Relevant and Irrelevant Fear in Flooding - A Crossover Study of Phobic Patients - Republished Article.

This study investigated the role of relevant vs irrelevant fear cues in the flooding of phobic patients. Six specific phobics and 10 agoraphobics were treated in a balanced crossover design. Eight patients had eight sessions of imaginal flooding concerned with their phobias followed by eight imaginal sessions concerned with situations which are normally frightening to anybody. Another eight patients had the same two treatments in the reverse order. The combined effects of both treatments after 16 sessions resulted in significant improvement on clinical, attitudinal, and heart-rate measures. Improvement was maintained at six months follow-up. Eight sessions by each treatment alone also produced significant improvement on clinical and attitudinal measures. Irrelevant fear also produced significant improvement in heart-rate and skin-conductance measures. The two treatments did not differ significantly from each other in their effects, except that irrelevant fear produced significantly more improvement than did relevant flooding in subjective anxiety during phobic imagery. The two treatments had significantly different prognostic correlates. Heightened physiological activity at the start of treatment predicted a good outcome to relevant flooding but not to irrelevant fear. High subjective anxiety during imagery before treatment predicted poor outcome to irrelevant fear. High anxiety during treatment sessions predicted good outcome to irrelevant fear, but did not correlate with outcome to relevant flooding. The experience of relevant and irrelevant fear in fantasy reduced phobic anxiety and avoidance to a similar extent, but appeared to do so through different mechanisms. These mechanisms need not be mutually exclusive and might be additive.

Computer-aided psychotherapy: revolution or bubble?

Research into computer-aided psychotherapy is thriving around the world. Most of it concerns computer-aided cognitive-behavioural therapy (CCBT). A recent narrative review found 97 computer-aided psychotherapy systems from nine countries reported in 175 studies, of which 103 were randomised controlled trials. The rapid spread of the mass delivery of psychotherapy through CCBT, catalysed in the UK by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's recommendation of two CCBT programmes and the Department of Health's CCBT implementation guidance, seems unprecedented. This editorial is a synopsis of the current status of CCBT and its future directions.

Computer-aided vs. tutor-delivered teaching of exposure therapy for phobia/panic: randomized controlled trial with pre-registration nursing students.

BACKGROUND: Exposure therapy is effective for phobic anxiety disorders (specific phobias, agoraphobia, social phobia) and panic disorder. Despite their high prevalence in the community, sufferers often get no treatment or if they do, it is usually after a long delay. This is largely due to the scarcity of healthcare professionals trained in exposure therapy, which is due, in part, to the high cost of training. Traditional teaching methods employed are labour intensive, being based mainly on role-play in small groups with feedback and coaching from experienced trainers. In an attempt to increase knowledge and skills in exposure therapy, there is now some interest in providing relevant teaching as part of pre-registration nurse education. Computers have been developed to teach terminology and simulate clinical scenarios for health professionals, and offer a potentially cost effective alternative to traditional teaching methods. OBJECTIVE: To test whether student nurses would learn about exposure therapy for phobia/panic as well by computer-aided self-instruction as by face-to-face teaching, and to compare the individual and combined effects of two educational methods, traditional face-to-face teaching comprising a presentation with discussion and questions/answers by a specialist cognitive behaviour nurse therapist, and a computer-aided self-instructional programme based on a self-help programme for patients with phobia/panic called FearFighter, on students' knowledge, skills and satisfaction. DESIGN: Randomised controlled trial, with a crossover, completed in 2 consecutive days over a period of 4h per day. PARTICIPANTS: Ninety-two mental health pre-registration nursing students, of mixed gender, age and ethnic origin, with no previous training in cognitive behaviour therapy studying at one UK university. RESULTS: The two teaching methods led to similar improvements in knowledge and skills, and to similar satisfaction, when used alone. Using them in tandem conferred no added benefit. Computer-aided self-instruction was more efficient as it saved teacher preparation and delivery time, and needed no specialist tutor. CONCLUSION: Computer-aided self-instruction saved almost all preparation time and delivery effort for the expert teacher. When added to past results in medical students, the present results in nurses justify the use of computer-aided self-instruction for learning about exposure therapy and phobia/panic and of research into its value for other areas of health education.

