Training Community Clinicians in Implementing CBT-ERP for Youth with OCD: A Pilot Study in Australian Community Mental Health Services.

This pilot study evaluated the outcomes associated with a training workshop in cognitive-behavioural therapy with exposure and response prevention (ERP) for youth with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) aimed at improving clinicians' capabilities and motivations. Questionnaires and role-plays were completed by 17 Australian clinicians working across community youth (i.e.

Airway Management in Tactical Combat Casualty Care: TCCC Change 24-1.

Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) has been designated by the U.S. Department of Defense as the military standard for battlefield trauma care.

Nudging society toward more adaptive approaches to material possessions: Harnessing implicit approaches to reduce overconsumption and excessive saving.

Hoarding disorder (HD) represents a growing public health burden. Although excessive saving is the cardinal feature of this disorder, hoarding is also typically characterised by excessive acquisition of objects, either passively or actively. HD and a related clinical condition, compulsive buying-shopping disorder, are particularly challenging to prevent and treat within the context of consumer society, which is marked by growing acquiring tendencies.

Testing an Imagery Rescripting Exercise Targeting Fear of Self.

A feared possible self refers to the unwanted characteristics that a person may possess or develop. We tested an experimental paradigm to target fear of possible self using imagery rescripting. A student sample ( = 91), with moderate obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms, engaged in written and audio-guided exercises to evoke episodic future mental imagery that represented their feared possible self.

Basic processes and clinical applications of mental imagery in worry: A systematic review.

Background: In this systematic review, we aimed to synthesise existing research on the phenomenology of mental imagery among high worriers compared to healthy individuals, and to characterise the nature and effectiveness of existing imagery-related interventions in treatment of worry.

Methods: PsycInfo, CENTRAL, EMBASE, Medline, Medline Epub, and PubMed were searched for studies examining the relationship between worry/GAD and mental imagery, or interventions using imagery in treatment of worry/GAD. We assessed study quality and used qualitative narrative synthesis to comprehensively map study results.

A phase II randomised controlled trial of intranasal oxytocin in anorexia nervosa.

Background: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder (ED) with high mortality rates and limited response to existing treatments, prompting the need to identify effective agents and adjuncts. There is evidence for an emerging role for the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) in the pathophysiology of AN, with studies showing a perturbed oxytocinergic system in patients with AN. Preliminary evidence has demonstrated that intranasal OT (IN-OT) can produce anxiolytic effects in AN, as well as reducing concern about eating, and dysfunctional attentional biases related to the disorder.

Self-guided imagery rescripting for worry images: A preliminary experimental investigation.

Background: Mental images of feared events are overactive and intrusive in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Imagery rescripting involves integration of positive or neutral imagery and corrective information into images to facilitate emotional processing, reduce imagery intrusions, and re-structure underlying schema. Yet only one known study has applied the technique to treatment of worry.

Establishing performance standards for child development: learnings from the ECDI2030.

Background: Standards of early childhood development (ECD) are needed to determine whether children living in different contexts are developmentally on track. The Early Childhood Development Index 2030 (ECDI2030) is a population-level measure intended to be used in household surveys to collect globally comparable data on one of the indicators chosen to monitor progress toward target 4.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals: The proportion of children aged 24-59 months who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being.

Closing the Gap for Children with OCD: A Staged-Care Model of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy with Exposure and Response Prevention.

Childhood obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is among the most prevalent and disabling mental health conditions affecting children and adolescents. Although the distress and burden associated with childhood OCD are well documented and empirically supported treatments are available, there remains an unacceptable "treatment gap" and "quality gap" in the provision of services for youth suffering from OCD. The treatment gap represents the large number of children who never receive mental health services for OCD, while the quality gap refers to the children and young people who do access services, but do not receive evidence-based, cognitive behavioural therapy with exposure and response prevention (CBT-ERP).

Evaluating the effects of a brief motivational interviewing protocol on excessive acquisition.

Background And Objectives: Individuals with hoarding disorder, especially those with problems around acquiring, typically demonstrate a lack of motivation and awareness of their problematic behaviours. Since acquiring behaviours are important targets in interventions for hoarding, effective strategies for increasing motivation in this population are required to enhance the acceptability and efficacy of these interventions.

Methods: The aim of the current study was to evaluate the ability of a brief online motivational intervention to reduce acquiring in a community sample of high acquirers (N = 159).

Pilot Mental Health, Methodologies, and Findings: A Systematic Review.

