An experimental investigation of the magnetization of superconductors

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The wonder and angst of exploring the unknown: Introduction to the special issue on intolerance of uncertainty

Interest in the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and emotional disorders has rapidly increased over the last decade. Early theory and research focused on the relationship between IU and generalized anxiety disorder in particular; but, the roles that IU and the underlying 'fear of the unknown' play in the development, maintenance, and treatment of a broad array of emotional disorders have been explored more recently. This introduction provides a brief overview of the contributions to the special issue, which (a) summarize our current state of knowledge, (b) describe innovative methods for assessing and increasing our understanding IU within the context of various emotions and emotional disorders, (c) investigate associations between IU and therapeutic change, and (d) propose future research directions

Imagery-enhanced cognitive behavioural group therapy for social anxiety disorder: A pilot study

Cognitive behavioural group therapy (CBGT) for social anxiety disorder (SAD) is efficacious and effective, however a substantial proportion of patients remain in the clinical range so treatment innovations are required. Research suggests that working within the imagery mode may be more emotionally potent than traditional verbal-linguistic strategies. This study piloted an imagery-enhanced CBGT (IE-CBGT) protocol for SAD. It was hypothesised that IE-CBGT would be acceptable to patients, demonstrate large effect sizes, and compare favourably to historical controls who completed CBGT without the imagery-enhancements. Patients (N = 19) were consecutive referrals to a community clinic specialising in anxiety and mood disorders. Primary outcomes were self-reported performance and social interaction anxiety. IE-CBGT was highly acceptable to patients with high attendance and completion rates. Effect sizes were large by mid-treatment and very large at post-treatment and follow-up. A high proportion of patients achieved reliable change. Outcomes compared favourably to published group and individual treatments for SAD but larger randomised controlled trials are now required

Intolerance of uncertainty and negative metacognitive beliefs as transdiagnostic mediators of repetitive negative thinking in a clinical sample with anxiety disorders

This study aimed to replicate and extend a hierarchical model of vulnerability to worry, with neuroticism and extraversion as higher-order factors and negative metacognitions and intolerance of uncertainty as second-order factors. The model also included a transdiagnostic measure of repetitive negative thinking (RNT) and depression symptoms as outcome variables to determine whether relationships would extend beyond worry, which has traditionally been studied within the context of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Participants (N = 99) were referrals to a specialist anxiety disorders clinic with a principal anxiety disorder who completed a battery of self-report questionnaires assessing neuroticism, extraversion, metacognitions, intolerance of uncertainty, worry, RNT, and depression symptoms. Mediational analyses using bootstrapping provided support for transdiagnostic and diagnosis-specific mediation effects. Negative metacognitions fully mediated the relationship between neuroticism and RNT for the whole sample and for subsamples with and without GAD. Intolerance of uncertainty mediated the relationship between neuroticism and worry (for the whole sample and for those with GAD) and between neuroticism and RNT (for those with GAD). Implications for theory, treatment, and nosology are discussed

The search for universal transdiagnostic and trans-therapy change processes: evidence for intolerance of uncertainty

The search for universal processes associated with symptom change across emotional disorders and different forms of psychotherapy offers hope of increased theoretical parsimony and treatment efficiencies. This study investigated whether intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is a universal process by examining whether changes in IU were associated with changes in symptoms across three different cognitive behavior therapy protocols for depression (n = 106), social anxiety disorder (n = 88), or generalized anxiety disorder (n = 62) in a community mental health clinic. IU was associated with reductions in repetitive negative thinking in all treatments, which is consistent with IU being a transdiagnostic and 'trans-therapy' process of change. Changes in IU were also associated with symptom relief in the social anxiety disorder and generalized anxiety disorder groups, but not in the depression group. Implications of these findings are discussed within the broader literature of transdiagnostic approaches to emotional disorders

Rent-Seeking in Noxious Weed Regulations: Evidence from US States

Many non-native insect, disease, and weed pests of food, fiber, and nursery crops pose threats to the U.S. environment, agricultural production, and exports. In this study we focus on regulations controlling the spread of noxious weeds, especially the regulatory differences among US states and investigate the determinants of such regulations. With a simple game-theoretic framework, we derive cross-state regulatory congruence as a function of ecological and agronomic characteristics and stakeholder lobbying through political contributions. Empirical results suggest ecological and agronomic dissimilarities drive large cross-state differences in noxious weed regulation across states. However, evidence of stakeholder interests in shaping these regulations is found to be statistically significant. In particular, the seed industry appears to favor more uniform regulations among US states.Environmental Economics and Policy,

The relationship between interpersonal problems, negative cognitions, and outcomes from cognitive behavioral group therapy for depression

