INTERACTION BETWEEN DISGUST PRONENESS AND PERCEPTION OF TREATMENT EFFICACY PREDICTS RESPONSE TO A DISGUST PLACEBO

Placebo responsiveness is highly variable across individuals and has been shown to be difficult to predict solely based on personality traits. The present study examined the interaction between a specific trait and state variable (disgust proneness and perceived effectiveness of a disgust placebo) on placebo responsiveness. We presented 145 participants with an inert pill, which was introduced as an effective anti nausea drug. Disgust responses were elicited by a validated picture set, which was viewed once with and once without the disgust placebo. The results showed that the placebo was effective in reducing experienced disgust. When predicting placebo responsiveness, the results showed a significant interaction between perceived treatment effectiveness and disgust proneness. Specifically, effectiveness ratings were a significant predictor of placebo response only for individuals high in disgust proneness. The results suggest that the joint consideration of specific state and trait factors can be used to optimize placebo responsiveness

Effects of placebos vs. SMS reminders on homework compliance in cognitive behavioral therapy for depression: a randomized trial

Background: Nonadherence to homework assignments is a frequent problem among patients with depression during cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). The present study investigated the effects of two additional treatment components of CBT: a placebo and SMS (short message service) reminders. These components aimed at improving homework compliance (the practicing of a daily relaxation exercise at home) during a four-week outpatient program. Subjects and Methods: Eighty-six patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder were randomly assigned to one of three groups: ‘Coping with Depression’ course (treatment as usual; TAU group), ‘Coping with Depression’ course with additional daily placebo treatment (PLA group), or ‘Coping with Depression’ course with additional daily SMS reminders (SMS group). The placebo (sunflower oil) was introduced as a natural medicine to mobilize the body’s natural healing powers. SMS messages were sent out once a day to remind the patients of their homework. Results: The placebo group showed better homework compliance than the two other groups with improved quantity and quality of relaxation exercises. The SMS group practiced more often than TAU but did not differ in homework quality (relaxation level) from TAU. All groups showed a significant reduction of depression symptoms at the end of the course with the most pronounced reduction in the PLA group. Conclusions: The results suggest that placebo treatment is more effective than SMS reminders to support relaxation training in patients with depression. Additionally, the placebo was associated with a larger reduction of depression symptoms

Olfactory imagery as a retrieval method for autobiographical memories

Introduction The retrieval of autobiographical memories is infuenced by several factors, such as sensory modality and the emotional salience of memory cues. This study aimed at investigating the interaction between sensory modalities (olfaction, vision) and emotional dimensions (valence, arousal) of imagery cues, on the frequency, quality, and age distribution of the autobiographical memories (AMs) elicited. Method A total of 296 females (aged between 18 and 35 years) received one out of eight brief instructions for olfactory or visual imagery. The participants were asked to create a mental image with either high arousal/positive valence, high arousal/ negative valence, low arousal/positive valence, or low arousal/negative valence (e. g., ‘imagine an unpleasant and arousing odor/scene’)no specifc stimulus was mentioned in the instruction. Results The approach used elicited imagery with autobiographical content in the majority of participants (78%). In terms of frequency, odor imagery, compared to visual imagery, turned out to be more efective at retrieving either unpleasant memories associated with experiences in adulthood, or pleasant childhood memories. In terms of quality, the imagery was rated as less vivid in the olfactory compared to the visual condition (irrespective of valence and arousal of the imagery instruction). Visual imagery was associated with the experience of more diverse emotions (happiness, sadness, anxiety, anger) than odor imagery, which was related primarily with disgust and happiness. Conclusion Our fndings indicate that nonspecifc imagery induction is a useful approach in accessing AM. Implication This approach presents promising clinical applications, such as in working with autobiographical memory narratives in psychotherapy

THE ROLE OF MORAL DISGUST AND DISGUST REGULATION DEFICITS IN SKIN-PICKING DISORDER

Background: Relative to other body-focused repetitive behaviors, skin-picking has received little investigation. In particular, its association with disgust has hardly been studied. This is surprising because one etiological model of skin-picking disorder (SPD) suggests that the excessive picking is a form of disgust-motivated grooming that aims at the removal of pathogens from the skin. Subjects and methods: This questionnaire study explored whether SPD patients (n=46) and healthy controls (n=36) differ in different facets of trait disgust (tendency to experience pathogen disgust, moral disgust, self-disgust, and disgust regulation ability). Moreover, a multiple regression analysis was calculated in order to investigate whether skin-picking symptoms can be predicted based on these components of trait disgust. Results: Patients received higher scores on all disgust measures than controls. The degree of patients’ skin picking (symptom severity, resulting impairment) could be predicted based on moral disgust (disgust experienced when confronted with moral transgressions) and difficulties in disgust regulation. Conclusion: This study provides evidence for the role of specific disgust components in SPD

Open-label placebo treatment for reducing overeating in children: A study protocol for a randomized clinical trial with an app-assisted approach

Food advertising has become almost ubiquitous in Western societies. In adults as well as in children this omnipresence of food cues has been shown to trigger cravings and overeating, which can lead to overweight or even obesity. This is concerning because obesity is a leading cause of preventable diseases. The planned project aims at reducing craving and overeating in overweight/obese children using a placebo treatment. A total of 80 children (40 girls, 40 boys; aged between 8 and 12 years; body mass index >90th percentile) will take part in the study. A randomized controlled cross-over design will be implemented, which will include four weeks with daily placebo treatment and four weeks without placebo treatment. The placebo will be introduced without deception as an open-label placebo (OLP), that can help to control food cravings. The study will use an app-assisted approach: The children will rate the intensity of their cravings, the occurrence of binge-eating episodes, their emotional state, and placebo usage via a smartphone application. It is expected that the OLP will help the children to reduce cravings and body weight. If effective, this OLP approach could be implemented in weight-control programs for children

Effects of Self-Esteem on Self-Viewing: An Eye-Tracking Investigation on Mirror Gazing

While some people enjoy looking at their faces in the mirror, others experience emotional distress. Despite these individual differences concerning self-viewing in the mirror, systematic investigations on this topic have not been conducted so far. The present eye-tracking study examined whether personality traits (self-esteem, narcissism propensity, self-disgust) are associated with gaze behavior (gaze duration, fixation count) during free mirror viewing of one’s face. Sixty-eight adults (mean age = 23.5 years; 39 females, 29 males) viewed their faces in the mirror and watched a video of an unknown person matched for gender and age (control condition) for 90 s each. The computed regression analysis showed that higher self-esteem was associated with a shorter gaze duration for both self-face and other-face. This effect may reflect a less critical evaluation of the faces