Pilots' mental health has received increased attention following Germanwings Flight 9525 in 2015, where the copilot intentionally crashed the aircraft into the French Alps, killing all on board. An investigation of this incident found that the pilot had a depressive disorder. This systematic review investigated peer reviewed studies of pilot mental health published since 1980.

Hypertriglyceridemia-induced acute pancreatitis in children: A mini-review.

Severe hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) is a known metabolic cause of acute pancreatitis (AP) in pediatric patients. The incidence of hypertriglyceridemia-induced acute pancreatitis (HTG-AP) is less well established in pediatric compared to adult patients. Studies in adults suggest that higher risk of AP occurs when triglyceride levels (TG) are >1,000 mg/dL.

Is it as good as being in person? The effectiveness of a modified clinician facilitated buried in treasures group for hoarding disorder using video teleconferencing.

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated the use of video-teleconferencing (VTC) for psychological treatments but VTC effectiveness studies are sparse. We examined treatment outcomes for a modified Buried in Treasures (BIT) group program for hoarding disorder (HD) delivered via VTC. Participants were 10 individuals with HD.

Up in Flames: The Safety of Electrocautery Trephination of Subungual Hematomas with Acrylic Nails.

Introduction: Subungual hematomas are fingertip injuries, generally secondary to blunt trauma, that cause pain due to an accumulation of blood under the fingernail. It is generally considered standard of practice to relieve this accumulation by means of trephination with a hollow tip needle, a heated paper clip, or electrocautery. It has been assumed that due to the flammable properties of acrylic, trephination via electrocautery has the potential to ignite acrylic nails and cause burns and other potentially serious injury, making electrocautery contraindicated in patients with acrylic nails.

Excessive reassurance seeking versus compulsive checking in OCD: Comparing implicit motivators and mechanisms.

Background And Objectives: Excessive reassurance seeking (ERS) in OCD increases following scenarios with high threat and personal responsibility, but the mechanism via which ERS addresses these concerns is unclear. We investigated whether reassurance following OCD-related threats facilitated temporary threat re-appraisal and/or transferred responsibility to others. We also examined the 'checking by proxy' theory of OCD ERS by comparing the functional mechanisms of reassurance and checking behaviour.

Risking Everything in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: An Analogue Decision-Making Study.

An experiment examined decision-making processes among nonclinical participants with low or high levels of OCD symptomatology (N = 303). To better simulate the decision environments that are most likely to be problematic for clients with OCD, we employed decision tasks that incorporated "black swan" options that have a very low probability but involve substantial loss. When faced with a choice between a safer option that involved no risk of loss or a riskier alternative with a very low probability of substantial loss, most participants chose the safer option regardless of OCD symptom level.

Interpersonal attachment, early family environment, and trauma in hoarding: A systematic review.

The formation of intense emotional attachments to objects, difficulty parting with possessions, and the extreme accumulation of clutter are key features of Hoarding Disorder (HD). Although substantial literature implicates processes such as dysfunctional beliefs and maladaptive emotional cycles in HD, little is known about the vulnerability factors that lead to their development and hoarding symptomatology. The current review sought to systematically collate and integrate findings from studies investigating the relationship between hoarding symptoms and three proposed vulnerability factors: i) interpersonal attachment, ii) early family environment, and iii) traumatic or adverse life events.

The psychological effects of blind and open weighing in women with a high drive for thinness: A mixed method inquiry.

Regular weighing is a routine component of public health interventions but concerns have been raised about possible negative psychological consequences. Blind weighing is an alternative form of weighing that is commonly used in clinical contexts, and that is thought to decrease weighing anxiety and engagement with disordered eating behaviours. In this study, normal weight female participants who indicated a high drive for thinness (N = 53) were randomly assigned to receive bi-weekly open or blind weighing for three weeks.

The impact of modifying obsessive-compulsive beliefs about perfectionism.

Background And Objectives: Cognitive-behavioural models of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) suggest that maladaptive beliefs about perfectionism play a key role in the development and maintenance of OCD. Cognitive-bias modification for interpretation bias (CBM-I) is an experimental procedure that can test this proposed causal relation.

Methods: As such, the current study investigated whether multiple CBM-I sessions administered in different contexts can modify perfectionism biases.

Internet-delivered exposure therapy versus internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for panic disorder: A pilot randomized controlled trial.

Aim: To compare the efficacy and acceptability of internet-delivered exposure therapy for panic disorder, to multi-component internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) that included controlled breathing, cognitive restructuring and exposure.

Methods: Participants with panic disorder, with or without agoraphobia, were randomized to internet-delivered exposure therapy (n = 35) or iCBT (n = 34). Both programs were clinician guided, with six lessons delivered over eight weeks.