Another team of Australian researchers, led by Djamila Eliby reviewed studies reporting on either diet quality or dietary interventions and depression and anxiety among those diagnosed with bona fide depressive or anxiety disorders.
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Cervin and colleagues (2023) pooled data across 5 RCTs in which youth with autism were randomly assigned to either CBT and a control condition (either a wait list [k = 1] or treatment as usual [TAU, k =4]) (N=280 in total, age M = 10.4yo; 21% female). Autism diagnoses were established or confirmed by an independent evaluator using either the ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule) or Childhood Autism Rating Scale. Inclusion criteria for all trials were an IQ > 70 and ability to communicate verbally. Four RCTs used the Behavioural Interventions for Anxiety in Children with Autism (BIACA) protocol involving 16 x weekly 60-90 min sessions; in one of these studies, youth with autism were randomly assigned to either BIACA, Coping Cat or TAU. In one RCT, a family-based protocol emphasizing exposure was used. Results were compared with a sample of youth without autism from another RCT (n=129). Outcomes were measured on the Pediatric Anxiety Rating Scale (PARS).
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Whereas traditional CBT approaches to headache management advocated trigger avoidance, Martin has developed a CBT focusing on graded exposure to learning to cope with triggers (Martin et al., 2021). In this week’s study, Casanova and colleagues (2023) report on a 3-month daily prospective daily diary survey of 1125 people who suffer migraines which aimed to see which events acted as “triggers” (increasing probability of attack) and which were “protective” (decreased probability of headache).
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Christopher Hunt and colleagues (2023) report on how 40 Veterans with comorbid PTSD and insomnia did in the Prolonged Exposure (PE) plus Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Insomnia (CBTi) arm of a larger randomised controlled trial. Their protocol (see Figure below) combined 5 sessions of CBTi and 8 sessions of PE, where psychoeducation about PE was included in the first 2 sessions of CBTi. The purpose of this study was to explore the temporal relationships between sleep, PTSD symptoms and fear extinction (as indicated by reductions in peak distress during exposure exercises) using cross-lagged panel models.
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If it’s not clear why it matters how accurately we perceive our abilities, consider what services we advertise ourselves as providing. If someone we loved needed psychotherapy, would we feel confident they could find therapists competent in providing the services they need, based on therapists’ self-assessment of their competency and advertisement contents? In this week’s study, Constantino and colleagues (2023) compared therapists’ self-assessments of their effectiveness with objective data.
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With so many opportunities available for professional development, have you ever considered the evidence based for training? Can you expect the time you spend on professional development activities to translate into improvements in your competence and improvements in your clients’ outcomes? In this week’s study, Henrich and colleagues (2023) undertake an updated systematic review of evaluations of the effectiveness of CBT training, half of which were not included in previous reviews.
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Josek and colleagues (2023) report on qualitative interviews made of 29 individuals with BPD who received at least 5 months of schema therapy in a study looking at group v individual schema therapy for borderline personality disorder by Arntz and colleagues (2022) which I blogged on previously. Here, I won’t focus on the schema therapy-specific findings. Those who want more on schema therapy-specific chairwork can read our new book The Cambridge Guide to Schema Therapy (sorry, I’m contractually obliged to do that). I would also recommend my co-author Remco van der Wijngaart’s (2023) great book Chairwork: Theory and Practice (for which I receive no promoter fees…yet). In fact, for those who aren’t doing any chairwork, I wanted to highlight how consistent consumers’ perspectives on what made for good chairwork were with what makes for good psychotherapy – of any type. One of the key areas Josek and colleagues asked about was what therapist behaviours either helped or hindered participants’ chairwork.
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This week we look at a study that examined in-session client and therapist behaviours and their influence on the outcome of cognitive processing therapy (CPT) for PTSD. Alpert and colleagues (2023) rated video sessions of 70 adults who began CPT of interpersonal violence-related PTSD. Client variables coded included: cognitive flexibility, the ability to change perspective based on new information; clients’ expression of fear, sadness and anger; and avoidance of engagement with therapist (e.g., providing minimal responses). Therapist behaviours coded included: use of Socratic dialogue, encouragement to express affect, and empathy expression.
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Whether because of defensive avoidance when the alliance and outcomes aren’t solid, or boredom and laziness when our clients continue to be seemingly satisfied with us, asking for feedback is an easy habit to get out of. So, this week’s study might motivate those of us who qualify as filthy backsliders, to get back on the wagon.
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