Saving clinicians' time by delegating routine aspects of therapy to a computer: a randomized controlled trial in phobia/panic disorder.

BACKGROUND: The demand for time-consuming psychotherapy of phobia/panic exceeds the supply of trained therapists. Delegating routine therapy aspects to a computer might ease this problem. METHOD: Ninety-three out-patients with phobia or panic disorder were randomized in a 2: 2 : 1 ratio to have self-exposure therapy guided either mainly by a stand-alone computer system (FearFighter) or entirely face-to-face by a clinician, or to have mainly computer-guided self-relaxation as a placebo. Both computer groups (FearFighter and relaxation) had brief back-up advice from a clinician. Primary outcome measures were self- and blind-assessor ratings of Main Problem and Goals, and Global Phobia. RESULTS: Drop-outs occurred significantly more often in the two self-exposure groups (43% if mainly computer-guided, 24% if entirely clinician-guided) than with self-relaxation (6%); the difference between the two self-exposure groups was not significant. Even with all drop-outs included, the mainly computer-guided exposure group and the relaxation group had 73% less clinician time per patient than did the entirely clinician-guided exposure group. The two self-exposure groups had comparable improvement and satisfaction at post-treatment and at 1-month follow-up, while relaxation was ineffective. Mean improvement on the primary outcome measures (self- and assessor-rated) was 46% computer, 49% clinician, 9% relaxation at post-treatment (week 10) and 58% computer, 53% clinician and -4% relaxation at 1-month follow-up (week 14). Mean effect sizes on the primary outcome measures were 2.9 computer, 3.5 clinician and 0.5 relaxation at post-treatment; and 3.7 computer, 3.5 clinician and 0.5 relaxation at 1-month follow-up. The assessor did not rate patients at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Despite its (non-significantly) higher dropout rate, self-exposure therapy for panic/ phobia cut clinician time per patient by 73% without losing efficacy when guided mainly by a computer rather than entirely by a clinician. The finding needs confirmation at a follow-up that is longer and includes a blind assessor. Self-relaxation had the highest rate of completers but was ineffective.

Beliefs, sense of control and treatment outcome in post-traumatic stress disorder.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have shown that maladaptive beliefs relate to treatment outcome. METHOD: In a randomized controlled study, 87 patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) had exposure therapy alone or cognitive restructuring alone, or both combined, or relaxation. Independent blind assessors assessed patients at pre-, mid- and post-treatment and at follow-up; at those times patients rated cognitive, behavioural and emotional aspects of their disorder. RESULTS: Baseline beliefs about mistrust, helplessness, meaninglessness and unjustness of the world related to baseline PTSD symptoms but did not predict treatment outcome, though improvement in certain beliefs correlated with more symptom improvement. Several 'key' beliefs changed after, and none before, symptoms improved. At post-treatment, sense of control and attribution of gains to personal efforts predicted maintenance of gains at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Baseline beliefs and improvement in beliefs did not predict outcome. Post-treatment sense of control/internal attribution predicted maintenance of gains at follow-up. How much sense of control is produced by or causes improvement deserves testing.

Two-year follow-up after a randomised controlled trial of self- and clinician-accompanied exposure for phobia/panic disorders.

BACKGROUND: Long-term follow-up has rarely been reported after self-exposure therapy for phobias. AIMS: Completion of such a follow-up. METHOD: Two-year follow-up was achieved in 68 (85%) of 80 patients with phobias who had completed a previous 14-week randomised controlled trial comparing therapist-accompanied self-exposure, self-exposure or self-relaxation. Measures were self-reported ratings of symptoms, satisfaction and use of other treatment. RESULTS: Improvement at week 14 was maintained 2 years later. Clinician-accompanied exposure and self-exposure did not differ on any measure. Compliance with self-exposure homework during weeks 0-8 predicted more improvement 2 years later. Patients who failed to improve with relaxation by week 14 improved after subsequent crossover to exposure. A need for more treatment for their phobias was still felt by 33 patients (49%). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with phobias maintained their improvement to 2-year follow-up after the end of self-exposure therapy.

Cell-based screening approach for antitumor drug leads which exploits sensitivity differences between normal and cancer cells: identification of two novel cell-cycle inhibitors.

