Geänderte Inhalte

Abstract Selecting appropriate stimuli is a major challenge of affective research. Although several standardized databases for affective pictures exist, none of them focus on discrete emotions such as disgust. Validated pictures inducing discrete emotions are still limited, and this presents a problem for researchers interested in studying different facets of disgust. In this paper, we introduce the DIsgust-RelaTed-Images (DIRTI) picture set. The set consists of 240 disgust-inducing pictures divided into six categories (food, animals, body products, injuries/infections, death, and hygiene). Additionally, we included 60 matched neutral pictures (10 per category). All pictures were rated by 200 participants on nine-point rating scales measuring disgust, fear, valence, and arousal. The present validation study covered a wide age range (18–75 years) with a balanced number of participants in each decade of life. For each picture, we provide separate ratings on the four scales for men and women. In addition to the original pictures, we also provide a luminance-matched version for experiments that require control of the physical properties of the pictures. The standardized \DIRTI\ picture set allows researchers to chose from a wide set of disgust-inducing pictures and may enhance researchers' ability to draw comparisons between studies on disgust. (Download \DIRTI\ picture set: http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.167037).

In 1986 Pennebaker and Beall published their renowned study on the long-term beneficial health effects of disclosing traumatic events in 4 brief sequential writing sessions. Their results have been confirmed in various studies, but conflicting results have also been reported. The intent of our study was to replicate the experiments from Pennebaker and Beall (1986), Pennebaker et al. (1988), and Greenberg and Stone (1992) using a German student sample. Additionally, essay variables that point to the emotional processing of events (e.g., depth of self-exploration, number of negative/positive emotions, intensity of emotional expression) were examined as potential mechanisms of action. Trait measures of personality which could moderate the personal consequences of disclosure (alexithymia, self-concealment, worrying, social support) were also assessed. In a second study the experimental condition (disclosure) was varied by implementing 'coping' vs. 'helping' instructions as variations of the original condition. Under the coping condition participants were asked to elaborate on what they used to do, continue to do, or could do in the future to better cope with the event. Under the helping condition participants were asked to imagine themselves in the role of an adviser and elaborate on what they would recommend to persons also dealing with the trauma in order to better cope with the event. The expected beneficial effects of disclosure on long-term health (e.g., physician visits, physical symptoms, affectivity) could not be corroborated in either the first or the second study. None of the examined essay variables of emotional processing and only a single personality variable was able to explain significant variance in the health-related outcome variables influence. Nevertheless, substantial reductions in posttraumatic stress symptoms (e.g., intrusions, avoidance, arousal), were found in both experiments. These improvements were significantly related to essay variables of emotional expression and self-exploration and were particularly pronounced under the activation of a prosocial motivation (helping condition). Repeated, albeit brief, expressive writing about personally upsetting or traumatic events resulted in an immediate increase in negative mood but did not lead to long-term positive health consequences in a German student sample. It did, however, promote better processing of stressful or traumatic events, as evidenced by reductions in posttraumatic stress symptoms. The instruction to formulate recommendations for persons dealing with the same trauma seems more helpful than standard disclosure or focusing on one's own past, present, and future coping endeavours. Overall, expressive writing seems to be a successful method of improving trauma processing. Determining the appropriate setting (e.g., self-help vs. therapeutic context) for disclosure can be seen as an objective of future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

