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Theoretischer Hintergrund: Bisherige Studien zeigen, dass internetbasierte Interventionen kurzfristig die Veränderungsmotivation bei Essstörungen verbessern können. Zur Stabilität dieser Effekte ist jedoch wenig bekannt. Fragestellung: Wie entwickeln sich die Veränderungsmotivation, die Essstörungspsychopathologie und das Selbstwertgefühl 8 Wochen nach Abschluss eines internetbasierten Motivationsprogramms?
Methode: Neunzig Frauen bearbeiteten den Stages of Change Questionnaire for Eating Disorders, den Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire und die Rosenberg Self-Esteem-Scale unmittelbar (Post) sowie 8 Wochen nach Abschluss der Intervention (Katamnese).
Ergebnisse: Es zeigten sich stabile Effekte in der Veränderungsmotivation sowie im Selbstwertgefühl. Zusätzlich zeigten sich in der Essstörungspsychopathologie signifikante Verbesserungen.
Schlussfolgerungen: Die Studie belegt die längerfristige Wirksamkeit eines internetbasierten Motivationsprogramms für Frauen mit Essstörungen.
Research into positive aspects of the psyche is growing as psychologists learn more about the protective role of positive processes in the development and course of mental disorders, and about their substantial role in promoting mental health. With increasing globalization, there is strong interest in studies examining positive constructs across cultures. To obtain valid cross-cultural comparisons, measurement invariance for the scales assessing positive constructs has to be established. The current study aims to assess the cross-cultural measurement invariance of questionnaires for 6 positive constructs: Social Support (Fydrich, Sommer, Tydecks, & Brähler, 2009), Happiness (Subjective Happiness Scale; Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999), Life Satisfaction (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985), Positive Mental Health Scale (Lukat, Margraf, Lutz, van der Veld, & Becker, 2016), Optimism (revised Life Orientation Test [LOT-R]; Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994) and Resilience (Schumacher, Leppert, Gunzelmann, Strauss, & Brähler, 2004). Participants included German (n = 4,453), Russian (n = 3,806), and Chinese (n = 12,524) university students. Confirmatory factor analyses and measurement invariance testing demonstrated at least partial strong measurement invariance for all scales except the LOT-R and Subjective Happiness Scale. The latent mean comparisons of the constructs indicated differences between national groups. Potential methodological and cultural explanations for the intergroup differences are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
Background:
Children with severe psychomotor impairment (SPMI) often experience sleep disturbances that severely distress both the child and his or her parents. Validated questionnaires for the assessment of parents’ distress related to their child’s sleep disturbances are lacking.
Methods:
We developed and validated a new questionnaire, the HOST (holistic assessment of sleep and daily troubles in parents of children with SPMI) to assess the effect of the sleep disturbances in children with SPMI on their parents. The questionnaire was developed based on published data and expert opinion, and it was refined via direct consultation with affected parents. Its psychometric characteristics were assessed in a sample of parents of 214 children with SPMI. It was retested using a random subsample of the participants.
Results:
Explorative factor analysis revealed that the HOST was composed of four scales. Fit indices, item analysis, and convergent validity (coherence with preexisting instruments of sleep disturbances and health status) were adequate. Retest analysis (n = 62) revealed high stability of the HOST questionnaire and adequate replication validity.
Conclusion:
Sleep-related difficulties significantly impact the sociomedical characteristics of the parents of children with complex neurologic diseases. Typically, parents are severely affected in various aspects of daily life (i.e., medical health, social life, professional life). The HOST proved to be a valid, reliable and economical assessment tool of sleep-related difficulties in parents and relatives of children with SPMI. The HOST is capable of identifying individuals and specific areas requiring intervention.
Small-fiber neuropathy and pain sensitization in survivors of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia
(2018)
Background:
Chemotherapy-induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN) of large-fibers affects up to 20% of survivors of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). We aimed to describe small-fiber toxicity and pain sensitization in this group.
