Development and Initial Validation of a Brief Symptom Measure.

Unlabelled: Self-report measures of psychiatric symptomatology are important components of treatment monitoring and service evaluation programs. However, the currently available measures have numerous limitations including being symptom or disorder specific, suited to a limited range of clinical settings, and having excessive burden. Consequently, there is a need for a brief and psychometrically robust measure of global symptomatology that is applicable across diverse clinical settings, therapeutic modalities and patient populations.

Short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy for depression: an examination of statistical, clinically significant, and technique-specific change.

This study investigates the effectiveness of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (STPP) for depression in a naturalistic setting utilizing a hybrid effectiveness/efficacy treatment research model. Twenty-one patients were assessed pre- and post-treatment through clinician ratings and patient self-report on scales representing specific DSM-IV depressive, global symptomatology, relational, social, and occupational functioning. Treatment credibility, fidelity, and satisfaction were examined, all of which were found to be high.

Distinctive activities of cognitive-behavioral therapy. A review of the comparative psychotherapy process literature.

The present review examined the comparative psychotherapy process literature in order to identify the distinctive activities of cognitive-behavioral (CB) treatment. Six techniques and interventions were found to distinguish CB from psychodynamic-interpersonal (PI) therapy: (1) use of homework and outside-of-session activities; (2) direction of session activity; (3) teaching of skills used by patients to cope with symptoms; (4) emphasis on patients' future experiences; (5) providing patients with information about their treatment, disorder, or symptoms; and (6) an intrapersonal/cognitive (C) focus. Identifying the distinctive features of CB therapy can improve the measurement of process-outcome correlations by more accurately specifying and operationalizing the treatment-specific processes of CB treatment, help researchers differentiate between common and treatment-specific factors, and aid in development of more psychometrically sound instruments assessing adherence and competence in CB therapy.

Auld lang syne: success predictors, change processes, and self-reported outcomes of New Year's resolvers and nonresolvers.

New Year's resolvers (n = 159) and comparable nonresolvers interested in changing a problem later (n = 123) were followed for six months via telephone interviews to determine their self-reported outcomes, predictors of success, and change processes. The two groups did not differ in terms of demographic characteristics, problem histories, or behavioral goals (weight loss, exercise program, and smoking cessation being the most prevalent). Resolvers reported higher rates of success than nonresolvers; at six months, 46% of the resolvers were continuously successful compared to 4% of the nonresolvers.