Biomedical subjects

Amy Przeworski

Publications and source records attributed to Amy Przeworski.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Resolving ambiguity: the effect of experience on interpretation of ambiguous events in generalized social phobia.

The authors examined the effect of learning on multiple encounters with sources of social ambiguity in individuals with generalized social phobia (GSP). The authors modified G. B. Simpson and H. Kang's (1994) paradigm and presented prime-target word pairs to individuals with GSP and nonanxious controls (NACs) to prime threat and nonthreat meanings of homographs and examine the effect of this priming on later encounters with that homograph. Consistent with previous research, NACs showed faster response latencies naming a target primed by a homograph with the same meaning activated in two successive trials than naming the same target primed by an unrelated word. Furthermore, NACs showed slower response latencies naming a target when a different meaning of the homograph prime was activated in successive trials than naming a target primed by an unrelated word. GSP participants did not show this pattern in learning a nonthreat meaning of a homograph. These results support the hypothesis that a faulty learning mechanism may be involved in social anxiety.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Palmtop computer-assisted group therapy for social phobia.

This article describes the application of group computer-assisted therapy for social phobia. The computer program includes a diary function for ongoing self-monitoring of anxiety as well as guidance on the practice of relaxation, cognitive restructuring, and self-control desensitization. Although the program was originally designed to treat individuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), it was hypothesized that the program also would be effective for individuals with social phobia; therefore, it was implemented in a group of individuals with a primary diagnosis of GAD or social phobia. We present the case of a client with social phobia who received six sessions of group therapy and who carried the ambulatory computer throughout this treatment. Outcome data suggest that the treatment was highly effective for this client as well as others with a diagnosis of social phobia or GAD.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Self-help and minimal-contact therapies for anxiety disorders: Is human contact necessary for therapeutic efficacy?

Self-help materials, brief therapies, and treatments involving minimal therapist contact have all been proposed as effective and low-cost interventions for anxiety disorders. However, research also suggests that the therapeutic alliance is a central predictor of therapy outcome. Interestingly, amounts of therapist contact within and across "self-help" interventions vary greatly. It is therefore unclear how much therapist contact is necessary for a positive anxiety disorder treatment outcome. The present article reviews the literature on anxiety disorder treatments using self-help, self-administered, and decreased therapist-contact interventions. Treatment studies are grouped together by anxiety diagnosis as well as amount of therapist contact. It is concluded that self-administered treatments are most effective for motivated clients seeking treatment for simple phobias. Predominantly self-help therapies are efficacious for panic disorder and mixed anxiety samples. On the other hand, minimal-contact therapies have demonstrated efficacy for the greatest variety of anxiety diagnoses.

Anxiety Disorders↗

PubMed2002

Thought suppression in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Social cognition research has indicated that attempts to suppress thoughts can lead to a paradoxical increase in the frequency of that thought. This phenomenon has been a central component of cognitive-behavioural models of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD); however, research has yet to demonstrate deficient thought suppression ability in OCD patients. We examined whether individuals with OCD (OCs) exhibit a deficit in the ability to suppress thoughts. In Experiment 1, attempted thought suppression led to a paradoxical increase in self-reported thoughts for OCs, but not for nonanxious controls (NACs) or anxious controls (ACs). In order to rule out self-report biases, in Experiment 2 we utilized a lexical decision paradigm that measured priming strength of a target word under thought suppression conditions. Results paralleled those of Experiment 1: OCs showed decreased lexical decision latency of the 'suppressed' thought (thought to reflect either increased priming strength or disrupted processing of nonsuppressed thoughts), thus exhibiting a paradoxical effect of thought suppression. This effect was not seen in NACs or ACs. These findings suggest that deficits in cognitive inhibitory processes may underlie the intrusive, repetitive nature of clinical obsessions.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2000

Are trauma victims susceptible to "false memories"?

Laboratory studies using word-list paradigms have provided evidence that nontraumatized individuals falsely recall or recognize events that never occurred. In the present study, H. L. Roediger and K. B. McDermott's false-memory paradigm (1995) was utilized to examine possible source monitoring deficits in individuals with PTSD. Traumatized individuals with PTSD were compared with traumatized individuals without PTSD and with nontraumatized control participants. Participants heard lists of related words (e.g., bed, night) that were associates of a critical nonpresented word (e.g., sleep) and were given immediate free recall and later recognition tests. Traumatized participants with and without PTSD generated more false recalls of critical nonpresented words than did nontraumatized participants. False recall was related to trait anxiety and PTSD severity. The results are consistent with a general source-monitoring deficit in trauma-exposed individuals.

Adult↗