An ecological momentary assessment of retrospective memory accuracy in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Numerous studies have demonstrated the pervasiveness of inaccuracies in patients’ retrospective recall of their symptoms (e.g., Stone, Broderick, Shiffman, & Schwartz, 2004). Assessment methods that rely heavily on retrospective recall may lead to faulty clinical inferences should a patient’s recall be biased or inaccurate. Despite lingering concerns about the accuracy of retrospective recall in a variety of clinical and nonclinical populations, investigators have not studied individuals diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This is troubling given findings from laboratory studies that OCD patients may have deficits in episodic memory (Muller & Roberts, 2005). This study investigated memory accuracy in OCD patients using an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) research methodology. By using handheld computers to collect self-monitoring data in real time, EMA data served as a criterion against which retrospective recall was tested for accuracy. Thirty-five patients diagnosed with OCD used a handheld computer to rate presence of OCD and related symptoms four times per day for a week. Patients estimated the frequency and duration of their behavior during the EMA self-monitoring phase. Results indicated that contrary to a priori hypotheses, OCD patients’ retrospective recall of their EMA recorded symptoms were relatively accurate. Consistent with hypotheses and previous studies, reactivity to the EMA data collection procedure was not observed. Finally, the results suggest that despite participants’ accuracy when recalling frequency and duration of symptoms, participants were inaccurate in estimating symptom covariance with supplemental items that measured non-OCD functioning (e.g., amount of sleep, current level of stress, etc.)

Is worry different from rumination? Yes, it is more predictive of psychopathology!

Objective: Although worry and rumination are everyday phenomena as well as common symptoms across numerous psychopathological disorders, the theoretical and clinical delineations of both concepts need more clarification. This study explored the degree of overlap between worry and rumination on the levels of standardized questionnaires and a priori lay concepts

Your phone ruins our lunch: Attitudes, norms, and valuing the interaction predict phone use and phubbing in dyadic social interactions

Phubbing-ignoring another person in order to use a smartphone instead-is an increasingly common behavior that disrupts interactions and harms relationships. Using the frameworks of the Theory of Planned Behavior and an interaction value approach, we examined driving factors of phubbing frequency. Four pre-registered predictors were tested: attitudes towards phubbing, subjective norms of phubbing, interaction value, that is, the extent of valuing a social interaction, and perceived interaction value of the partner. After having had lunch together, a total of 128 participants in 64 dyads filled out a survey assessing the four predictors. Dyadic linear mixed model analyses confirm that a more positive attitude towards phubbing increases phubbing, as well as being phubbed. Moreover, we disentangled screen-sharing time (i.e., using a phone together), phone use, co-present phone use (i.e., using a phone alone), and phubbing: we found that valuing the social interaction more decreased phone use, but not phubbing, and holding more accepting subjective norms on phubbing increased co-present phone use, but not phone use in general. We further found that the person that used their phone first, phubbed more. Overall, this research extends our understanding of the factors driving phubbing and may be fruitfully harnessed to reduce phubbing

Valued living before and after CBT

Whether and to what degree psychotherapy leads to changes in patients’ value-based actions is not well documented. In this study we examined whether cognitive behavioral therapy, without explicit values work, enhancedvalue-oriented action. We also explored the role of change in valued action for subsequent life satisfaction and continued change after therapy. Additionally, data on the reliability and validity of the Valued Living Questionnaire (VLQ) are reported. We analyzed the pre-, post-, and 6-month-follow-up-data of 3,687patients of a university psychotherapy outpatient clinic, most of which suffered from reliably diagnosed anxiety and mood disorders. Questionnaires included the VLQ (with 10 items each on the "importance" and "consistency" of values),symptom scales (Beck Depression Inventory; Brief Symptom Inventory), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Over the course of therapy significant improvements in value-oriented action were found (d= .34), especially in treatment responders (d= .51). Increase of value-oriented action significantly explained satisfaction with life at end of treatment, even after controlling forsymptom reduction. Temporally preceding improvement on the VLQ predicted further symptom reduction until follow-up. Data indicate that psychotherapy positively affects valued living, even when itis not explicitlytargeted in treatment. Valuedliving may have a role in the course and maintenance of therapeutic change

Studying Daily Social Interaction Quantity and Quality in Relation to Depression Change: A Multi-Phase Experience Sampling Study

Day-to-day social life and mental health are intertwined. Yet, no study to date has assessed how the quantity and quality of social interactions in daily life are associated with changes in depressive symptoms. This study examines these links using multiple-timescale data (iSHAIB data set; N = 133), where the level of depressive symptoms was measured before and after three 21-day periods of event-contingent experience sampling of individuals’ interpersonal interactions ( T = 64,112). We find weak between-person effects for interaction quantity and perceiving interpersonal warmth of others on changes in depressive symptoms over the 21-day period, but strong and robust evidence for overwarming—a novel construct representing the self-perceived difference between one’s own and interaction partner’s level of interpersonal warmth. The findings highlight the important role qualitative aspects of social interactions may play in the progression of individuals’ depressive symptoms