A cell-based in vitro screening approach for identification of antitumor drug leads that exploits the differential sensitivity between normal and cancer cells was developed. It is a three-step, high-throughput screen for antiproliferative and/or cytotoxic activity measured by a 7 day MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromidel assay using small panels of proliferating primary human cells and established cancer cell lines. Proof-of-concept experiments successfully identified 11 known cancer drugs randomly mixed with 5000 test compounds. Application of this screening approach to a library of 110000 compounds allowed for the identification of several novel chemical classes of compounds active against an expanded panel of cancer cell lines in vitro. Two of the compounds representing novel mitotic inhibitors with in vivo potency against established breast cancer xenografts (MDA-MB-435) are reported here.

Neurological and neuropsychological signs in obsessive compulsive disorder: interaction with behavioural treatment.

The main aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that neurological soft signs and neuropsychological abnormalities associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) predict poor response to behavioural treatment. The design permitted investigation of secondary hypotheses, regarding correlations among these neurological markers and levels of symptomatology, and their stability in relation to changes in levels of symptomatology. Thirty-five participants satisfying DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for OCD were assessed pre- and postbehavioural treatment using a scaled measure of symptom severity, and a battery of tests sensitive to neuropsychological deficits associated with OCD. Eighteen of the participants were also assessed on an inventory of neurological soft signs. Neither neuropsychological test deficits nor neurological soft signs pretreatment predicted response to behavioural treatment. Lower performance on neuropsychological tasks and symptom severity were both significantly correlated with levels of soft signs. Some neurological markers were less severe posttreatment, but these changes were not related to treatment response.

Subjective imagery in obsessive-compulsive disorder before and after exposure therapy. Pilot randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Distressing mental imagery is hard to study experimentally in obsessive--compulsive disorder (OCD). AIMS: To develop a way to assess mental imagery in OCD during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). METHOD: A small randomised study, controlled for type and order of mental imagery and for treatment condition (exposure therapy guided by a computer or by a therapist, or relaxation guided by audio-tape). Before and after treatment, during fMRI scanning, patients imagined previously-rehearsed scenarios that evoked an urge to ritualise or non-OCD anxiety or a neutral state, and rated their discomfort during imagery. RESULTS: The method evoked greater discomfort during OCD imagery and anxiety (non-OCD) imagery than during neutral imagery. Discomfort was reduced by cancelling imagery. Discomfort during OCD imagery (but not during anxiety non-OCD imagery) fell after exposure therapy but not after relaxation. CONCLUSIONS: Results showed differences between OCD and non-OCD images and their change after successful treatment, and confirmed clinical suggestions that cancelling images reduced OCD discomfort. The method's success paves the way for further studies of mental imagery in OCD: for instance, during fMRI.

Self-treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder guided by manual and computer-conducted telephone interview.

While on a waiting list for treatment by therapist-guided exposure and ritual prevention (ERP), patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) did self-treatment at home guided by a manual plus a computer-driven telephone interview system (BT STEPS). Of 21 patients who used the system for at least three weeks while on the waiting list, one improved so much that subsequent therapist-guided ERP was unnecessary. Progress of the rest with the system predicted later progress with therapist-guided ERP. Improvement after using the system was similar to that of 20 matched historical controls who had had therapist-guided ERP without the prior use of BT STEPS. Outpatient users of BT STEPS needed less subsequent clinician-guided time than did their matched controls. In this pilot study, patients with OCD improved nearly as much with home self-treatment guided by a manual plus computer, as with treatment guided by a behaviour therapist.

A differential neural response in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients with washing compared with checking symptoms to disgust.

BACKGROUND: Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have symptoms that predominantly concern washing (washers) or checking (checkers), or both. Functional neuroimaging has been used to identify the neural correlates of the urge to ritualize but has not distinguished between washing and checking symptoms in OCD. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to compare the neural response to emotive pictures in washers and checkers. METHODS: In one of two 5-minute experiments, washers (N = 7), checkers (N = 7) and age-matched normal controls (N = 14) were scanned while viewing alternating blocks of normally disgusting (rated as disgusting by all subjects) and neutral pictures. In the other experiment, all patients and a normal subgroup (N = 8) viewed alternating blocks of washer-relevant (rated as more disgusting by washers than normal controls or checkers) and neutral pictures. RESULTS: In all subjects, normally disgusting pictures activated visual regions implicated in perception of aversive stimuli and the insula, important in disgust perception. Only in washers were similar regions activated by washer-relevant pictures. In checkers, these pictures activated fronto-striatal regions associated with the urge to ritualize in OCD. Normal controls were more similar in neural response to checkers than washers to these pictures. Both normal controls and checkers had frontal regions activated significantly more by washer-relevant than normally disgusting pictures, and had these regions activated significantly more than washers by washer-relevant pictures. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate a differential neural response to washer-relevant disgust in washers and checkers: only washers demonstrate a neural response to washer-relevant disgust associated with emotion perception rather than attention to non-emotive visual detail.

