patient safety, potency of treatment, or data security. Despite these concerns, HBT service delivery may increase access to evidence-based psychotherapies for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), who may be less willing or less able to receive weekly treatment at a VA medical center or outpatient clinic due to symptom severity or other similar barriers to care.

A randomized controlled trial of acceptance-based behavior therapy and cognitive therapy for test anxiety: a pilot study.

Many university students suffer from test anxiety that is severe enough to impair performance. Given mixed efficacy results of previous cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) trials and a theoretically driven rationale, an acceptance-based behavior therapy (ABBT) approach was compared to traditional CBT (i.e.

A randomized trial of a reconciliation workshop with and without PTSD psychoeducation in Burundian sample.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) psychoeducation is increasingly offered in diverse cultural settings. As the literature offers theoretical arguments for why such information might be normalizing and distress-reducing, or might risk morbid suggestion of greater vulnerability, a two-sided hypothesis was proposed to examine the specific effect of PTSD psychoeducation. Participants of a trauma healing and reconciliation intervention in Burundi were randomized to conditions with and without PTSD psychoeducation, or to a waitlist control.