Putting the Vicious Cycle to the Test: Evidence for the Cognitive Behavioral Model of Persistent Somatic Symptoms From an Online Study.

Objective: In clinical practice, persistent somatic symptoms are regularly explained using a cognitive-behavioral model (CBM). In the CBM, predisposing, perpetuating, and precipitating factors are assumed to interact and to cause the onset and endurance of somatic symptoms. However, these models are rarely investigated in their entirety.

Predictors of Psychological Distress and Coronavirus Fears in the First Recovery Phase of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic in Germany.

While previous research has mainly focused on the impact of the first acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, little empirical knowledge exists about depression, anxiety, and somatic symptom levels and possible predictors of symptom levels in the pandemic's recovery phase. The present study aimed to analyze the mental burden of a convenience ample of the general German population during the first recovery phase of the pandemic and to identify significant predictors of symptom levels. Standardized measures of anxiety (GAD-2), depression (PHQ-2), somatic symptoms (PHQ-15), and health anxiety, as well as measures of COVID-19 fears and possible vulnerability factors, were administered through a national, cross-sectional online survey ( = 2160, mean age 42.

Do patients with pathological health anxiety fear COVID-19? A time-course analysis of 12 single cases during the "first wave" of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.

Objective: Pre-existing health anxiety is associated with an intensified affective response to the novel COVID-19 pandemic in the general population. Still, results on the reaction of people with a diagnosis of pathological health anxiety (i.e.

[Implementation and evaluation of a telephone hotline for professional mental health first aid during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany].

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic represents a significant psychological burden for many people; however, especially during the first wave of the pandemic in Germany, little acute professional help was available for people in need.

Objective: In southern Germany, a telephone hotline for psychological first aid for COVID-19-related burdens was set up under the lead of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Ministry of Social Affairs and Integration, opened to the entire population and evaluated in April 2020.

Material And Methods: In the period from 22 April to 24 July 2020, 753 volunteer psychotherapeutically trained counselors from different professional groups answered a total of 8096 calls.

Applying Corrigan's progressive model of self-stigma to people with depression.

Background: The progressive model of self-stigma describes four stages of internalizing stereotypes of mental illness: stereotype awareness, personal agreement, self-concurrence, and harm to self (i.e., self-esteem).

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Complemented with Emotion Regulation Training for Patients with Persistent Physical Symptoms: A Randomised Clinical Trial.

Introduction: Persistent medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) are a major burden for health care. Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is efficacious for patients with MUS, with small to medium effects. The current study investigates whether therapy outcomes of a CBT for MUS patients can be improved by complementing it with emotion regulation training.

Two-Year Follow-Up after Treatment with the Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy versus Supportive Psychotherapy for Early-Onset Chronic Depression.

Background: Evidence on the long-term efficacy of psychotherapeutic approaches for chronic depression is scarce.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of the Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP) compared to Supportive Psychotherapy (SP) 1 year and 2 years after treatment termination.

Methods: In this study, we present 1- and 2-year follow-up assessments of a prospective, multicenter, evaluator-blinded, randomized clinical trial of outpatients with early-onset chronic major depression (n = 268).

Effects of stigmatizing media coverage on stigma measures, self-esteem, and affectivity in persons with depression - an experimental controlled trial.

Background: Stigmatization of people with mental illness is still a significant problem even in Western society. Media is an important vector for public messaging that may lead to stigma (and potentially counteract it). There is an ongoing debate about the impact of news with potentially stigmatizing content on people with depression.

[Validation of a German Adaptation of the Self-Stigma of Depression Scale (SSDS) for Measuring Self-Stigmatization of People with Depression (SSDS-D)].

The 16-item Self-Stigma of Depression Scale (SSDS) was developed to measure anticipated self-stigma hypothetically in case of depression. It is perfect for assessing anticipated self-stigma in community samples. However, in clinical samples measuring actual experienced instead of hypothetical self-stigma may be more appropriate.

The German version of the helping alliance questionnaire: psychometric properties in patients with persistent depressive disorder.

Background: The Helping Alliance Questionnaire (HAQ) is a frequently used and highly relevant instrument to assess the therapeutic alliance. The questionnaire was translated into German by Bassler and colleagues (1995) and is available for patients (HAQ-P) and therapists (HAQ-T). Whereas the HAQ-P has been tested regarding psychometrics, the HAQ-T has not.

