Benefits of yoga in the treatment of eating disorders: Results of a randomized controlled trial.

Yoga has begun to be incorporated into the treatment of eating disorders despite limited empirical support for this practice. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of incorporating Yoga into the treatment of eating disorders. This preliminary randomized controlled trial investigated the benefits of participating in an eight-week Kripalu Yoga program for 53 women with symptoms of bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. Compared to waitlist controls, Yoga participants experienced decreases in binge eating frequency, emotional regulation difficulties and self-criticism, and increases in self-compassion. Yoga participants also experienced increases in state mindfulness skills across the eight weeks of the Yoga program. While these results are encouraging and suggest Yoga may have a valuable role to play in the treatment of eating disorders, it is important to stress their tentative nature. Further research, adopting a more rigorous design, is needed to address the limitations of the present study and expand on these findings.

Assessing the Factor Structure of the Integrative Hope Scale.

While some researchers contend that hope is unidimensional, other researchers regard hope to be multidimensional. Schrank, Woppmann, Sibitz, and Lauber's exploratory factor analysis of their Integrative Hope Scale (IHS) found subscales of Trust, Future Orientation, Social Relations, and Lack of Perspective. However, subsequent articles have utilized only the total IHS score. To resolve this issue, a community sample of 288 participants completed the IHS as well as two measures of hedonic well-being (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule; Temporal Satisfaction With Life Scale), a measure of eudemonic well-being (Measure of Actualization of Potential), and a measure of time orientation (the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory). One-factor, four-factor oblique, higher order, and bifactor models were compared through confirmatory factor analysis and interpreted using Omega reliability coefficients. While the poorest model fit was for the one-factor model, little reliable variance was found in subscale scores after controlling for a general hope factor with the exception of the Lack of Perspective factor. IHS total and subscale scores were associated with measures of well-being and time orientation. We suggest researchers continue to focus on using the IHS total score, but also report subscale scores, especially for the Lack of Perspective subscale.

Older Adults and the Fear of Death: The Protective Function of Generativity.

Terror management theory (TMT) posits that cultural worldviews function to allay concerns about human mortality. Preliminary research with older adults has indicated that seniors do not respond to death reminders in the same way as their younger counterparts. The purpose of the current study was to test a developmentally relevant construct that may buffer death anxiety in later life. It was hypothesized that Erikson's concept of generativity may encompass death-denying properties for older adults. One hundred and seventy-nine seniors were recruited to determine if subtle mortality salience inductions would lead participants to rate their own generativity as higher than after a blatant induction, or no induction, after controlling for pre-induction generativity. As expected, participants exposed to subtle death primes rated themselves as having higher levels of generativity than the other two groups after co-varying pre-induction generativity. Explanations are discussed in light of the literatures on TMT and generativity.

Memory reconsolidation and self-reorganization.

Lane et al. propose that memory reconsolidation through new emotional experiences is an integrative pathway to change in psychotherapy. My commentary suggests that memory reconsolidation is an element within self-reorganization. Given the focal nature of the self to every aspect of psychotherapy, it is a more useful construct on which to build integrative models than memory reconsolidation.

Stages of change and the working alliance in psychotherapy.

This study investigated whether the working alliance mediates between the stages of change and symptom improvement. It also investigated whether progression to a higher stage of change was associated with an enhancement in working alliance and outcome scores. Fifty-six adult clients receiving counseling at a community mental health clinic completed measures after the first, fifth, and termination sessions. Using the Baron and Kenny (1986) and bootstrapping procedures, the working alliance was found to be a mediating variable. A multivariate analysis of variance indicated that clients who progressed from a lower stage to a higher stage reported stronger working alliances and more symptom improvement than those who did not progress. These results offer further support for the importance of a strong working alliance in psychotherapy.