Methods:
In a cross-sectional, bicentric study we assessed 46 survivors of pediatric ALL (Mean age: 5.7 ± 3.5 years at diagnosis, median 2.5 years after therapy; males: 28). Inclusion criteria: ≥6 years of age, ≥3 months after last administration of Vincristine, and cumulative dose of Vincristine 12 mg/m2. We used a reduced version of the Pediatric-modified Total Neuropathy Score (Ped-mTNS) as bedside test and Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST) for assessment of small- and large-fiber neuropathy as well as pain sensitization. We employed Nerve Conduction Studies (NCS) as the most accurate tool for detecting large-fiber neuropathy.
Results:
Fifteen survivors (33%) had abnormal rPed-mTNS values (≥4 points) and 5 survivors (11%) reported pain. In QST, the survivor group showed significant (p < 0.001) inferior large-fiber function and pain sensitization when compared to healthy matched peers. We identified deficits of vibration in 33 (72%) and tactile hypoesthesia in 29 (63%), hyperalgesia to blunt pressure in 19 (41%), increased mechanical pain sensitivity in 12 (26%) and allodynia in 16 (35%) of 46 survivors. Only 7 survivors (15%) had pathologic NCS.
Conclusion:
QST is a sensitive tool that revealed signs of large-fiber neuropathy in two thirds, small-fiber neuropathy and pain sensitization in one third of survivors. Prospective studies using QST in pediatric oncology may help to elucidate the pathophysiology of small-fiber neuropathy and pain sensitization as well as their relevance for quality of survival.
Selecting items for Big Five questionnaires : At what sample size do factorloadings stabilize?
(2014)
Researchers often use exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to develop and refine questionnaires assessing theBig Five personality traits. We use sequential sampling and bootstrapping to determine the number ofparticipants needed to yield stable loading patterns for the Big Five Inventory (BFI) and the InternationalPersonality Item Pool Big Five measure (IPIP). Overall 21,350 participants (BFI = 10,285; IPIP = 11,065)participated. In two studies primary factor loadings are highly variable in smaller samples (n< 500)and some primary loadings are not stable with 10,000 participants. Most studies will not have adequatesample size to yield stable loading patterns for Big Five measures such as the BFI and IPIP. Researchersshould assess and report the variability of loading patterns.
Recent theoretical models suggest that repetitive negative thinking might be a key mechanism explaining the negative effects of maternal psychopathology on mother–infant relations. While an emerging body of research largely supports this idea, the relative importance of differences in the trajectory of repetitive negative thinking during and after pregnancy for mother–infant bonding as well as maternal depressive symptoms is currently unknown. Therefore, we investigated associations between the course of maternal repetitive negative thinking during pregnancy and after birth and mother–infant-bonding and maternal depressive symptoms in a longitudinal study. The overall level of repetitive negative thinking was a significant predictor of mother–infant bonding, maternal anxiety and rejection in dealing with her infant four months after birth. Furthermore, differences in the trajectory of repetitive negative thinking predicted bonding, but not anxiety or rejection. The overall levels of repetitive negative thinking as well as the differences in the trajectory of repetitive negative thinking were significant predictors of maternal depressive symptoms. These findings indicate that changes of repetitive negative thinking during and after pregnancy can increase the risk of postpartum depressive symptoms.
Introduction:
Many patients with cerebral palsy (CP) suffer chronic pain as one of the most limiting factors in their quality of life. In CP patients, pain mechanisms are not well understood, and pain therapy remains a challenge. Quantitative sensory testing (QST) might provide unique information about the functional status of the somatosensory system and therefore better guide pain treatment.
Objectives:
To understand better the underlying pain mechanisms in pediatric CP patients, we aimed to assess clinical and pain parameters, as well as QST profiles, which were matched to the patients' cerebral imaging pathology.
Patients and methods:
Thirty CP patients aged 6–20 years old (mean age 12 years) without intellectual impairment underwent standardized assessments of QST. Cerebral imaging was reassessed. QST results were compared to age- and sex-matched controls (multiple linear regression; Fisher's exact test; linear correlation analysis).