Lessons from pilot tests of computer self-help for agora/claustrophobia and panic.

Two pilot tests were made of computer-aided self-help for chronic agora/claustrophobia diagnosed by a psychiatrist. Test 1 was of 17 patients at the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP). They had no human clinical help, getting ideas only from the computer on how to do self-exposure therapy and set exposure goals week by week. Patients could attend for 12 sessions. Outcome data were inconsistent across ratings, not always matching clinical impression of progress. Of the 15 patients for whom outcome data were available, 6 improved markedly or moderately on clinical impression. Test 2 was of 6 patients in a rural general practice (GP) in Wales who were given help and support from a nonclinical administrator. Of the 4 Welsh patients with follow-up data, 3 improved markedly or moderately. The test results suggest desirable changes. Patients first need to do practice ratings before rating on the computer and to check computer ratings. Some rating instructions need to be clarified. Most importantly, synergism comes from giving patients access to brief human help if they encounter problems when using computer-aided self-help.

Home self-assessment and self-treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder using a manual and a computer-conducted telephone interview: replication of a UK-US study.

BACKGROUND: This open study replicates and extends previous pilot work with BT STEPS, a self-therapy system to assess and treat obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) through exposure and ritual prevention. METHOD: 21 OCD patients entered this open trial, using a self-guiding manual and any Touch-Tone telephone to access computer-driven interviews via an Interactive Voice Response system. The patients also used the system to rate progress on rating scales. RESULTS: The results support those of the previous open study. Of the 21 patients, 16 (76%) completed self-assessment over a mean of 21 days. Of these, 10 patients (48%) went on to do 2 or more exposure and ritual prevention sessions over a mean of 64 days; they improved significantly on OCD symptoms, as much as is usual with serotonin reuptake inhibitor medication, and in mood and work/social adjustment. Improvement was predicted by baseline motivation and by rapid completion of self-assessment with BT STEPS, even though self-assessment alone was not therapeutic. CONCLUSION: The significant improvement in the intent-to-treat analysis was due to the subgroup of patients (48% of those who began BT STEPS) who went beyond self-assessment to do exposure and ritual prevention self-therapy at home guided by BT STEPS. A controlled trial is now needed.

Long-term effects of alprazolam on memory: a 3.5 year follow-up of agoraphobia/panic patients.

BACKGROUND: Benzodiazepines (BZs) can impair explicit memory after a single dose and also when taken repeatedly for treatment of anxiety disorders. A previous study with agoraphobia/panic patients found that the BZ alprazolam impaired memory during an 8-week treatment and residual impairments were still manifest several weeks after drug withdrawal (Curran et al. 1994). The present study followed up the same group of patients 3.5 years after treatment to determine whether those memory impairments persisted. METHOD: Thirty-one patients, 15 who had originally been treated with alprazolam and 16 with placebo, were assessed on a battery of psychometric tests and self-rating scales. RESULTS: Ex-alprazolam patients performed at the same levels as ex-placebo patients on the memory task and on other objective tests. Performance levels of both groups were similar to pre-treatment baselines, however there were differences in subjective ratings whereby ex-alprazolam patients rated themselves as less attentive and clear headed and more incompetent and clumsy than ex-placebo patients. CONCLUSIONS: Explicit memory impairments found while patients were taking alprazolam and weeks after drug withdrawal did not persist 3.5 years later. We suggest that the memory impairments observed in our previous study weeks after withdrawal of alprazolam were not residual effects of alprazolam but rather were due to the drug's interference with practice effects on the tests and habituation of anxiety over repeated exposure to the test situation.

Home self-assessment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Use of a manual and a computer-conducted telephone interview: two UK-US studies.