In 1986 Pennebaker and Beall published their renowned study on the long-term beneficial health effects of disclosing traumatic events in 4 brief sequential writing sessions. The intent of our study was to replicate the experiments from Pennebaker and Beall (1986), Pennebaker et al. (1988), and Greenberg and Stone (1992) using a German student sample. Additionally, essay variables that point to the emotional processing of events were examined as potential mechanisms of action. Trait measures of personality which could moderate the personal consequences of disclosure were also assessed. In a second study the experimental condition (disclosure) was modified by implementing 'coping' vs. 'helping' instructions as variations of the original condition. Under the coping condition participants were asked to elaborate on what they used to do, continue to do, or could do in the future to better cope with the event. Under the helping condition participants were asked to take on the role of being an adviser and to elaborate on what they would recommend to persons dealing with the given trauma in order to better cope with the event. The expected beneficial effects of disclosure on long-term health could not be corroborated in either the first or the second study. Furthermore, none of the examined essay variables of emotional processing and only one of the personality variables was found to have a moderating influence on the long-term health variables. Nevertheless, substantial reductions in posttraumatic stress symptoms, were found in both experiments. These improvements were significantly related to the essay variables of emotional expression and self-exploration and were particularly pronounced under the activation of prosocial motivation (helping condition). Repeated, albeit brief, expressive writing about personally upsetting or traumatic events resulted in an immediate increase in negative mood but did not lead to long-term positive health consequences in a German student sample. It did, however, promote better processing of stressful or traumatic events, as evidenced by reductions in posttraumatic stress symptoms. The instruction to make recommendations for persons dealing with the same trauma appears to be more helpful than standard disclosure or the modified 'coping' instruction. Overall, expressive writing could be confirmed as a successful method of improving trauma processing. Determining the appropriate setting for disclosure can be seen as an objective of future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Fearful avoidance of physical activities is a major factor in low back pain (LBP) and disability. In 1993 Waddell et al. developed the Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ) focusing on patients' beliefs about how physical activity and work affect LBP. The focus of our study was to analyse and validate the German version of the FABQ. Three-hundred and two consecutive LBP outpatients participating on a functional restoration programme filled in the FABQ. Factor analysis yielded three factors which accounted for nearly 65\% of the total variance of the questionnaire. Whereas the factor 'physical activity' (8.9\% of the variance) remained the same as in the English version, the second factor of the original version split into two: one related to, 'work as cause of pain' (43.4\% of the variance) and the other to patients' assumptions of their probable return to work (11.8\% of the variance). Both work-related subscales showed a good internal consistency (α = 0.89, resp. α = 0.94), whereas the consistency of the subscale 3 'physical activity' was only modest (α = 0.64). Test-re-test reliability score was fair to good for the whole scale (r = 0.87; n = 30). Regression analysis demonstrated that fear-avoidance beliefs account for the highest proportion of variance (35\%) regarding disability in activities of daily living and work loss. Patients out of work demonstrated more fear-avoidance beliefs in comparison to those who were still working. It can be concluded that the German version of the FAQB is a reliable and valid instrument, but it shows a different factor structure from the original English version. The FABQ has been proven to identify patients with maladaptive beliefs which have to be focused on in proper treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

The present study investigated the pain-reducing effects of various pictures in a sample of 88 patients receiving inpatient treatment for chronic pain. We investigated whether the pain-attenuating effects of the pictures were mediated by picture valence, arousal, or change in subjective social support. The study was carried out over 4 consecutive days. Patients were presented with photographs of loved ones, strangers, landscapes, or optical illusions via digital albums and were asked to rate their pain intensity and their sensory and affective experience of pain immediately before and after viewing the pictures. They also evaluated the valence of the pictures and the extent to which they were arousing. Before and after participation in the study, patients provided information on their subjective social support. The valence attributed to the pictures varied; photographs of loved ones elicited the greatest pleasure. Pictures of varying emotional content and arousal value all reduced affective and sensory perceptions of pain. Viewing photographs of loved ones reduced pain intensity more than viewing other picture types. The association between picture type and decrease in pain intensity was mediated by picture valence. These findings suggest an easy to implement supplementary intervention that could be used in multidisciplinary pain treatment. PERSPECTIVE: To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that pictures mitigate pain in chronic pain patients receiving treatment in a multidisciplinary pain center. The procedure could be used routinely to treat pain, particularly severe pain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Studied the predictability of successful behavior therapy interventions (biofeedback and relaxation) in chronic headache cases. Using, among others, multiple-regression and stepwise-discriminant analysis, the authors tested a set of variables (personality traits, psychophysiological responses under stress and relaxation conditions, symptomatologies, demographies, and therapy-related subjective reports), in addition to headache intensity and duration and medication intake, as predictors of behavior therapy success in treating chronic headaches. A number of personality traits and some physiological responses showed some predictive value, but overall study results appear to be inclusive; even symptomatic and demographic variables do not significantly correlate with outcomes. (English abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Describes the development and validation of a questionnaire designed to differentiate among the following headache syndromes: migraine, tension headache, combined headache, and ambiguous symptomatology. The questionnaire was developed in a study involving 302 chronic headache sufferers and tested with a group of 113 migraine sufferers. Data support the use of this instrument in group studies among chronic headache sufferers. (English abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Background: The Questionnaire for Social Anxiety and Social Competence Deficits for Adolescents (SASKO-J) was developed as an instrument for clinical diagnostics of social anxiety disorder in youths by measuring social anxiety and social deficits in two separate dimensions. The study provides an initial assessment of the scaleʼs psychometric properties in a clinical sample. Method: The reliability and validity of the SASKO-J were assessed in a mixed clinical sample of 12- to 19-year-old German adolescents (N = 85; mean age 15.71 years; SD = 1.92; 62.4 \% girls). In a second step, the diagnostic validity was evaluated in a clinical sample of 31 adolescent patients with social anxiety disorder (mean age 16.10 years; SD = 1.54; 74.2 \% girls) and a sample of 115 German high school students (mean age 15.84 years; SD = 1.65; 60.9 \% girls) via Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results: The internal consistencies of the total scale and the subscales were good to excellent (0.80 ≤ α ≤ 0.96), and the results indicated a good convergent and divergent validity. The ROC analysis revealed a satisfying area under curve (AUC = 0.866), and a cutoff of 41.5 for the SASKO-J total score represented the best balance of sensitivity (0.806) and specificity (0.826). Conclusions: The results of this pilot study provide initial support for the clinical use of the SASKO-J in the diagnostic process. Future research should address the question of psychometric properties in a social anxiety disorder sample as well as the questionnaireʼs sensitivity for detecting change in symptoms during therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Using a randomized control group trial the long-term efficacy of a habituation-based treatment as conceived by Jastreboff, and a cognitive-behavioural tinnitus coping training were compared. An educational intervention was administered as a control condition. Both treatments were conducted in a group format (habituation-based treatment, 5 sessions; tinnitus coping training, 11 sessions). Educational intervention was delivered in a single group session. Patients were categorized according to their level of disability due to tinnitus (low, high), age and gender and then randomly allocated to the treatment conditions (habituation-based treatment, n = 30; tinnitus coping training, n = 27; educational intervention, n = 20). Data assessment included follow-ups of up to 21 months. Several outcome variables including disability due to tinnitus were assessed either by questionnaire or diary. Findings reveal highly significant improvements in both tinnitus coping training and habituation-based treatment in comparison with the control group. While tinnitus coping training and habituation-based treatment do not differ significantly in reduction of tinnitus disability, improvement in general well-being and adaptive behaviour is greater in tinnitus coping training than habituation-based treatment. The decrease in disability remains stable throughout the last follow-up in both treatment conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

