Imagery Rescripting : The Impact of Conceptual and Perceptual Changes on Aversive Autobiographical Memories

BACKGROUND: Imagery rescripting (ImRs) is a process by which aversive autobiographical memories are rendered less unpleasant or emotional. ImRs is thought only to be effective if a change in the meaning-relevant (semantic) content of the mental image is produced, according to a cognitive hypothesis of ImRs. We propose an additional hypothesis: that ImRs can also be effective by the manipulation of perceptual features of the memory, without explicitly targeting meaning-relevant content. METHODS: In two experiments using a within-subjects design (both N = 48, community samples), both Conceptual-ImRs-focusing on changing meaning-relevant content-and Perceptual-ImRs-focusing on changing perceptual features-were compared to Recall-only of aversive autobiographical image-based memories. An active control condition, Recall + Attentional Breathing (Recall+AB) was added in the first experiment. In the second experiment, a Positive-ImRs condition was added-changing the aversive image into a positive image that was unrelated to the aversive autobiographical memory. Effects on the aversive memory's unpleasantness, vividness and emotionality were investigated. RESULTS: In Experiment 1, compared to Recall-only, both Conceptual-ImRs and Perceptual-ImRs led to greater decreases in unpleasantness, and Perceptual-ImRs led to greater decreases in emotionality of memories. In Experiment 2, the effects on unpleasantness were not replicated, and both Conceptual-ImRs and Perceptual-ImRs led to greater decreases in emotionality, compared to Recall-only, as did Positive-ImRs. There were no effects on vividness, and the ImRs conditions did not differ significantly from Recall+AB. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that, in addition to traditional forms of ImRs, targeting the meaning-relevant content of an image during ImRs, relatively simple techniques focusing on perceptual aspects or positive imagery might also yield benefits. Findings require replication and extension to clinical samples

Acceptability of internet-based interventions for depression in Indonesia

Background: In Indonesia, internet-based interventions may represent a promising strategy to reduce the mental health gap given that the level of internet usage in the country continues to increase. To check the acceptability of internet-based interventions, this study investigates factors that contribute to the use of internet-based interventions for depression in Indonesia. Method: The survey was conducted online and had 904 participants recruited from specific social networks on mental health and general social media (Mean age = 27.07, 50.22% females). The three dependent variables were (1) behavioral intention to start using internet-based interventions for depression, (2) preference to use it as a substitute for regular treatments and (3) preference to use it to complement regular treatments. The predictor variables included sociodemographic characteristics, perceived mental health conditions, personal situational characteristics, personal innovativeness toward online services, and depression level. Results: A large majority reported to be open to using internet-based interventions for depression (73.7%), as well as to use it as a substitution (73.3%) or as a complementary (73%) to regular treatments. Personal innovativeness toward online services was the strongest significant predictor for all types of use, even when corrected for current depression level. When added to the analyses separately, depression level was the second strongest predictive factor for all dependent variables. Conclusion: The majority of Indonesians showed openness to use internet-based interventions for depression. To increase the adoption of internet-based interventions for depression, it is important to first promote internet usage to more people across the country, especially for those who are currently depressed

In Which Situations Do Adolescents Seek Parental Support and What Do They Need?

Throughout development, the conditions that elicit children’s support seeking behaviour change hand in hand with maturation and changing developmental tasks. Little is known about the situations in which adolescents need support or about which parental behaviours elicit adolescents’ sense of being supported. In the current study, adolescents living in the Netherlands (N = 98, Mage = 15.5, SD = 1.16, range = 14–18 years) filled in online questionnaires in which they were asked to recall autobiographical support-related memories (ASMs) separately for both parents. Support from both parents was most frequently needed in case of concerns about competence. Loss or illness of close others or pets elicited primarily a need for maternal support whereas family conflicts and practical problems most frequently elicited a need for paternal support. Additionally, parent behaviour reported in times of distress was most frequently related to comforting and facilitating support seeking. These behaivours were rated as satisfying and sufficiently supportive for the reported distress. These results confirm the importance of parental support in adolescence. Clinical implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed

Together to the top of the fear ladder:Intensive group training for anxious youths

Onder het motto ‘In de zomer van je angst af’ werd vorig jaar een intensieve angstbehandeling van acht dagen in twee weken gegeven. Zo’n kort maar krachtige groepsbehandeling brengt meer focus, minder afleiding en minder ruimte voor vermijdingsgedrag, was het idee. Jongeren en hun ouders waren positief

Homesickness in social context:An ecological momentary assessment study among 1st-year university students

Homesickness is common among university students and associated with mental health problems. Most previous studies assessed homesickness as a summary of the past weeks. However, there may be significant fluctuations across situations. At the current residence, homesickness may especially be triggered during (phone) interactions with attachment figures. Dutch and international 1st-year students (n = 92) completed the Utrecht Homesickness Scale and subsequently used a smartphone application to record social interactions for 14 days (ecological momentary assessment [EMA]). For each interaction they reported the social context (e.g. location, contact type) and their affective state, including homesickness. Homesickness in the past weeks and momentary homesickness were both higher in international students than in Dutch students. Feeling homesick was highest at participants' current residency, when interacting with parents, or when using video-chat. When participants felt more homesick, they reported less pleasant and more unpleasant affect. In conclusion, EMA provided insight in cross-situational variations in homesickness

Guided Act and Feel Indonesia (GAF-ID) – Internet-based behavioral activation intervention for depression in Indonesia: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: Depression is a leading cause of disease burden across the world. However, in low-middle income countries (LMICs), access to mental health services is severely limited because of the insufficient number of mental health professionals available. The WHO initiated the Mental Health Gap Action Program (mhGAP) aiming to provide a coherent strategy for closing the gap between what is urgently needed and what is available in LMICs. Internet-based treatment is a promising strategy that can be made available to a large number of people now that Internet access is increasing rapidly throughout the world. The present study will investigate whether such an Internet-based treatment for depression is effective in Indonesia.  Methods: An Internet-based behavioral activation treatment, with support by lay counselors who will provide online feedback on the assignments and supportive phone contact to encourage participants to work in the program (Guided Act and Feel Indonesia/GAF-ID), is compared to an online-delivered minimal psychoeducation without any support (psychoeducation/PE). Initial assessment for inclusion is based on a Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) score of at least 10 and meeting criteria for major depressive disorder or persistent depressive disorder as assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5). Participants with depression (N=312) will be recruited and randomly assigned to GAF-ID or PE. Overall assessments will be done at baseline, post intervention (10 weeks from baseline) and follow-ups (3 months and 6 months from baseline). The primary outcome is the reduction of depression symptoms as measured by the PHQ-9 after 10 weeks from baseline.  Discussion: To our knowledge, this is the first study in Indonesia that examines the effectiveness of an Internet-based intervention for depression in a randomized controlled trial. The hope is that it can serve as a starting point for bridging the mental health gap in Indonesia and other LMICs. Trial registration: Nederlands Trial Register ( www.trialregister.nl ): NTR5920 , registered on 1 July 2016

Санаційне управління як складова фінансового антикризового менеджменту

Метою дослідження є розробка теоретичних основ санаційного управління підприємством відповідно до типології кризи на підприємстві