Background: Interpersonal functioning is a key determinant of psychological well-being, and interpersonal problems (IPs) are common among individuals with psychiatric disorders. However, IPs are rarely formally assessed in clinical practice or within cognitive behavior therapy research trials as predictors of treatment attrition and outcome. The main aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between IPs, depressogenic cognitions, and treatment outcome in a large clinical sample receiving cognitive behavioral group therapy (CBGT) for depression in a community clinic.Methods: Patients (N=144) referred for treatment completed measures of IPs, negative cognitions, depression symptoms, and quality of life (QoL) before and at the completion of a 12-week manualized CBGT protocol.Results: Two IPs at pre-treatment, ‘finding it hard to be supportive of others’ and ‘not being open about problems,’ were associated with higher attrition. Pre-treatment IPs also predicted higher post-treatment depression symptoms (but not QoL) after controlling for pre-treatment symptoms, negative cognitions, demographics, and comorbidity. In particular, ‘difficulty being assertive’ and a ‘tendency to subjugate one's needs' were associated with higher post-treatment depression symptoms. Changes in IPs did not predict post-treatment depression symptoms or QoL when controlling for changes in negative cognitions, pre-treatment symptoms, demographics, and comorbidity. In contrast, changes in negative cognitions predicted both post-treatment depression and QoL, even after controlling for changes in IPs and the other covariates.Limitations: Correlational design, potential attrition bias, generalizability to other disorders and treatments needs to be evaluated.Conclusions: Pre-treatment IPs may increase risk of dropout and predict poorer outcomes, but changes in negative cognitions during treatment were most strongly associated with improvement in symptoms and QoL during CBGT

Mechanisms driving pre- and post-stressor repetitive negative thinking: Metacognitions, cognitive avoidance, and thought control

Background and objectives: Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is common to multiple emotional disorders and occurs before, during, and following a stressor. One replicated difference between common forms of RNT such as worry and rumination is temporal orientation towards a stressor, with worry being more future-oriented and rumination more past-oriented. Different mechanisms may drive RNT at these different time points. The aim of Study 1 was to examine whether previously demonstrated relationships between post-stressor RNT and mechanisms theorized to drive engagement in RNT, including metacognitive beliefs, cognitive avoidance strategies, and thought control strategies, would be replicated with anticipatory (pre-stressor) RNT. The aim of Study 2 was to replicate these associations in a new sample that completed measures of both pre- and post-stressor RNT.Method: Participants in Study 1 (N = 175) completed the RNT-L in anticipation of a stressor, along with measures of metacognitive beliefs, cognitive avoidance strategies, and thought control strategies. Participants in Study 2 (N = 91) completed the measures both before and after a stressor. Results: Pre- and post-stressor RNT were significantly correlated with all three mechanism measures. Metacognitive beliefs that RNT is uncontrollable and dangerous, and the thought control strategy of punishment, were most consistently and uniquely associated with RNT at both time-points.Limitations: Replication with clinical samples and with reference to a broader array of stressors is required. The correlational design precluded causal conclusions.Conclusions: Common and possibly some distinct mechanisms drive RNT before and after a stressor

Internet Gaming Disorder Explains Unique Variance in Psychological Distress and Disability After Controlling for Comorbid Depression, OCD, ADHD, and Anxiety

This study extends knowledge about the relationship of Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) to other established mental disorders by exploring comorbidities with anxiety, depression, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and assessing whether IGD accounts for unique variance in distress and disability. An online survey was completed by a convenience sample that engages in Internet gaming (N?=?404). Participants meeting criteria for IGD based on the Personal Internet Gaming Disorder Evaluation-9 (PIE-9) reported higher comorbidity with depression, OCD, ADHD, and anxiety compared with those who did not meet the IGD criteria. IGD explained a small proportion of unique variance in distress (1%) and disability (3%). IGD accounted for a larger proportion of unique variance in disability than anxiety and ADHD, and a similar proportion to depression. Replications with clinical samples using longitudinal designs and structured diagnostic interviews are required

Cooperation, complexity and adaptation: higher education capacity initiatives in international development assistance programmes in sub-Saharan Africa.

At a time when global relations are characterised by great complexity, uncertainty and inequality, the role of higher education is crucial for a balanced and coherent development strategy, and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is especially true for countries of sub-Saharan Africa, where there is a critical need to generate knowledge that can be used in the service of social and economic development, human rights and climate change adaptation. The study concerns itself with that aspect of international development policy and practice which relates to aid-funded capacity development for systems and institutions of higher education, specifically in the sub-Saharan African context. Looking back over a period of thirty years, this study explores the role of higher education capacity as a component of international development assistance programmes to Africa, provided by international finance institutions, and by OECD member states (including Ireland). With reference to testimonies of authoritative informants and unpublished archival material, it examines the historical pathways which have supported aid-funded higher education capacity initiatives (AFHECIs), and their contribution to strengthening sub-Saharan Africa’s higher education systems and to wider societal transformation. The underpinning theoretical perspective which has been chosen as the lens through which to view and reflect on this important subject matter is that of Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) theory, which has been gaining currency as a theoretical prism on topical problems in public management and organisational analysis. The study critically examines the adequacy of the conventional techniques used by bilateral and multilateral donor agencies in assessing what constitutes an effective AFHECI. It finds that farreaching policy decisions in relation to AFHECIs have in the past been heavily influenced by fickle donor proclivities regarding aid priorities and modalities, rather than the deliberative evidence-based policy-making which donor agencies ostensibly espouse. Finally, the study resolves the long-running ‘ends -v- means’ antinomy in which the discourse on capacity development has long been mired, and concludes that capacity development, when considered as ‘outcome’, rather than merely as instrument, constitutes a public or social good per se, albeit one which becomes discernible only over time