AbstractBackground and objectives This randomized controlled trial evaluated whether training one of two social skills (“being able to say no” and “being able to demand”) belonging to the domain “asserting one's rights” improves specifically the trained skill or the “asserting one's rights” domain in general. Methods Ten social skills training groups comprising three weekly sessions and four healthy participants each were conducted. In each group, the participants were randomized either to the condition which practiced the social skill of “saying no” or to the condition which practiced the social skill of “demanding”. Results From pre-training to 3-month follow-up, participants of the “demanding” condition improved significantly on the “being able to demand” scale of the “Short Version of the Insecurity Questionnaire” (p = 0.047) but not on the “incapacity in saying no” scale of the “Short Version of the Insecurity Questionnaire” (p = 0.645), whereas participants of the “saying no” condition improved significantly on the “incapacity in saying no” scale of the “Short Version of the Insecurity Questionnaire” (p = 0.015) but not on the “being able to demand” scale of the “Short Version of the Insecurity Questionnaire” (p = 0.484). Limitations Further studies are needed to evaluate whether the results of the present study can be generalized to clinical samples. Conclusions This trial provides very preliminary evidence that training a specific social skill has specific, not generalized, effects.

Tinnitus is always both a medical and a psychological phenomenon, indicating the need for intervention from a psychologist. The primary goal of psychological interventions is to improve the patient's ability to reduce the impact of tinnitus on the quality of life, i.e., to teach and improve coping strategies. This chapter discusses the kinds of services offered for tinnitus patients through psychological intervention. Psychological approaches can offer assessment and management of tinnitus. Tinnitus always has to be regarded as being both a medical and a psychological phenomenon. Even if there is a medical reason for the emergence of tinnitus (e.g., hair cell damage), it is the brain that generates the inner noise when interpreting an altered pattern of nerve signals. This 'abnormal' perception is further processed by the brain, and then psychological factors come in to play an important role regarding how the tinnitus is evaluated and coped with. Nevertheless, when proposing a 'psychological dimension' of tinnitus, it does not mean that tinnitus is a mental disorder. To classify patients with tinnitus on the basis of hypothesized underlying medical conditions as 'organic' or 'nonorganic' (respectively 'psychogenic') is not reasonable either. Likewise, it is not at all advisable to attempt to modify the patient's personality. Instead, the consequences of tinnitus (i.e., behavior and cognition regarding tinnitus) must be made the central issue in psychological assessment and intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

