The smartphone as a "significant other": interpersonal dependency and attachment in maladaptive smartphone and social networks use.

Smartphones are increasingly widespread throughout the world and, although smartphones provide various benefits, excessive and maladaptive use is often reported. Given the penetration of smartphones in the individual's daily life, it is relevant to identify the mechanisms sustaining their use, including the affective bond that the owner may develop with the device. The aim of the current study is to test a novel model to explain smartphone and Social Network Sites (SNS) use from an interpersonal perspective.

Problem mastery and motivational clarification as mechanisms of change in cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression: Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: In process-outcome research, there is a growing body of literature investigating the therapeutic mechanisms underlying the promotion of positive change. This study investigated the between- and within-patient effects of problem mastery and motivational clarification on outcome in patients receiving two variations of cognitive therapies for depression.

Methods: This study drew on data of a randomized controlled trial conducted at an outpatient clinic and included 140 patients randomly assigned to 22 sessions of either cognitive-behavioral therapy or exposure-based cognitive therapy.

Narcissism and Reactions to a Self-Esteem Insult: An Experiment Using Predictions from Self-Report and the Rorschach Task.

We used self-reported narcissistic grandiosity and vulnerability and a component derived from 11 potential grandiosity and narcissism variables (GNVs) coded from Rorschach behavior to predict fluctuations in self-esteem and their links to anger and defensive reactions. We assessed state mood, state self-esteem, and performance attributions in 105 college students who underwent a self-esteem manipulation involving success followed by failure on cognitive testing. Self-reported grandiosity predicted the disavowal of effortful ability as a factor in failure, but we did not replicate other previously reported findings for this variable.

Response-to-Treatment for Comorbid Post-Traumatic Stress and Substance Use Disorders: The Value of Combining Person- and Variable-Centered Approaches.

Optimizing treatment for co-occurring post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder (PTSD+SUD) is critically important. Whereas treatments have been designed that target PTSD+SUD with some success, these treatments do not benefit all. Data-driven approaches that combine person- and variable-centered methods, such as parallel process latent class growth analysis (PP-LCGA) can be used to identify response-to-treatment trajectories across both PTSD symptoms and substance use.

Are all narratives the same: Convergent and discriminant validity of the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale-Global Rating Method across two narrative types.

This study examines the construct validity of the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale-Global Rating Method (SCORS-G) by exploring the degree of convergence across different narrative sources (i.e., early memories [EM] and psychotherapy narratives [PT]) using a university-based outpatient sample (n = 101).

Sexual prejudice, sexism, and religion.

Multi-national and meta-analytic studies suggest that the pathways between religiousness and sexism/sexual prejudice are partially mediated by sociopersonality factors such as conservatism. In this article, we describe the contributing factors to this relationship, such as authoritarianism and fundamentalism. These factors interact at the dynamic nexus of individual and social development.

The Difficult Task of Assessing and Interpreting Treatment Deterioration: An Evidence-Based Case Study.

Literature on outcome assessment suggests that 35-40% of patients in randomized control trials terminate treatment with unchanged or higher levels of symptomatology. The goal of the present study was to shed light on this phenomenon and the factors accounting for it using a single case study design that investigates the process and outcome of a treatment conducted within a non-randomized clinical trial comparing a cognitive behavioral and a brief relational treatment. The condition of L.

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: Background regarding a recent debate between Cuijpers et al. (2019a, b) and the authors (Munder et al. 2019) about the efficacy of psychotherapy for depression is given.

A mixed methods analysis of perceived cognitive impairment in hematopoietic stem cell transplant survivors.

Objective: Hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) survivors may show evidence of objective cognitive impairment; however, perceived cognitive problems and their impact on quality of life are less well-understood. The purpose of this study was to explore HSCT survivors' perceptions of cognitive impairment and its effect on daily life functioning.

Method: Sixty-nine autologous and allogeneic HSCT survivors nine months to three years posttransplant experiencing mild survivorship problems completed a brief structured interview regarding perceived cognitive impairment since transplant.

