Promoting physical activity in overweight couples: Effectiveness of a dyadic action control trial (DYACTIC)

Background: Health behavior change models identify effective self-regulatory skills for behavioral change, but the social context is usually neglected. This study investigated the effectiveness of a dyadic conceptualization of action control for promoting physical activity. Methods: 121 overweight individuals and their partners were randomly allocated to one of two experimental (dyadic vs. individual action control) and two control conditions. Participants completed questionnaires at baseline (T1) and four weeks later (T2) including measures of action control and 7-day recall physical activity. Findings: Results showed that action control signi+cantly increased from T1 to T2 and was overall higher in the experimental conditions compared to control conditions. In terms of physical activity, no overall intervention effect emerged. However, post hoc analyses revealed higher mean levels of sport activities in the dyadic intervention group compared to all other groups. Discussion: Overall, +ndings provide +rst support for the usefulness of a dyadic action control intervention, and suggest further investigation of objective measures of physical activity and secondary outcomes

Daily negative affect and smoking after a self-set quit attempt: The role of dyadic invisible social support in a daily diary study

Objectives Social support receipt from one's partner is assumed to be beneficial for successful smoking cessation. However, support receipt can have costs. Recent research suggests that the most effective support is unnoticed by the receiver (i.e., invisible). Therefore, this study examined the association between everyday levels of dyadic invisible emotional and instrumental support, daily negative affect, and daily smoking after a self-set quit attempt in smoker–non-smoker couples. Methods Overall, 100 smokers (72.0% men, mean age M = 40.48, SD = 9.82) and their non-smoking partners completed electronic diaries from a self-set quit date on for 22 consecutive days, reporting daily invisible emotional and instrumental social support, daily negative affect, and daily smoking. Results Same-day multilevel analyses showed that at the between-person level, higher individual mean levels of invisible emotional and instrumental support were associated with less daily negative affect. In contrast to our assumption, more receipt of invisible emotional and instrumental support was related to more daily cigarettes smoked. Conclusions The findings are in line with previous results, indicating invisible support to have beneficial relations with affect. However, results emphasize the need for further prospective daily diary approaches for understanding the dynamics of invisible support on smoking cessation.

Impact of development of job control and task-related stressors on resigned job attitude.

With more experience in the labor market, some job characteristics increase, some decrease. For example, among young employees who just entered the labor market, job control may initially be low but increase with more routine and experience. Job control is a job resource that is valued in itself and is positively associated with job satisfaction; but job control also helps dealing with stressors at work. There is little research on correlated changes, but the existing evidence suggests a joint development over time. However, even less is known about the relevance of such changes for employees. Usually, research tends to use mean levels to predict mean levels in outcomes but development in job control and stressors may be as relevant for job satisfaction as having a certain level in those job characteristics. Job satisfaction typically is regarded as a positive attitude towards one’s work. What has received less attention is that some employees may lower their expectations if their job situation does not reflect their needs, resulting in a resigned attitude towards one’s job. The present study investigates the development of job control and task-related stressors over ten years and tests the predictive value of changes in job control and task-related stressors for resigned attitude towards one’s job. We used data from a Swiss panel study (N=356) ranging over ten years. Job control, task-related stressors (an index consisting of time pressure, concentration demands, performance constraints, interruptions, and uncertainty about tasks), and resigned attitude towards one’s job were assessed in 1998, 1999, 2001, and 2008. Latent growth modeling revealed that growth rates of job control and task-related stressors were not correlated with one another. We predicted resigned attitude towards one’s job in 2008 a) by initial levels, and b) by changes in job control and stressors, controlling for resigned attitude in 1998. There was some prediction by initial levels (job control: β = -.15, p < .05; task-related stressors: β = .12, p = .06). However, as expected, changes in control and stressors predicted resigned attitude much better, with β = -.37, p < .001, for changes in job control, and β = .31, p < .001, for changes in task-related stressors. Our data confirm the importance of having low levels of task-related stressors and higher levels of job control for job attitudes. However, development in these job characteristics seems even more important than initial levels.

Unique and shared techniques in cognitive-behavioural and short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy: a content analysis of randomised trials on depression

Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of psychotherapeutic interventions assume that specific techniques are used in treatments, which are responsible for changes in the client's symptoms. This assumption also holds true for meta-analyses, where evidence for specific interventions and techniques is compiled. However, it has also been argued that different treatments share important techniques and that an upcoming consensus about useful treatment strategies is leading to a greater integration of treatments. This makes assumptions about the effectiveness of specific interventions ingredients questionable if the shared (common) techniques are more often used in interventions than are the unique techniques. This study investigated the unique or shared techniques in RCTs of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) and short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (STPP). Psychotherapeutic techniques were coded from 42 masked treatment descriptions of RCTs in the field of depression (1979-2010). CBT techniques were often used in studies identified as either CBT or STPP. However, STPP techniques were only used in STPP-identified studies. Empirical clustering of treatment descriptions did not confirm the original distinction of CBT versus STPP, but instead showed substantial heterogeneity within both approaches. Extraction of psychotherapeutic techniques from the treatment descriptions is feasible and could be used as a content-based approach to classify treatments in systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

General distress, hopelessness—suicidal ideation and worrying in adolescence: Concurrent and predictive validity of a symptom-level bifactor model for clinical diagnoses

BACKGROUND: Clinical disorders often share common symptoms and aetiological factors. Bifactor models acknowledge the role of an underlying general distress component and more specific sub-domains of psychopathology which specify the unique components of disorders over and above a general factor. METHODS: A bifactor model jointly calibrated data on subjective distress from The Mood and Feelings Questionnaire and the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale. The bifactor model encompassed a general distress factor, and specific factors for (a) hopelessness-suicidal ideation, (b) generalised worrying and (c) restlessness-fatigue at age 14 which were related to lifetime clinical diagnoses established by interviews at ages 14 (concurrent validity) and current diagnoses at 17 years (predictive validity) in a British population sample of 1159 adolescents. RESULTS: Diagnostic interviews confirmed the validity of a symptom-level bifactor model. The underlying general distress factor was a powerful but non-specific predictor of affective, anxiety and behaviour disorders. The specific factors for hopelessness-suicidal ideation and generalised worrying contributed to predictive specificity. Hopelessness-suicidal ideation predicted concurrent and future affective disorder; generalised worrying predicted concurrent and future anxiety, specifically concurrent generalised anxiety disorders. Generalised worrying was negatively associated with behaviour disorders. LIMITATIONS: The analyses of gender differences and the prediction of specific disorders was limited due to a low frequency of disorders other than depression. CONCLUSIONS: The bifactor model was able to differentiate concurrent and predict future clinical diagnoses. This can inform the development of targeted as well as non-specific interventions for prevention and treatment of different disorders.

A picture paints a thousand words: Heart drawings reflect acute distress and illness perception and predict posttraumatic stress symptoms after acute myocardial infarction

The aim of this study was to examine whether heart drawings of patients with acute myocardial infarction reflect acute distress symptoms and negative illness beliefs and predict posttraumatic stress symptoms 3 months post-myocardial infarction. In total, 84 patients aged over 18 years drew pictures of their heart. The larger the area drawn as damaged, the greater were the levels of acute distress (r = 0.36; p < 0.05), negative illness perceptions (r = 0.42, p < 0.05), and posttraumatic stress symptoms (r = 0.54, p < 0.01). Pain drawings may offer a tool to identify maladaptive cognitions and thus patients at risk of posttraumatic stress disorder.