Group based metacognitive therapy for alcohol use disorder: a pilot study.

Introduction: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a severe clinical disorder, which has been associated with 5.3% of death worldwide. Although several treatments have been developed to improve AUD symptomatology, treatment effects were moderate, with a certain amount of patients displaying symptom deterioration after treatment termination.

Working with the inner critic in patients with depression using chairwork: a pilot study.

Introduction: Individuals diagnosed with depression frequently experience self-criticism, leading to considerable psychological distress. Despite the availability of cognitive-behavioral treatments, a notable proportion of patients indicate that they solely experience cognitive improvements, without the corresponding emotional changes, following therapy. As a result, their psychological symptoms persist.

Coping with test anxiety using imagery rescripting: A two-session randomized controlled trial.

Background: Up to 55 % of students experience test anxiety (TA), which is characterized by intense physiological and psychological symptoms before or during exams, such as anxiety, fear of failure, sweating, or increased heart rate. Furthermore, TA increases graduation times and can result in discontinuance of the graduate program all together. Previous research demonstrated the beneficial effects of combining cognitive behavioral therapy with imagery rescripting, however, treatment programs are comparably long.

Treating emotion dysregulation in patients with borderline personality disorder using imagery rescripting: A two-session randomized controlled trial.

Studies on Emotionally Dysregulated Behavior (EDB) demonstrated that the conduct thereof is associated with emotion dysregulation and preceded by mental imagery of EDB, which can direct future behavior. These findings are specifically important within the context of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), where emotion dysregulation and EDB are at the core of the disorder. The present study aims to evaluate the efficacy of imagery rescripting (IR) in treating emotion dysregulation associated with EDB in patients diagnosed with BPD.

Addressing self-criticism in depression using CBT-based emotion-focused chairwork: study protocol of a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Self-criticism is a key feature in people diagnosed with depression, resulting in significant psychological distress. Despite the fact that cognitive-behavioural treatments are readily available, a significant number of patients report experiencing cognitive, but not emotional, change following therapy, resulting in the maintenance of psychological symptoms. Additionally, interventions targeting emotional experiencing, such as chairwork, are generally implemented within large-scale therapeutic treatments.

Imagery rescripting as a short intervention for symptoms associated with mental images in clinical disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

There is an unmet need for effective short-term therapeutic techniques to reduce clinical symptoms associated with prospective-, as well as retrospective aversive mental images across mental disorders. We investigated the efficacy of imagery rescripting (IR) as a short-term intervention across clinical disorders, as the literature suggests that this technique could be a promising intervention to reduce psychopathology by altering intrusive mental images. A systematic literature review identified 23 trials including 805 adult patients, out of which 15 trials were designed as randomized controlled trials (RCT) including patients with the following diagnoses: Social anxiety disorder (SAD), Posttraumatic-Stress-Disorder (PTSD), Bulimia Nervosa, Borderline Personality Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, nightmare disorder, test anxiety, health anxiety, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

Relationship Dysfunction in Couples When One Partner Is Diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder: Findings from a Pilot Study.

Relationship dysfunction-marked by frequent conflicts-is one of the hallmark features of borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, the BPD couple as a dyad and partner-related features have rarely been taken into account. The aim of the present study was to investigate hormonal, personality, and relationship relevant factors, such as relationship satisfaction, attachment, and trauma in both partners within a dyad where one partner is diagnosed with BPD.

Cognitive bias modification for interpretation (CBM-I) for post-traumatic stress disorder: study protocol of an app-based randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Previous studies indicate that computerised trainings implementing cognitive bias modification (CBM) for interpretation bias might be promising treatments for trauma-related cognitive distortions and symptoms. However, results are mixed, which might be related to the implemented task (sentence completion task), setting, or training duration. Within the present study, we aim to evaluate the efficacy and safety of an app-based intervention for interpretation bias using standardised imagery audio scripts, which is designed as a standalone treatment.

Spacing learning units affects both learning and forgetting.

Spaced learning produces better learning performance than extended learning periods without or with little interruptions. This "spacing effect" exists on different time scales, ranging from seconds to months. We recently found large spacing effects with a hitherto rarely investigated 12-hours spacing interval.

The Association Between Test Anxiety, Self-Efficacy, and Mental Images Among University Students: Results From an Online Survey.

A substantial portion of students report test anxiety, and those reporting low levels of self-efficacy seem to be especially affected. Previous research has indicated the relevance of mental images in the maintenance of anxiety disorders, however, no data are available with respect to test anxiety. In order to close this gap, the present study investigates the association between test anxiety, self-efficacy and mental images.

[Homesickness - A Systematic Review of the Incidence and Consequences of a Phenomenon of Topical Relevance].

Introduction: Homesickness is a phenomenon of many cultures. International research deals with this topic, not so in Germany. The aim of this work is to bring the phenomenon of homesickness closer to the reader from a scientific and psychiatric point of view, to provide evidence and to create an awareness of its actuality.