Is psychotherapy effective? A re-analysis of treatments for depression.

Unlabelled: AimsThe aim of this study was to reanalyse the data from Cuijpers et al.'s (2018) meta-analysis, to examine Eysenck's claim that psychotherapy is not effective. Cuijpers et al.

Impact of confrontations by therapists on impairment and utilization of the therapeutic alliance.

Objective: Striking the balance between creating challenge through confrontation (drawing attention to discrepancies) to encourage change and offering support through the therapeutic relationship to ensure safety for patients represents a central issue for psychotherapists. The aim of the present study was to assess immediate effects of confrontations by therapists on the therapeutic alliance.

Method: We rated video recordings of 77 therapies to measure incidences of alliance ruptures/resolution attempts as well as confrontations by therapists.

"Gold Standards," Plurality and Monocultures: The Need for Diversity in Psychotherapy.

For psychotherapy of mental disorders, presently several approaches are available, such as interpersonal, humanistic, systemic, psychodynamic or cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). Pointing to the available evidence, proponents of CBT claim that CBT is the gold standard. Some authors even argue for an integrated CBT-based form of psychotherapy as the only form of psychotherapy.

Resolving Alliance Ruptures from an Attachment-Informed Perspective.

In this article, we examine how the different attachment patterns enable or hinder the resolution of ruptures in the therapeutic alliance. We try to show that secure and insecure patients alike may experience ruptures in the therapeutic alliance, but that their ability to participate in such ruptures differ markedly. Recent findings with the Patient Attachment Coding System (PACS) show that attachment classifications manifest in psychotherapy as distinct ways of communicating about present internal experience.

When therapist estimations of the process of treatment can predict patients rating on outcome: The case of the working alliance.

Objective: It has been demonstrated that patient perspective on alliance can predict subsequent treatment outcome as reported by the therapist but not the other way around. This study aimed to investigate the circumstances in which therapists can provide estimations of alliance capable of predicting patient perceptions of subsequent session outcome. The study focused on 2 potential indicators: time in treatment and treatment efficacy.

The effect of alliance-focused training on a cognitive-behavioral therapy for personality disorders.

Objective: To improve success rates in psychotherapy, we developed and evaluated an alliance-focused training (AFT) protocol with regard to patient-therapist interpersonal behavior in a 30-session protocol of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for outpatients comorbid with Axis I and II conditions.

Method: Participants included 40 patients treated by 40 therapists in a multiple baseline design in which novice therapists trained to fidelity standards in CBT were introduced to AFT at different time intervals (after either 8 or 16 sessions) during a 30-session CBT protocol. Interpersonal behaviors were assessed with a simplified version of the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB) on videotaped sessions sampled from the early (between Sessions 6 through 8), mid (Sessions 14 through 16), and late (Sessions 22 through 24) phases of therapy.

Psychotherapy with American Indians: An exploration of therapist-rated techniques in three urban clinics.

The aim of the project was to conduct psychotherapy research in American Indian mental health clinics. To date, very little psychotherapy research has been conducted in this area. We report the findings from a multisite investigation of psychotherapy techniques used with American Indians.

Preliminary Data about the Validation of a Self-Report for the Assessment of Interpersonal Guilt: The Interpersonal Guilt Rating Scales-15s (IGRS-15s).

The aim of this article is to present validation data about a self-report rating scale for the assessment of interpersonal guilt according to Control-Mastery Theory (CMT; Silbershatz, 2005; Weiss, 1993; Weiss, Sampson, & The Mount Zion Psychotherapy Research Group, 1986), the Interpersonal Guilt Rating Scale-15s (IGRS-15s). In order to perform the validation of this tool in an Italian sample we have collected a sample of 645 nonclinical subjects. They had to complete the IGRS-15s, the Scale for the Measurement of the Impending Punishment (SMIP; Caprara et al.

Do Demographic Changes Jeopardize Social Integration among Aging Adults Living in Rural Regions?

Objectives: Contextual influences of the living environment on the social integration of adults have been primarily studied cross-sectionally. Here, we argue that context (i.e.

