Abstract 1. Smokers with past major depressive disorder participating in a smoking cessation treatment study were interviewed at 6, 26, and 29 weeks postquit to retrospectively assess their smoking behavior using the timeline follow-back... more
Abstract 1. Smokers with past major depressive disorder participating in a smoking cessation treatment study were interviewed at 6, 26, and 29 weeks postquit to retrospectively assess their smoking behavior using the timeline follow-back (TLFB) method. Participants ...
Research Interests:
Alcoholics with depressive symptoms score > or = 10 on the Beck Depression Inventory (A.T. Beck, C. H. Ward, M. Mendelson, J. Mock, & J. Erbaugh, 1961) received 8 individual sessions of cognitive-behavioral... more
Alcoholics with depressive symptoms score > or = 10 on the Beck Depression Inventory (A.T. Beck, C. H. Ward, M. Mendelson, J. Mock, & J. Erbaugh, 1961) received 8 individual sessions of cognitive-behavioral treatment for depression (CBT-D, n = 19) or a relaxation training control (RTC; n = 16) plus standard alcohol treatment. CBT-D patients had greater reductions in somatic depressive symptoms and depressed and anxious mood than RTC patients during treatment. Patients receiving CBT-D had a greater percentage of days abstinent but not greater overall abstinence or fewer drinks per day during the first 3-month follow-up. However, between the 3- and 6-month follow-ups, CBT-D patients had significantly better alcohol use outcomes on total abstinence (47% vs. 13%), percent days abstinent (90.5% vs. 68.3%), and drinks per day (0.46 vs. 5.71). Theoretical and clinical implications of using CBT-D in alcohol treatment are discussed.
Research Interests: Psychology, Personality Assessment, Treatment Outcome, Consulting, Comorbidity, and 18 moreThinking, Humans, Personality Assessment Inventory, Alcoholism, Female, Cognitive Therapy, Male, Cognitive behavior therapy, Follow-up studies, Depressive Disorder, Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Method, Recurrence, Middle Aged, Adult, Temperance, Long Term Effect, Survival Time, and Relaxation Therapy
Body-focused attention is regarded as an important maintaining factor for somatoform illness, although there is limited empirical evidence pertaining to this hypothesis. This study was conducted to assess whether individual differences in... more
Body-focused attention is regarded as an important maintaining factor for somatoform illness, although there is limited empirical evidence pertaining to this hypothesis. This study was conducted to assess whether individual differences in somatoform dissociation and somatosensory amplification were associated with biased attention towards the tactile modality, particularly following exposure to threatening body-related stimuli. Forty-eight nonclinical participants completed the Somatoform Dissociation Questionnaire (SDQ-20; a proxy measure of somatoform symptomatology), the Somatosensory Amplification Scale (SSAS), and a modality bias task. The task consisted of a series of body-relevant or body-irrelevant (scene) picture stimuli, half of which were threatening and half were neutral, followed by target stimuli in either the visual or the tactile modality. Participants judged the location of each target stimulus, and performance data were used to calculate the degree to which participants were biased towards the tactile modality following each of the picture types. Participants in the high SDQ-20 group (defined by median split) showed a significant increase in tactile bias when responding to targets occurring 250 ms after the presentation of threatening body-relevant stimuli only. This effect was not observed for the low SDQ-20 group. Scores on the SSAS correlated negatively with tactile bias for both threatening and neutral body-relevant stimuli at 250 ms. Individuals with a tendency to experience somatoform symptoms focus more on stimuli in the tactile modality immediately following exposure to threatening body-relevant information. In contrast, self-reported somatosensory amplification appears to be associated with attention away from the tactile modality rather than with increased tactile focus.
Research Interests: Perception, Anxiety Disorders, Cognition, Attention, Cognitive Bias, and 17 moreAdolescent, Cognitive, Humans, Touch, Cues, Female, Male, Young Adult, Dissociative disorders, Exposure, Middle Aged, Questionnaires, Psychosomatic, Adult, Empirical evidence, Somatoform disorders, and Individual Difference
This study aimed to develop an experimental paradigm, using healthy controls, to measure change in tactile sensitivity and response bias for subsequent testing of patients with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS). Participants judged... more
This study aimed to develop an experimental paradigm, using healthy controls, to measure change in tactile sensitivity and response bias for subsequent testing of patients with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS). Participants judged whether or not they detected a weak tactile pulse (presented in 50% of trials). Performance in two conditions (tactile pulses presented with or without a concomitant light) was compared using signal detection analysis to assess whether a task-irrelevant light can invoke the sensation of touch, even in its absence. The results showed that the presence of a concurrent light significantly improved participants' detection of the tactile stimulus by 13.7% [t(18)=4.24, P<.001]. Also, more false alarms (perceiving that the touch was present when it was not) were made when the light was present [t(18)=2.10, P=.05]. Although differences in sensitivity between the light conditions were not significant [t(18)=1.14, P=.268], participants were more likely to report a touch, regardless of whether a touch was presented or not, in the light-present condition [t(18)=-3.84, P=.001]. When discriminating weak vibration pulses on the finger from no stimulation, a simultaneous light was capable of creating the sensation of touch, even when it was not present. The findings of this research will be of interest to those studying psychosomatic disorders or MUS, where patients experience physical symptoms without an identifiable organic cause. This paradigm provides an experimental measure of such distortions in perception, which may elucidate underlying mechanisms of action.