Telephone-Based Mental Health Interventions for Child Disruptive Behavior or Anxiety Disorders: - McGrath et al. 2011
Objective
- Determine whether treatment with Strongest Families would result in more children not being diagnosed as having disruptive behavior or anxiety disorders compared with usual care
Method
- Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) / Clinical Trial
(usual care/new treatment)
Results
- Yes, the intervention was significantly effective. The Strongest Families treatment group had significantly more children who were not diagnosed with disruptive behavior or anxiety disorders
Fear of Dying and Catastrophic Thinking, COVID, PTSD Pavilanis et al. 2025
Objective
- Examine the associations between fear of dying, catastrophic thinking and the severity of PTSS following COVID-19 infection
Method
- Cross-sectional Correlational Study
Results
Age : older, less trauma
- Old people have less catastrophic thinking and fear of death
Num vac.: More vaccines = less PTSD (sense of protection)
Inf. burden (severity of initial symptoms) - More severe = more PTSD (severity of trauma linked to severity of PTSD symptoms)
On. burden - Persistent symptoms = more PTSD severity
Sym. cat. - Imagining worst about symptoms = more PTSD
Fear of dying = More PTSD
Pimentel et al. 2020 - Sequential relation between changes in symptom catastrophizing and changes in PTSD
Question
What is the sequential relation between changes in symptom catastrophizing and changes in PTSD symptom severity during a behavioral activation intervention?
Methodology
- Longitudinal/Prospective Correlational Study using Cross-Lagged Analyses
Results
- symptom catastrophizing contributes to PTSD symptom severity independent of correlates of PTSD such as pain and depression: early change in symptom catastrophizing predicted later change in PTSD symptoms.
- treatment-related reductions in symptom catastrophizing were prospectively related to reductions in PTSD symptom severity.
-early changes in PTSD symptom severity did not predict later change in symptom catastrophizing
Sullivan 1989 - Affect and cognition
Question
- Does negative affect lead to low-effort attributional processing (e.g., dispositional attributions), and does positive affect lead to high-effort attributional processing?
Method
- Experimental Study
Results
- Negative affect, whether chronic or transient, leads to low-effort attributional processing (more correspondent dispositional attributions)
Catastrophizing and work in individuals with PTSD - Sullivan 2017
Cross-sectional analyses:
- Examine if catastrophizing contributed significant variance to the prediction of self-reported occupational disability, beyond the variance accounted for severity of symptoms of PTSD
Results:
- Catastrophizing (SCS) contributed significant variance to the prediction of occupational disability
Prospective analysis:
- Address whether treatment-related reductions in catastrophic thinking were associated with a higher probability of occupational re-engagement.
Results:
- Magnitude of treatment-related reductions in post-traumatic stress symptoms, depressive symptoms and catastrophizing (21%–38%) would be considered clinically meaningful
- Catastrophizing contributes to occupational disability in individuals with PTSD, and reductions in catastrophizing prospectively predict occupational re-engagement in individuals with PTSD.
Ditto et al. 2014 - Social Contagion of Vasovagal Reactions in the Blood Collection Clinic
Question
Do the effects of seeing another blood donor experience vasovagal symptoms contribute to the occurrence of vasovagal symptoms and need for treatment oneself?
Observational Field Study / Prospective
Results
- Yes, seeing another donor react increased symptoms. Being able to see another donor treated for symptoms was associated with higher scores on subjective vasovagal symptoms and an increased likelihood of needing treatment oneself. This effect was limited to non-first-time blood donors.
- First time female donnors had slower return in prospective study (2 years later)
Causal modeling of relations among learning history, anxiety sensitivity, and panic attacks (Stewart et al. 2001)
Question
- Do childhood instrumental and vicarious learning experiences influence the frequency of panic attacks in young adulthood both directly, and indirectly through their effects on anxiety sensitivity (AS)?
Method
- Retrospective Causal Modeling using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)
Results
Learning history for arousal–reactive somatic symptoms directly influenced both AS levels and panic frequency; AS directly influenced panic frequency; and learning history for arousal–non-reactive symptoms directly influenced AS but did not directly influence panic frequency.
partial mediation effect of AS in relation between childhood learning experiences and panic attacks in young adulthood.
Sullivan et al 1995: The Pain Catastrophizing Scale: Development and Validation Study 1
Study 1
- Do different perspectives on Catastrophizing reflect
different dimensions of a conceptually integrated concept?
Method
- Principal components analysis (correlational)
Results
- 3 factors found: rumination, magnification, helplessness
- Magnification subscale might be unreliable, so cannot be valid, but high reliability for overall scale
Sullivan et al 1995: The Pain Catastrophizing Scale: Development and Validation Study 2
- Examine the construct validity and temporal stability of the PCS. Hypothesis: High PCS scores would be associated with a higher frequency of self-reported catastrophizing thoughts during an experimental pain procedure.
Method: experimental & correlational - PCS showed construct validity and stability: Catastrophizers reported a significantly higher frequency of catastrophizing thoughts in the post-immersion interview than noncatastrophizers. Catastrophizers also reported significantly greater emotional distress and higher pain intensity. PCS scores were found to be stable over the 6-week testing period (Catastrophizers and noncatastrophizers did not differ significantly in the
frequency of coping thought)
Sullivan et al 1995: The Pain Catastrophizing Scale: Development and Validation Study 3
Goal: Address the validity of the PCS in a clinical population experiencing real pain.
Hypothesis: Catastrophizers in a clinical setting would report more negative thoughts, distress, and pain than noncatastrophizers
Method:
Correlational Study on a clinical sample. Participants: 28 individuals undergoing an aversive electrodiagnostic medical procedure
Results
The PCS was valid in a clinical setting: Consistent with the findings of Study 2, individuals classified as catastrophizers reported more negative pain-related thoughts, more emotional distress, and more pain than noncatastrophizers during the medical procedure
Sullivan et al 1995: The Pain Catastrophizing Scale: Development and Validation Study 4
Goal
Compare the PCS with related psychological constructs (e.g., depression, anxiety) to establish discriminant validity and determine its unique predictive
Method
Correlational & experimental
Results
The PCS demonstrated unique predictive power: The PCS showed moderate correlations with measures of depression, trait anxiety, negative affectivity, and fear of pain. Crucially, only the PCS contributed significant unique variance to the prediction of pain intensity, suggesting that catastrophizing is a distinct construct from general distress.. Compared to other measures, the PCS also showed the strongest relation to state measures of anxiety, sadness, and anger during the ice water immersion.
The PCS scores showed a high degree of stability across the 10-week period
Sullivan 1989 conversion disorder treatment
Goal:describe successful rehabilitation treatment of a man with long-standing conversion disorder in a rehabilitation setting.
Method: case study
Results: treatment was successful. The patient, who presented with a long-standing conversion disorder causing motor and sensory deficits, showed significant improvement following a structured and goal-directed rehabilitation program focused on maximizing physical functioning
Multidimensional approach:
* physiotherapy for lower limb strengthening.
* speech pathology for dysphonic symptoms.
* psychology for stress management assuming stress is causing physical symptoms reducing responsability on him
* At discharge, Mr. L. was walking with a cane. Dysphonic symptoms remained unchanged
