Biomedical subjects

Philip Spinhoven

Publications and source records attributed to Philip Spinhoven.

40 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Locus of control orientation in panic disorder and the differential effects of treatment.

BACKGROUND: In this study the effects of treatment with cognitive therapy, antidepressants or pill-placebo on the locus of control orientation in panic disorder patients were analysed, as well as the relation of this panic locus of control with panic frequency and cognitive measures of panic. METHODS: A Multidimensional Anxiety Locus of Control scale (MALC) was developed and completed with other measures (ACQ and BSQ) before and after treatment. Patients also kept a panic diary. RESULTS: Four subscales were derived from the MALC: one Internal, and three external (a Chance, a Medication, and a Therapist) locus of anxiety control orientation scales. Cognitive therapy was superior over pill-placebo on most outcome measures whereas antidepressants were only superior in reducing the number of panic attacks. Treatment with cognitive therapy resulted in an increase of 'internal' anxiety control orientation and a decrease of 'chance' and 'medication' orientation, in comparison with antidepressant therapy. The residualized gain scores on the MALC subscales correlated with clinical improvement in subjects treated with cognitive therapy only. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that the locus of control orientation is important in evaluating the differential effects of treatments in panic disorder. A differential effect on panic locus of control in favor of cognitive therapy in comparison to medication was found.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Relevance of assessment of cognitions during panic attacks in the treatment of panic disorder.

BACKGROUND: In this paper the effects of cognitive therapy on the belief in causal catastrophic misinterpretations (CCMs) of bodily sensations in panic disorder patients were studied. METHODS: CCMs were formulated at the start of treatment and assessed at every treatment session for credibility during panic attacks and during that session. The relation between the belief in CCMs and other measures of panic was also studied. Sixty-six patients rated their belief in 1-3 CCMs during treatment with cognitive therapy. They also filled in questionnaires (ACQ and BSQ) at the start and end of treatment and kept a panic diary. RESULTS: The belief in CCMs diminished significantly in the course of treatment. A significant correlation between panic frequency and belief in CCMs during panic attacks, but not during treatment sessions, was found. Relations between improvement in panic frequency, ACQ- and BSQ-scores on the one hand and belief in CCMs on the other, also revealed significant correlations with belief ratings during panic attacks only. CONCLUSIONS: Especially ratings of belief during panic attacks are important in assessing the outcome of cognitive therapy in panic disorder. This measure can be considered as a severity measure. Belief in CCMs during treatment sessions seems to have little clinical significance.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Anxiety sensitivity profile: dimensional structure and relationship with temperament and character.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety sensitivity (AS), the belief that bodily sensations have harmful consequences, is a reliable predictor of panic attacks in both clinical and nonclinical populations. Recently, a new measure of AS has been proposed. The AS profile (ASP) was designed to be a more comprehensive measure of AS, and to be more suitable for the measurement of different AS dimensions. Preliminary evidence (college student sample) suggests that the ASP has 4 dimensions. In the present study, the dimensional structure of the ASP was further investigated, as well as its relationship with temperament and character traits. METHODS: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of ASP scores in two large samples of psychiatric outpatients and nonclinical controls (combined n = 742). Correlations and partial correlations of ASP with temperament and character. RESULTS: Exploratory factor analysis yielded a single AS factor. However, confirmatory factor analysis showed that the 6-dimensional structure, as Taylor and Cox had originally intended it, might be a defendable solution. However, the number of items is much too high, with many subscales consisting of semantic clusters. ASP scores were found to be weakly related to the temperament dimension harm avoidance, corroborating earlier findings that were not statistically significant because of small sample sizes. CONCLUSIONS: The ASP may be shortened from 60 to 24 items without loss of reliability or content. Future studies using challenge paradigms and studies with general hospital patients may further investigate the usefulness of a shortened version of the ASP.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Childhood adversities as risk factors for alexithymia and other aspects of affect dysregulation in adulthood.

BACKGROUND: Affect regulation is assumed to be a biologically based function that can become disrupted by inadequate parenting and by traumatic experiences. We studied the relation between the perceived parental parenting style, and sexual and physical abuse, with alexithymia, dissociation, anxiety and depression. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study psychiatric outpatients were administered a structured interview on childhood physical and sexual abuse and they completed a number of questionnaires about the parenting styles of their parents, and about alexithymia, dissociation and mood pathology. RESULTS: Maternal and paternal parenting styles were moderately correlated with alexithymia and depression. The paternal parenting style was also correlated with dissociation. Optimal parenting of one of the parents had a buffering effect on the degree of alexithymia, but not on the severity of other forms of affect dysregulation. The effect of sexual or physical abuse did not add to that of parental parenting style in terms of predicting affect dysregulation. However, a positively perceived maternal parenting style was found to have a buffering effect in terms of the degree of alexithymia, if sexual abuse had also taken place. CONCLUSIONS: Perceived parenting does appear to be of some significance in the development of alexithymia. Optimal parenting of one of the parents may protect against the development of alexithymia when the parenting of the other parent is perceived as non-optimal. However, it is likely that other factors besides parental care and sexual or physical abuse play an important role in the development of an adequate affect regulation.

Adult↗