Stress responding in cannabis smokers as a function of trauma exposure, sex, and relapse in the human laboratory.

Background: Stress responding is linked to drug use, but little is known about stress responses in cannabis smokers. We investigated acute stress responding in cannabis smokers as a function of trauma exposure and sex, and relationships between stress responses and cannabis relapse.

Methods: 125 healthy, non-treatment-seeking daily cannabis smokers (23F, 102 M) completed the Trier Social Stress Task (TSST), a standardized laboratory stressor; subsets also completed a trauma questionnaire (n = 106) and a laboratory cannabis relapse measure (n = 54).

Regulation of threat in post-traumatic stress disorder: Associations between inhibitory control and dissociative symptoms.

The current study investigated links between trauma exposure, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and inhibitory control assessed using a modified version of the visual flanker task. The study had three aims: (1) specifically confirm general non-affective deficits in sustained attention in PTSD; (2) probe the influence of threatening and trauma-related stimuli on inhibitory control; and (3) explore neural correlates connecting PTSD, facets of dissociation, and inhibitory control. Participants with PTSD (n = 16), trauma-exposed individuals without PTSD (TE; n = 14), and healthy controls (n = 15) discriminated line orientations while ignoring temporally flanking lines and images depicting threatening or non-threatening scenes or faces.

The Process of Change in Ethnic Minority Males Undergoing Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: A detailed comparison of two cases.

Objective: Better understanding of the connection between therapeutic processes and outcomes in minority groups can help design and use culturally-adapted treatments.

Method: To explore the active ingredient in the therapeutic process, the present case study compared two ethnic minority male clients, recruited as part of a randomized controlled trial (RCT), one with a good outcome, the other with a poor one. The 12-item Working Alliance Inventory-Observer (S-WAI-O) coding system was used to capture the process of change, alongside a qualitative analysis of content.

Confessions of a New York rupture researcher: An insider's guide and critique.

Objective: The study of alliance rupture has become quite prevalent since 1990 and especially in the past 10 years where we have seen a noticeable surge in empirical publications on the subject. This honorary paper attempts to provide a critical review of this literature from the perspective of someone who has contributed to it in his collaborative work on a research program designed to investigate ruptures and to develop intervention and training models to resolve them.

Method: This paper is organized into three topics or sections: (1) alliance rupture, (2) rupture resolution, and (3) alliance training; and it addresses definitions, findings, questions, and lessons with regard to each topic.

What is the effect on comorbid personality disorder of brief panic-focused psychotherapy in patients with panic disorder?

Background: No studies of psychotherapies for panic disorder (PD) have examined effects on comorbid personality disorders (PersD), yet half such patients have a PersD.

Methods: In a randomized trial for PD with and without agoraphobia comparing Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Panic-Focused Psychodynamic Psychotherapy (PFPP), PersD was assessed pre-to-post treatment with the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnosis of Axis-II Disorders (SCID-II). For patients completing therapy (n = 118, 54 with PersD), covariance between panic and SCID-II criteria improvements was analyzed.

A Quantitative Examination of Identity Integration in Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual People of Faith.

Much of the religious/spiritual development of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals (GLBs) has focused on experiences of conflict and distress, providing little insight into how these identities can be integrated. The present study explored the religious and spiritual lives of GLBs with a specific focus on the integration of these identities. We conducted a retrospective secondary data analysis of 750 GLB individuals from the Northern California Health Study to quantitatively assess sexual orientation and religion/spirituality integration using hierarchical cluster analysis.

Vigilance, the Amygdala, and Anxiety in Youths with a History of Institutional Care.

Background: Early adversity is commonly associated with alterations of amygdala circuitry and increased anxiety. While many theoretical and clinical accounts of early adversity suggest that it increases vigilance to threatening stimuli, the present study tested whether heightened anxiety and amygdala reactivity associated with early adversity enhanced goal-directed attention for threatening stimuli. Showing this association would provide support that these adversity-induced alterations are developmental adaptations of the individual.