Public safety personnel (PSP), such as police officers, firefighters, correctional workers, and paramedics, routinely face work stressors that increase their risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PSP may additionally face moral transgressions in the workplace (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms are hypothesized to be driven by two core motivations: harm avoidance and incompleteness. While cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for OCD, many posit that OCD presentations characterized by high incompleteness may be harder to treat. The relationship between the core motivations and treatment outcomes remains to be further explored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Staffing shortages across the healthcare sector pose a threat to the continuity of the Canadian healthcare system in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era. We sought to understand factors associated with turnover intention as well as Canadian healthcare providers' (HCPs) perspectives and experiences with turnover intention as related to both organizational and professional turnover.
Method: A convergent questionnaire mixed-methods design was employed.
Introduction: Individuals with insomnia disorder often exhibit differences between reported experiences of sleep and objectively measured sleep parameters; however, the implications of this subjective-objective sleep discrepancy during treatment remains unclear.
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) on the discrepancy between objective and subjective measures of sleep, and to assess whether changes in clinical variables such as depression, anxiety, fatigue, and beliefs about sleep, were related to changes in discrepancy.
Methods: Twenty-five participants with insomnia disorder were enrolled in group CBT-I.
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been used with increasing frequency as a therapeutic tool to alleviate clinical symptoms of obsessive compulsive-disorder (OCD). However, little is known about the effects of tDCS on neurocognitive functioning among OCD patients. The aim of this review was to provide a comprehensive overview of the literature examining the effects of tDCS on specific neurocognitive functions in OCD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has been shown to be effective for several psychiatric and somatic conditions; however, most randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have administered treatment in person and whether remote delivery is similarly effective remains uncertain. We sought to compare the effectiveness of therapist-guided remote CBT and in-person CBT.
Methods: We systematically searched MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from inception to July 4, 2023, for RCTs that enrolled adults (aged ≥ 18 yr) presenting with any clinical condition and that randomized participants to either therapist-guided remote CBT (e.
Healthcare workers (HCWs) across the globe have reported symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moral Injury (MI) has been associated with PTSD in military populations, but is not well studied in healthcare contexts. Moral Distress (MD), a related concept, may enhance understandings of MI and its relation to PTSD among HCWs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdults with clinical anxiety have significant symptom overlap and above average rates of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Despite this, ADHD remains a vastly under-detected disorder among this population, indicating the need for a screener with well-understood symptom dimensions and good discriminant validity. The current study compared competing models of ADHD as well as discriminant properties of self-reported ADHD symptoms as measured by the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS-v1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealth Promot Chronic Dis Prev Can
November 2023
Introduction: Respiratory therapists (RTs) faced morally distressing situations throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, including working with limited resources and facilitating video calls for families of dying patients. Moral distress is associated with a host of adverse psychological and functional outcomes (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
September 2023
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) including exposure and response prevention is the first-line psychological treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Given changes in the clinical landscape, there are increasing efforts to evaluate its effectiveness in online contexts. Mirroring the traditional in-person delivery, few studies have assessed the role of therapist-guided, manual-based CBT for OCD delivered in real-time via videoconferencing methods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBull Menninger Clin
September 2023
Although much is known about how intrusive thoughts become obsessions, the factors that determine which particular thoughts do so is not. The degree to which intrusions are personally significant may be such a determinant. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is heterogeneous; thus, it is possible that contradictions of personal values may play a varying role in the development of obsessions depending on which OCD symptoms manifest and may change differentially following treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPost-Event Processing (PEP) is prevalent and problematic in Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) but is typically not a direct target in evidence-based treatments such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for SAD. The primary aim of the current study was to examine the impact of several theoretically and empirically derived interventions for PEP in SAD, including concrete thinking, abstract thinking, and distraction in comparison to a control (i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Reprod Infant Psychol
September 2024
Background: Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)-characterised by excessive and uncontrollable worry-is the most frequently diagnosed anxiety disorder during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Identification of GAD often relies on assessment of its cardinal feature, pathological worry. The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) is the most robust measure of pathological worry to date but has not been extensively evaluated for use during pregnancy and the postpartum period.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGeneralized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a leading mental health concern during pregnancy and the postpartum (perinatal) period. People with GAD engage in problematic behaviors to manage their distress. However, the extent of GAD behaviors during the perinatal period may not be adequately captured by the Worry Behaviors Inventory (WBI), the most comprehensive measure of GAD behaviors to date.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Healthcare providers (HCPs) may be at elevated risk for moral injury due to increased exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Identifying PMIEs experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic is a critical first step for understanding moral injury in HCPs. Accordingly, the purpose of the present study was to gain a deeper understanding of the work-related PMIEs experienced by HCPs in Canada during the pandemic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur J Psychotraumatol
March 2023
Background: Given the highly stressful environment surrounding the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, healthcare workers (HCW) and public safety personnel (PSP) are at an elevated risk for adverse psychological outcomes, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol/substance use problems. As such, the study aimed to identify associations between PTSD severity, related dissociation and emotion dysregulation symptoms, and alcohol/substance use problems among HCWs and PSP.
Methods: A subset of data (= 498; HCWs = 299; PSP = 199) was extracted from a larger study examining psychological variables among Canadian HCWs and PSP during the pandemic.
Healthcare professionals (HCPs) appear to be at increased risk for negative psychological outcomes [e.g. depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), moral distress] and associated impacts on functioning throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThroughout the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers (HCWs) have been exposed to highly stressful situations, including increased workloads and exposure to mortality, thus posing a risk for adverse psychological outcomes, including acute stress, moral injury, and depression or anxiety symptoms. Although several reports have sought to identify the types of coping strategies used by HCWs over the course of the pandemic (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The current study examined whether cannabis use frequency and cannabis-related problem severity (as per the Cannabis Use Disorder Identification Test-Revised) predicted outcomes of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for anxiety and related disorders. It was predicted that greater frequency of cannabis use and greater cannabis-related problem severity would be associated with dampened treatment outcomes compared to less severe cannabis use presentations.
Methods: Participants were 253 adults seeking treatment for anxiety and related disorders.
Background: Safety behaviours are hypothesized to play a vital role in maintaining social anxiety disorder (SAD), in part by orienting socially anxious individuals to adopt an avoidance-based mindset focused on self-protection and self-concealment. Evidence suggests an association between safety behaviour use and negative social outcomes for individuals with SAD. However, research has largely focused on the broad group of safety behaviours, whereas specific subtypes have received less attention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecent meta-analyses highlight alterations in cognitive functioning among individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD), with performance deficits observed across multiple cognitive domains including executive functioning, memory, and attention. Moreover, impaired concentration is a formal diagnostic criterion for a major depressive episode. Notably, cognitive impairment is reported frequently in MDD and is associated with poor treatment response.
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