For nine years, the so-called 'therapist rotation' has been a central part of OLITA, the Outpatient Longterm Intensive Therapy for Alcoholics. Thus far, the participation of several equally responsible therapists in the treatment of a patient has rarely been seen as a specific therapeutic approach. The present article analyzes the therapist rotation from a theoretical and clinical perspective. Articles concerned with the therapeutic alliance in the treatment of substance use disorders are reviewed. Furthermore, the literature on multiple psychotherapy is surveyed, which may be seen as the precedent of the therapist rotation. Based on the efficacy of multiple psychotherapy and the importance of the therapeutic alliance in the treatment of substance use disorders, the present work discusses the therapist rotation as an essential factor for the success of OLITA. It considers both potential advantages and disadvantages for patients and therapists and tries to identify conditions under which this approach appears to promote therapeutic interactions. Finally, the implementation of therapist rotation into OLITA is described, including the theoretical background of the program itself and the treatment procedure. New areas of application for the therapist rotation are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Purpose: Stigma is a frequent accompaniment of mental illness leading to a number of detrimental consequences. Most research into the stigma connected to mental illness was conducted in the developed world. So far, few data exist on countries in sub-Saharan Africa and no data have been published on population attitudes towards mental illness in Ghana. Even less is known about the stigma actually perceived by the mentally ill persons themselves. Method: A convenience sample of 403 participants (210 men, mean age 32.4 ± 12.3 years) from urban regions in Accra, Cape Coast and Pantang filled in the Community Attitudes towards the Mentally Ill (CAMI) questionnaire. In addition, 105 patients (75 men, mean age 35.9 ± 11.0 years) of Ghanaʼs three psychiatric hospitals (Accra Psychiatry Hospital, Ankaful Hospital, Pantang Hospital) answered the Perceived Stigma and Discrimination Scale. Results: High levels of stigma prevailed in the population as shown by high proportions of assent to items expressing authoritarian and socially restrictive views, coexisting with agreement with more benevolent attitudes. A higher level of education was associated with more positive attitudes on all subscales (Authoritarianism, Social Restrictiveness, Benevolence and Acceptance of Community Based Mental Health Services). The patients reported a high degree of experienced stigma with secrecy concerning the illness as a widespread coping strategy. Perceived stigma was not associated with sex or age. Discussion: The extent of stigmatising attitudes within the urban population of Southern Ghana is in line with the scant research in other countries in sub-Saharan Africa and mirrored by the experienced stigma reported by the patients. These results have to be seen in the context of the extreme scarcity of resources within the Ghanaian psychiatric system. Anti-stigma efforts should include interventions for mentally ill persons themselves and not exclusively focus on public attitudes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Objective: The second exteroceptive suppression (ES2) is assumed to be an indicator of central antinociceptive processing, although some conflicting data have been produced. We examined the impact of experimentally induced psychophysiological conditions on the latency and duration of the ES2. Also, the association to the subjective evaluation of the painful electrical stimulation by which the ES2 is elicited was studied. Methods: ES2 was assessed in 46 healthy volunteers running through four experimentally induced psychophysiological conditions: stress, relaxation, depressed mood, and heterotopic pressure pain. Conditions were presented in a repeated measure design in permuted sequences. Ten stimulation-recording sequences per condition were averaged. ES2 parameters were compared to a baseline condition and correlated to subjective pain perception. Results: ES2 duration was found to be prolonged and ES2 latency to be shortened under the impact of relaxation and depressed mood. The subjective perception of the painful electrical stimulation was affected by the experimental conditions. Conclusion: Data lend support to the hypothesis that the repeatedly observed limited stability of ES2 parameters might be caused by the variability of individual psychophysiological states. Against expectation, subjective pain perception is not systematically correlated with ES2 parameters. Thus it can be questioned whether the ES2 is directly associated with pain processing at all. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Objective: Persistent tinnitus affects 10 to 15\% of adults. Little is understood about why only a small percentage of patients become severely affected. Catastrophic thinking has been suggested as one potentially relevant factor that might influence a patientʼs coping behavior, and thus tinnitus habituation. The current study investigates the concept of tinnitus catastrophizing and its relation with distress and medical utilization in recent onset tinnitus. Design: Participants were administered a survey assessing catastrophizing, tinnitus distress, medical utilization, coping, and mood disturbance. Regression analyses investigated the nature of tinnitus catastrophizing and its contributions to distress and health care utilization. Study sample: 278 subjects with tinnitus for less than six months were recruited from Ear-Nose-Throat units, through the internet, and newspaper articles. Results: Controlling for background variables, high subjective tinnitus loudness, low behavioral coping, and depressive symptoms were significantly associated with tinnitus catastrophizing. Furthermore, greater tinnitus catastrophizing was related to higher distress and more frequent medical visits. Conclusions: Tinnitus catastrophizing appears to be pivotal already at an early stage of tinnitus experience. Addressing catastrophizing by specific prevention and intervention programs might reduce the development of distress and medical utilization in the long term. Longitudinal studies are required to clarify cause-effect relations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