The Empirical Status of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: A Review of Meta-Analyses

The efficacy of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has been evaluated in many randomized controlled trials investigating a broad range of target conditions. This paper reviews the meta-analytic evidence on ACT. The 20 included meta-analyses reported 100 controlled effect sizes across n = 12,477 participants. Controlled effect sizes were grouped by target conditions and comparison group. Results showed that ACT is efficacious for all conditions examined, including anxiety, depression, substance use, pain, and transdiagnostic groups. Results also showed that ACT was generally superior to inactive controls (e.g. waitlist, placebo), treatment as usual, and most active intervention conditions (excluding CBT). Weaknesses and areas for future development are discussed

The Common Sense Model of Self-Regulation and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: integrating strategies to guide interventions for chronic illness

Most health behaviour intervention efforts are adapted from the typical psychological treatment experience and may not take into serious consideration theories specifically developed to describe the process of adaptation to illness. This paper presents a proposal for the combination of a theory about the experience of and adaptation to illness, that is, the Common Sense Model of Self-Regulation (CSM), and an efficient psychological theory and therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Past combinations of CSM with cognitive or cognitive-behavioural interventions have focussed almost only on specific aspects of this model (mostly, illness representations and action plans) and left out other, equally important for a fruitful adaptation to illness, recommendations of the model (e.g., regarding the system coherence). Therefore, the development of the proposed combination is to try to match a broad array of the CSM aspects with the principles, intervention techniques and methods employed by ACT, in order to produce a 'double-pillared' intervention strategy that may prove especially effective for promoting patients' adaptation to a chronic condition and enhancing their well-being and health

Psychological Flexibility as a Malleable Public Health Target: Evidence from a Representative Sample

Background: Identifying salient and widespread health-promoting targets is a prerequisite for efficient public health initiatives. We tested the moderating influence of psychological flexibility — a fundamental, trainable set of intrapersonal and interpersonal processes that help people manage stressors and strengthen alternative adaptive behaviors — on the relationship between known risk factors and physical health, mental health, and well-being. Method: A representative sample of 1035 participants in Switzerland aged 18 – 74 years answered questions about their physical health, health care utilization, mental health, well-being, and three risk factors: stressful life events, daily stress, and low social support. Statistical models tested whether psychological flexibility moderated the relationship between risk factors and outcomes. Results: Psychological flexibility consistently moderated the relationship between stress and all tested outcomes, following a dose response: Higher levels were more protective. Conclusions: Targeting psychological flexibility — a salient and widespread set of trainable skills — could promote various health outcomes

Physical diseases among persons with obsessive compulsive symptoms and disorder: a general population study

Purpose: This study aimed at evaluating the comorbidity between DSM-IV obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and subthreshold forms and physical diseases in the general population as well as disability associated with comorbidity. Methods: We used data from the 1998 German Mental Health Survey, a representative survey of the German population. Mental disorders and physical diseases of 4181 subjects (aged 18-65) were cross-sectionally assessed. Mental disorders were diagnosed using the M-CIDI/DIA-X interview. Physical diseases were assessed through a self-report questionnaire and a standardized medical interview. We created three groups of obsessive-compulsive symptoms: (1) no obsessive compulsive symptoms (n=3,571); (2) obsessive compulsive symptoms (OCS, n=371; endorsement of OCS (either obsession or compulsion) without fulfilling any core DSM-IV criteria); (3) subthreshold OCD/OCD (n=239; fulfilling either some or all of the core DSM-IV criteria). Results: In comparison to subjects without OCS, subjects with subthreshold OCD/OCD showed higher prevalence rates of migraine headaches (OR 1.7; 95% CI 1.1-2.5) and respiratory diseases (OR 1.7; 95% CI 1.03-2.7); subjects with OCS showed higher prevalence rates of allergies (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.1-2.8), migraine headaches (OR 1.9; 95% CI 1.4-2.7) and thyroid disorders (OR 1.4; 95% CI 1.01-2.0). Subjects with both OCS and physical disease reported the highest number of days of disability due to physical or psychological problems during the past 30days compared to subjects with only OCS, only physical disease or neither of them. Conclusions: OCD and subthreshold forms are associated with higher comorbidity rates with specific physical diseases and higher disability than subjects without OCS. Possible etiological pathways should be evaluated in future studies and clinicians in primary care should be aware of these associations