Short Imagery Rescripting Intervention to Treat Emotionally Dysregulated Behavior in Borderline Personality Disorder: An Exploratory Study.

Background: Current research on borderline personality disorder report an association between emotionally dysregulated behaviors and intrusive mental imagery depicting similar scenes. Imagery rescripting techniques have proven effective in reducing intrusive mental imagery in numerous contexts. We developed a two session-short intervention in which intrusive mental images are identified, analyzed, and modified for daily rehearsal at home.

Imagery Rescripting: Exploratory Evaluation of a Short Intervention to Reduce Test Anxiety in University Students.

Background: Test anxiety is common in university students. Demanding schedules may contribute to the relatively low utilization of professional counseling, when compared to other anxiety disorders. A possible solution could be a psychotherapeutic short-term intervention.

Common Factors of Psychotherapy in Inpatients With Major Depressive Disorder: A Pilot Study.

Psychotherapeutic interventions share common factors, which might contribute to treatment success independent of the type of psychotherapy. Previous research on common factors of psychotherapy was mostly conducted in outpatients and covered the development of common factors throughout a therapy over months or years. However, the role of common factors for the psychotherapeutic treatment success in inpatients during their hospital stay has not been addressed so far.

Mirror neuron activations in encoding of psychic pain in borderline personality disorder.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by pronounced emotional instability in interpersonal relations. Previous studies have shown increased activity in the amygdala, an imaging phenotype of negative affect. However, clinical accounts of BPD have drawn attention to deficits in social cognition and their likely role in engendering emotional instability.

Adaptation of the Scrambled-Sentences Task to Assess "Shattered Assumptions:" Construction of the Test and Investigation of Neural Substrates in an fMRI Study.

Background: Increasing recognition is being given to the importance of cognitions observed in posttraumatic conditions. These cognitions may reflect the activation of negative schemas. The aim of this work was to evaluate the feasibility of the scrambled-sentences task (SST) to assess individual differences in attributions commonly observed after traumas.

Common and distinct patterns of abnormal cortical gyrification in major depression and borderline personality disorder.

Abnormal gray matter volume has been consistently reported in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), but markers of cortical neurodevelopment have been rarely investigated. Also, it is unclear whether there exist common versus distinct spatial patterns of abnormal cortical development across different disorders presenting with negative emotions and deficient affective regulation. In this study, we used structural MRI at 3T to investigate the local gyrification index (LGI), a marker of fetal/infant neurodevelopment, in adult female patients with MDD (n = 22), in adult female patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) (n = 17), and in controls (n = 22).

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Introduction: Therapeutic relationship in forensic psychiatry is believed to be affected by the coercive setting and the role conflict of the therapists as both treaters and court-appointed experts. The aim of the study was to examine and compare the therapeutic relationship in forensic and general psychiatric settings.

Material And Methods: 52 forensic patients and 66 general psychiatric patients filled in the Psychopathy Personality Inventory - Revised (PPI-R), the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems - German Version (IIP-D), the Questionnaire on Motivation for Psychotherapy (Fragebogen zur Erfassung der Psychotherapiemotivation (FPTM)) as well as the Working Alliance Inventory - Short Revised (WAI-SR).

When Learning Disturbs Memory - Temporal Profile of Retroactive Interference of Learning on Memory Formation.

Consolidation is defined as the time necessary for memory stabilization after learning. In the present study we focused on effects of interference during the first 12 consolidation minutes after learning. Participants had to learn a set of German - Japanese word pairs in an initial learning task and a different set of German - Japanese word pairs in a subsequent interference task.

Aberrant resting-state cerebellar blood flow in major depression.

Background: Abnormal cortical cerebral blood flow and gray matter volume have been frequently reported in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). In contrast, although the role of the cerebellum in MDD pathophysiology has attracted considerable interest more recently, studies investigating both functional and structural aspects of cerebellar integrity are scarce.

Methods: In this study, we used structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate cerebellar volume and regional cerebellar blood flow (rCBF) at rest in clinically acute MDD patients (n = 22) and healthy controls (n = 18).

The Construct Validity of the German Academic Self-regulation Questionnaire (SRQ-A) within Primary and Secondary School Children.

The assessment of students' motivation can be a powerful tool in enhancing and understanding students' learning. One valid and often applied self-report measure is the Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ-A) which is grounded in the self-determination theory. However, to date, there is still no German equivalent to the English version of this questionnaire.

The Association between Parenting Behavior and Executive Functioning in Children and Young Adolescents.

Executive functioning (EF) is associated with various aspects of school achievement and cognitive development in children and adolescents. There has been substantial research investigating associations between EF and other factors in young children, such as support processes and parenting, but less research has been conducted about external factors relating to EF in older children and adolescents. Therefore, the present study investigates one possible factor that could correlate with EF in school-age children and adolescents: parenting behavior.