33 migrainous Ss and 32 nonheadache controls were subjected to 40 min of demanding cognitive tasks and 20 min of recovery during which cranial and peripheral vasomotor responses were registered as well as electrodermal and EMG activity. Ss of both groups were randomly assigned to 2 experimental conditions: a so-called spontaneous processing condition and the positive coping treatment. Reliable differences between groups could not be identified, giving no support to assumptions of higher sensitivity to stress in migraineurs. The hypothesis that the predicted cranial vasomotor specificity in migraine Ss would correlate with negative coping was not corroborated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

The efficacy of an outpatient cognitive-behavioral Tinnitus Coping Training (TCT) was compared to two minimal-contact (MC) interventions. TCT was conducted in a group format with 11 sessions (total n=43). One MC [MC-E (education), n=16] consisted of two group sessions in which education on tinnitus was presented and self-help strategies were introduced. The second MC [MC-R (relaxation), n=16] comprised four sessions. Besides education, music-supported relaxation was suggested as self-help strategy. Furthermore, a waiting-list control group was installed (WC, n=20). Only TCT was additionally evaluated at a 6- and a 12-mo follow-up. Tinnitus coping and disability due to tinnitus were assessed by questionnaires, subjective ratings of improvement were requested from, and inventories of psychopathology were given to the patients. Findings reveal highly significant improvements in TCT in comparison to the control group (WC). MC interventions do not differ significantly from each other, but are superior to WC in a few domains of outcome. Outcome in TCT is somewhat superior to combined MC interventions in two domains of data, but not regarding disability reduction. Effect sizes, nevertheless, indicate distinct differences in degree of improvement, with TCT achieving the best results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Developed a cognitive-behavioral tinnitus coping training (TCT) and compared it to yoga and a self-monitoring control condition. 43 chronic tinnitus patients were assessed at baseline, directly after therapy, and at 3 mo follow-up. For evaluation, differential psychoacoustic variables were registered, a tinnitus diary as well as the Tinnitus Questionnaire and different measures of general well-being were used. Statistical analyses showed effects favoring the TCT treatment compared with the control and yoga treatments. TCT-treated Ss reported more satisfaction with their training than did the yoga group. Ss in the self-monitoring control group were treated either by TCT or yoga after a waiting period. The outcome in this TCT group was even better than in the TCT experimental groups, while yoga again showed rather poor effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

The histaminergic system in the central nervous system is involved in a variety of physiological, pathological and behavioral processes. There is now substantial evidence for an important role of histaminergic neurotransmission in learning and memory related processes. The histamine H1 receptor (H1R) is the most abundant histamine receptor in the mammalian brain. We have recently demonstrated that the genetic inactivation of the H1R in mice impairs episodic-like memory, defined as the ability to remember previous experiences with respect to their content and their temporal and spatial context. The ability to encode and retrieve the temporal order of unique events, that is its temporal context, is a core feature of episodic memory. Here we asked whether episodic-like memory deficits of H1R-KO mice are possibly due to changes in the processing, encoding or maintenance of temporal or sequence information which is critical for episodic-like memory formation. H1R-KO mice were tested in the temporal object memory (TOM) task with different inter-trial intervals (ITIs). H1R-KO mice showed impaired TOM when being tested under both, short and longer ITIs. Another aim of the study was to determine whether temporal order discrimination is based on either familiarity or recollection-based memory processes. The performance of wild type (WT) animals in the TOM task suggests that they used recollection-like discrimination strategies.