Impaired emotion processing and a reduction in trust in patients with somatic symptom disorder.

There is accumulating evidence for deficits in the perception and regulation of one's own emotions, as well as the recognition of others' emotions in somatic symptom disorder (SSD). However, investigations of SSD focusing on specific aspects of emotion processing and how these might interact are missing. We included 35 patients with SSD and 35 healthy controls who completed questionnaires on the perception and regulation of their own emotions, as well as experimental investigations of emotion recognition and trust.

Scary symptoms? Functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence for symptom interpretation bias in pathological health anxiety.

Patients with pathological health anxiety (PHA) tend to automatically interpret bodily sensations as sign of a severe illness. To elucidate the neural correlates of this cognitive bias, we applied an functional magnetic resonance imaging adaption of a body-symptom implicit association test with symptom words in patients with PHA (n = 32) in comparison to patients with depression (n = 29) and healthy participants (n = 35). On the behavioral level, patients with PHA did not significantly differ from the control groups.

On the origin of worries about modern health hazards: Experimental evidence for a conjoint influence of media reports and personality traits.

Objective: Worries about health threatening effects of potential health hazards of modern life (e.g. electric devices and pollution) represent a growing phenomenon in Western countries.

Emotion dysregulation in hypochondriasis and depression.

Background: The aim of this study was to explore whether certain aspects of emotion dysregulation (i.e., facets of alexithymia and rumination) are more closely linked to hypochondriasis than to depression and vice versa.

Impaired cognitive control over emotional material in euthymic bipolar disorder.

Background: Previous research suggests that bipolar disorder (BD) is characterized by deficits in cognitive control (CC). Impaired CC has been found in high-risk samples and is associated with the maintenance of BD symptoms. It remains unclear, however, whether BD is characterized by a general deficit in CC or by a deficit that is specifically related to the processing of emotional material.

Effect of Disorder-Specific vs Nonspecific Psychotherapy for Chronic Depression: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Chronic depression is a highly prevalent and disabling disorder. There is a recognized need to assess the value of long-term disorder-specific psychotherapy.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of the Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP) compared with that of nonspecific supportive psychotherapy (SP).

Cough Is Dangerous: Neural Correlates of Implicit Body Symptoms Associations.

The negative interpretation of body sensations (e.g., as sign of a severe illness) is a crucial cognitive process in pathological health anxiety (HA).

A diary-based modification of symptom attributions in pathological health anxiety: effects on symptom report and cognitive biases.

Objective: To examine whether a 2-week attribution modification training (AMT) changes symptom severity, emotional evaluation of health-threatening stimuli, and cognitive biases in pathological health anxiety.

Method: We randomized 85 patients with pathological health anxiety into an electronic diary-based AMT group (AMTG; n = 42) and a control group without AMT (CG; n = 43). Self-report symptom measures, emotional evaluation, attentional bias, and memory bias toward symptom and illness words were assessed with an emotional Stroop task, a recognition task, and an emotional rating task for valence and arousal.

Childhood maltreatment is associated with depression but not with hypochondriasis in later life.

Objective: Previous studies demonstrated that a history of childhood trauma is linked to mental disorders in adulthood, particularly to depression. Adverse childhood experiences are also considered to contribute to the risk of hypochondriasis, but the results of previous studies have not been conclusive with respect to the strength and specificity of this association. Therefore, we compared the association of adverse childhood experiences with both hypochondriasis and depression.

Cyberstalking in a large sample of social network users: prevalence, characteristics, and impact upon victims.

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of cyberstalking victimization, characteristics of victims and offenders, and the impact of cyberstalking on the victims' well-being and mental health. An online survey of 6,379 participants was carried out, involving users of the German social network StudiVZ. Subjective mental health status was assessed with the WHO-5 well-being index.

Comparison of protocols for DNA extraction from long-term preserved formalin fixed tissues.

The current study compared the applicability of protocols to extract DNA from formalin fixed heart tissues that have been preserved for more than 50 years. Ten methods were tested: a cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) standard protocol, seven variants of this standard protocol, and two commercial kits. In the case of younger specimens (fixed in 1951, 1934, or 1914), extracts with DNA concentrations ≥ 10.