ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: This study developed and explored the preliminary reliability and validity of a 6-item Medication Saving Behaviors (MSB) scale when completed by family care partners of older adults. METHODS: Women (N = 119) helping an aging relative with healthcare appointments and medication management completed an online survey including items related to generalized hoarding and medication saving behaviors. RESULTS: The MSB was psychometrically sound and correlated significantly with hoarding scales and reported number of expired and leftover medications. Compared with those reporting low levels of general hoarding concerns, group means on the MSB were higher for caregivers reporting clinically significant levels of hoarding by their elderly family member. The MSB was unrelated to total prescription or over-the-counter medications for the older adult, lending support for the discriminant validity of the scale. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides initial support for the convergent and discriminant validity of the MSB when administered to intergenerational care partners of older adults. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The MSB may function to identify higher risk patients via their family members and target families for interventions.
Subject(s)
Caregivers/psychology , Hoarding/psychology , Medication Therapy Management/education , Psychometrics/instrumentation , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Behavior/physiology , Caregivers/education , Female , Geriatrics , Humans , Middle Aged , Psychometrics/methodsABSTRACT
It has been suggested that a strong working alliance encourages clients to take risks during therapy (Raue, Castonguay, & Goldfried, 1993). This encouragement may be important for clients who fear negative evaluations as they engage in risk-taking elements of therapy. This study examined the relationship between working alliance, session helpfulness and measures of emotional processing in 18 clients undergoing cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for social anxiety disorder. Results indicate a positive correlation between client-rated, but not observer-rated, working alliance and session helpfulness. Moderate levels of working alliance were associated with higher initial anxiety and deeper within-session habituation. Overall, a strong alliance was associated with clients engaging with the session and finding the session helpful. Implications for the use of CBT for social anxiety are discussed.
Subject(s)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy/methods , Habituation, Psychophysiologic , Helping Behavior , Patient Care Team , Phobic Disorders/therapy , Adult , Emotions , Female , Humans , MaleABSTRACT
This descriptive and comparative study employed a Q-sort process to describe common factors of therapy in two group therapies for inpatients with chronic mental illness. While pharmacological treatments for chronic mental illness are prominent, there is growing evidence that cognitive therapy is also efficacious. Groups examined were part of a larger study comparing the added benefits of cognitive versus supportive group therapy to the treatment milieu. In general, items described the therapist's attitudes and behaviors, the participants' attitudes and behaviors, or the group interactions. Results present items that were most and least characteristic of each therapy and items that discriminate between the two modalities. Therapists in both groups demonstrated good therapy skills. However, the cognitive group was described as being more motivated and active than the supportive group, indicating that the groups differed in terms of common as well as specific factors of treatment.
Subject(s)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy/methods , Mental Disorders/psychology , Mental Disorders/therapy , Psychotherapeutic Processes , Psychotherapy, Group/methods , Adult , Attitude of Health Personnel , Attitude to Health , Chronic Disease , Cognitive Behavioral Therapy/standards , Cohort Studies , Female , Hospitalization , Humans , Male , Mental Disorders/diagnosis , Physician-Patient Relations , Psychotherapy, Group/standards , Q-Sort/statistics & numerical data , Reproducibility of Results , Tape Recording , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To examine several methods of determining reliability of change constructs in depressive symptoms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to demonstrate the strengths, weaknesses, and uses of each method. METHODS: Data were analyzed from a cohort of 54 persons with RA who participated in a combined behavioral/pharmacologic intervention of 15 months duration. These longitudinal data were used to examine 3 methodologies for assessing the reliability of change for various measures of depression. The specific methodologies involved the calculations of reliable change, sensitivity to change, and reliability of the change score. RESULTS: The analyses demonstrated differences in reliability of change performance across the various depression measures, which suggest that no single measure of depression for persons with RA should be considered superior in all contexts. CONCLUSION: The findings highlight the value of utilizing reliability of change constructs when examining changes in depressive symptoms over time.
Subject(s)
Arthritis, Rheumatoid/diagnosis , Depression/diagnosis , Mental Health , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Arthritis, Rheumatoid/complications , Arthritis, Rheumatoid/psychology , Combined Modality Therapy , Depression/etiology , Depression/psychology , Female , Health Status , Humans , Longitudinal Studies , Male , Mental Health/classification , Middle Aged , Reproducibility of Results , Surveys and Questionnaires , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To examine the level of anxiety experienced by individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: Data from 2 previous studies were used to compare the level of anxiety (measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) in the following 4 subgroups: a general RA sample, a general osteoarthritis sample, a sample with both RA and major depression, and a normative sample of age-equivalent, working adults. Canonical correlations were used to examine associations between measures of anxiety and measures of both stress and depression. The relationship between anxiety and duration of RA was also explored. RESULTS: The general RA sample had state anxiety levels that were comparable to the normative sample, although trait anxiety levels were significantly higher (P < 0.001). In addition, individuals with RA who also met criteria for depression exhibited significantly higher levels of both state anxiety (P < 0.0001) and trait anxiety (P < 0.0001) than was observed in the normative sample. Canonical correlations revealed that measures of anxiety were correlated with both measures of depression (r = 0.83) and measures of stress (r = 0.50). Anxiety was not found to be significantly related to RA disease duration. CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrated that individuals with RA, especially if concomitantly depressed, tend to exhibit levels of anxiety that are generally higher than a normative group of age-equivalent, working adults. The substantial canonical correlations between anxiety and both depression and stress revealed that anxiety shares variance with these more frequently studied variables in RA. However, anxiety was not found to be related to RA disease duration.