BACKGROUND: Two studies tested whether subjects with obsessive-compulsive disorder could successfully use BT STEPS, a computer-aided system, to perform self-assessment for self-treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder by exposure and ritual prevention. METHOD: Subjects were given a self-guiding manual and could use a touch-tone telephone to access computer-controlled Interactive Voice Response interviews at their convenience from home. Using the BT STEPS system, patients rated themselves and worked out a plan for individually tailored self-exposure therapy. RESULTS: Outcomes were similar in the two studies. Of the 63 subjects who used BT STEPS, 84% completed the self-assessment module. Most calls were made outside usual office hours. As expected, subjects did not improve merely by completing self-assessment. However, completion of self-assessment predicted later improvement with self-exposure therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Most subjects successfully completed self-assessment using BT STEPS from their homes. DECLARATION OF INTEREST: BT STEPS is a trademark of Pfizer, Inc. I.M.M., L.B. and J.H.G. have a financial interest in BT STEPS.

Self-administered psychotherapy for depression using a telephone-accessed computer system plus booklets: an open U.S.-U.K. study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and acceptability of a self-help program for mild-to-moderate depression that combined treatment booklets and telephone calls to a computer-aided Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. METHOD: In an open trial, 41 patients from Boston, Massachusetts; Madison, Wisconsin; and London, England, used COPE, a 12-week self-help system for depression. COPE consisted of an introductory videotape and 9 booklets accompanied by 11 telephone calls to an IVR system that made self-help recommendations to patients based on information they entered. RESULTS: All 41 patients successfully completed the self-assessment in the booklets and telephone calls; 28 (68%) also completed the 12-week self-help program. Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) and Work and Social Adjustment scores improved significantly (41% and 42% mean reduction in the intent-to-treat sample, respectively, p < .001). Eighteen (64%) of the 28 completers were considered responders on the basis of > or = 50% reduction in their HAM-D scores. There was a higher percentage of completers in the pooled U.S. sites (82% vs. 43%), and U.S. completers improved more than those in the United Kingdom (73% vs. 43% were responders). Most (68%) of the calls were made outside usual office hours, Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Expectation of effectiveness and time spent making COPE calls (more treatment modules) correlated positively with improvement over 12 weeks. Mean call length for completers was 14 minutes. CONCLUSION: A self-help system comprised of a computer-aided telephone system and a series of booklets was used successfully by people with mild-to-moderate depression. These preliminary results are encouraging for people who cannot otherwise access ongoing, in-person therapy.

Self-treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder using a manual and a computerized telephone interview: a U.S.-U.K. study.

Bt steps is a patient-centered behavioral therapy program that uses a manual and a computer-driven interactive voice response system to assess and treat obsessive compulsive disorder. This nine-step program contains a self-assessment module and a self-treatment module that provides teaching on exposure and ritual prevention. The patient reads about the steps in a manual and then uses a touch-tone telephone to contact the program, in which a recorded voice conducts the interview. Of 40 patients in an open 12-week trial in the United States and London, 35 completed the self-assessment module, and 17 completed at least two sessions of exposure and ritual prevention. The system produced statistically significant improvements on measures of obsessive compulsive disorder.

A pilot study of computer-aided vicarious exposure for obsessive-compulsive disorder.

OBJECTIVE: This study reports the use of an interactive computer program to instruct vicarious exposure and ritual prevention for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). METHOD: Thirteen OCD volunteers and 10 non-OCD volunteers completed three 45-minute sessions at weekly intervals. Subjects with OCD completed the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), the Padua Inventory (PI) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) 1 week prior to and 1 week after the three computer treatment sessions. Non-OCD subjects only completed these measures at baseline, allowing confirmation that they had no significant level of OCD symptomatology. RESULTS: In the OCD subjects, scores fell significantly on the PI and BDI, and Y-BOCS scores fell non-significantly. Engagement in vicarious exposure with ritual prevention improved from sessions 1-3. Compared to the non-OCD participants, OCD subjects did less vicarious exposure in session 1 but not sessions 2 and 3. Performance of vicarious exposure by OCD subjects in session 1 correlated with pre-post improvement in PI and BDI scores. CONCLUSIONS: The vicarious exposure program may have a role to play as an adjunct in behaviour therapy.