Results:
CP patients were less sensitive to all mechanical and thermal stimuli than healthy controls but more sensitive to all mechanical pain stimuli (each p < 0.001). Fifty percent of CP patients showed a combination of mechanical hypoesthesia, thermal hypoesthesia and mechanical hyperalgesia; 67% of CP patients had periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), which was correlated with mechanic (r = 0.661; p < 0.001) and thermal (r = 0.624; p = 0.001) hypoesthesia.
Conclusion:
The combination of mechanical hypoesthesia, thermal hypoesthesia and mechanical hyperalgesia in our CP patients implicates lemniscal and extralemniscal neuron dysfunction in the thalamus region, likely due to PVL. We suspect that extralemniscal tracts are involved in the original of pain in our CP patients, as in adults.
Objective:
The German version of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI-G) is avalidated measure for the detection of social anxiety disorder (SAD). The aim of the presentstudy was to develop optimal cut points (OC) for remission and response to treatment for theSPAI-G.
Methods:
We used Receiver Operating Characteristic methods and bootstrapping to analysethe data of 359 patients after psychotherapeutic treatment. OCs where defined as the cut pointswith the highest sensitivity and specificity after bootstrapping.
Results:
For remission, an OC of 2.79 was found, and for response, a change in score frompre- to posttreatment by 11% yielded best results.
Conclusions:
The OC we identified for remission may be used to improve the diagnostic utilityof the SPAI-G. However, the cut point for response achieved only borderline-acceptable levelsof sensitivity and specificity, calling into doubt their utility in clinical and research setting.
The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI)-18 is a widely-used tool to assess changes in general distress in patients despite an ongoing debate about its factorial structure and lack of evidence for longitudinal measurement invariance (LMI). We investigated BSI-18 scores from 1,081 patients from an outpatient clinic collected after the 2nd, 6th, 10th, 18th, and 26th therapy session. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to compare models comprising one, three, and four latent dimensions that were proposed in the literature. LMI was investigated using a series of model comparisons, based on chi-square tests, effect sizes, and changes in comparative fit index (CFI). Psychological distress diminished over the course of therapy. A four-factor structure (depression, somatic symptoms, generalized anxiety, and panic) showed the best fit to the data at all measurement occasions. The series of model comparisons showed that constraining parameters to be equal across time resulted in very small decreases in model fit that did not exceed the cutoff for the assumption of measurement in variance. Our results show that the BSI-18 is best conceptualized as a four-dimensional tool that exhibits strict longitudinal measurement invariance. Clinicians and applied researchers do not have to be concerned about the interpretation of mean differences over time.
The Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) is the most frequently used instrument to assess social anxiety disorder (SAD) in clinical research and practice. Both a self‐reported (LSAS‐SR) and a clinician‐administered (LSAS‐CA) version are available. The aim of the present study was to define optimal cut‐off (OC) scores for remission and response to treatment for the LSAS in a German sample.
Data of N = 311 patients with SAD were used who had completed psychotherapeutic treatment within a multicentre randomized controlled trial. Diagnosis of SAD and reduction in symptom severity according to the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, served as gold standard. OCs yielding the best balance between sensitivity and specificity were determined using receiver operating characteristics. The variability of the resulting OCs was estimated by nonparametric bootstrapping.
Using diagnosis of SAD (present vs. absent) as a criterion, results for remission indicated cut‐off values of 35 for the LSAS‐SR and 30 for the LSAS‐CA, with acceptable sensitivity (LSAS‐SR: .83, LSAS‐CA: .88) and specificity (LSAS‐SR: .82, LSAS‐CA: .87). For detection of response to treatment, assessed by a 1‐point reduction in the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, rating, a reduction of 28% for the LSAS‐SR and 29% for the LSAS‐CA yielded the best balance between sensitivity (LSAS‐SR: .75, LSAS‐CA: .83) and specificity (LSAS‐SR: .76, LSAS‐CA: .80).
To our knowledge, we are the first to define cut points for the LSAS in a German sample. Overall, the cut points for remission and response corroborate previously reported cut points, now building on a broader data basis.