All-or-nothing thinking: The processing of emotional expressions in traumatized post-deployment soldiers.

The exposure to trauma is a dramatic life event with complex consequences among those like changes in information processing. Dysfunctional cognitions like a negative interpretation of information are a risk factor for the development of trauma-related disorders. The aim of the present study was to test whether post-deployment soldiers with trauma differ in their interpretation of emotional expressions from member of a control group. Interpretation of emotional expressions was assessed in a sample of 106 males (n=53 soldiers, n=53 controls) with the Similarity Rating Task (simtask) and analyzed with a multidimensional scaling (MDS) approach. The findings suggest that individuals with war-related trauma tend to show a negative interpretation bias. Furthermore, traumatized individuals did not discriminate between different intensities of emotional expressions the way controls did. The findings are discussed in terms of the role of dysfunctional cognitions in the development and treatment of mental disorders.

Written on the Face: Self- and Expert-Rated Impairments in Personality Functioning Are Differently Related to the Expression of Disgust Toward an Interviewer.

Although current theories suggest that impairments in personality functioning are at the core of personality pathology, there is a lack of research on how these impairments play out behaviorally. The aim of the present study was to investigate disgust expressions as indicators of personality dysfunction. Facial expressions were investigated in a sample of 78 female participants during an in-depth clinical interview and coded with the Facial Action Coding System. Personality dysfunction was assessed with self- and expert ratings. By applying a joint regression analysis, the authors found that disgust expressions toward the interviewer were positively associated with expert ratings but negatively associated with self-ratings. In other words, disgust expressions were indicative of an underestimation of personality dysfunction by participants as compared with experts. This suggests that interactional expressions of disgust might be a behavioral marker of personality dysfunction when individuals are unaware of or deny impairments.

Recent decreases in specific interpretation biases predict decreases in neuroticism: evidence from a longitudinal study with young adult couples.

Engaging in a romantic relationship represents one important life experience in young adulthood that has been shown to catalyze age-related decrease in neuroticism (Neyer & Lehnart, 2007). The current research builds directly on this finding by investigating one process that underlies the partnership effect. We focused on the relationship-specific interpretation bias (RIB; Finn, Mitte, & Neyer, 2013), which is the tendency to interpret ambiguous partner and relationship scenarios in a negative way. It was expected that the RIB decreases within relationships in young adulthood and that this decrease in turn predicts long-term declines in neuroticism. A sample of 245 young adult romantic couples was assessed four times across 9 months. Actor and partner effects of changes in the RIB on changes in neuroticism were analyzed using a dyadic dual change model. Recent time-to-time decreases in the RIB predicted one's own (actor effect) decline in neuroticism across 9 months. Similarly, there was a trend for a partner effect. We conclude that changes in biased relationship-specific interpretations reflect one unique process that contributes to the understanding of romantic relationship effects on personality development.

Seeing through the eyes of anxious individuals: an investigation of anxiety-related interpretations of emotional expressions.

The interpretation of emotional states is necessary for successful social communication. Often individuals interpret emotional expressions intuitively and without full cognitive awareness. The aim of the present study was to test whether anxiety would influence affect interpretation in the manner suggested by interpretation bias-the tendency to interpret ambiguous cues in a threatening way. Interpretation of social cues was assessed with the similarity rating task (simtask) in two studies (n1 = 116, n2 = 76). The similarity ratings were analysed with a multidimensional scaling (MDS) approach, and the effects of anxiety on the interpretation of emotional expressions were analysed with multilevel modelling. The results of both studies showed evidence for an anxiety-related interpretation bias. High-anxious individuals tended to interpret milder threats as more negative than low-anxious individuals did. The consequences for anxiety research are discussed.

Fact or artefact: an item response theory analysis of median split based repressor classification.

OBJECTIVE: Many studies have investigated the phenomenon of repression. Repressors are defined as individuals who deny or avoid the experience of negative affect. A common method for the identification of repressors is a median split approach using questionnaires that measure anxiety and social desirability. The present study aimed to evaluate this most frequently used procedure using a psychometric model. DESIGN: We applied item response theory using model assumptions comparable with those of the median split approach to detect repressors and examine the appropriateness of the median split procedure. METHODS: A mixed sample of 655 students and members of the general public completed the two scales usually used to identify repressors, namely the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. RESULTS: Employing item response theory mixture-model analyses, we were unable to replicate the median split solution on a latent level. CONCLUSIONS: Our results did not support the identification of repressors via dichotomization of the two scales. The median split approach does not appear to detect repressors satisfactorily. The implications of the results for the conceptualization and assessment of repressors are discussed.

The costs of repression: a meta-analysis on the relation between repressive coping and somatic diseases.

OBJECTIVE: When Freud introduced the term repression, he stated its pathogenic potential. Since then, this notion was adapted and continued to date. Surprisingly, there is no attempt to synthesize research on the effect of repressive coping on somatic diseases quantitatively. The current study closes this gap and examines the association between repressive coping as operationalized by Weinberger, Schwartz, and Davidson (1979) and the incidence of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, asthma, and diabetes by applying meta-analytic techniques. METHOD: An extensive literature search identified 22 studies that met all inclusion criteria and assessed a total of 6,775 participants. The study set was analyzed both as a whole sample (k = 22 studies) and disease-specific (k = 2-10 studies; no study found for diabetes). RESULTS: The results of the meta-analysis indicate a higher risk for repressive copers to suffer from one of the investigated diseases, especially cancer (logOdds after diagnosis: 0.41; 95% confidence interval, 0.09-0.73, p = .012) and hypertension (logOdds: 0.59; 95% confidence interval, 0.32-0.86, p < .0001). After application of a continuity correction due to a missing control group the results for coronary heart disease imply an increased risk for nonrepressors to be affected. Results for cardiovascular diseases in general, heart attack, and asthma did not reach significance. CONCLUSIONS: The current meta-analysis revealed significant associations between repressive coping, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases, especially hypertension. These results add to the notion of repressive coping as a consequence of cancer as well as to its important role for the issue of hypertension.

Memory bias for threatening information in anxiety and anxiety disorders: a meta-analytic review.

Although some theories suggest that anxious individuals selectively remember threatening stimuli, findings remain contradictory despite a considerable amount of research. A quantitative integration of 165 studies with 9,046 participants (clinical and nonclinical samples) examined whether a memory bias exists and which moderator variables influence its magnitude. Implicit memory bias was investigated in lexical decision/stimulus identification and word-stem completion paradigms; explicit memory bias was investigated in recognition and recall paradigms. Overall, effect sizes showed no significant impact of anxiety on implicit memory and recognition. Analyses indicated a memory bias for recall, whose magnitude depended on experimental study procedures like the encoding procedure or retention interval. Anxiety influenced recollection of previous experiences; anxious individuals favored threat-related information. Across all paradigms, clinical status was not significantly linked to effect sizes, indicating no qualitative difference in information processing between anxiety patients and high-anxious persons. The large discrepancy between study effects in recall and recognition indicates that future research is needed to identify moderator variables for avoidant and preferred remembering.

Trait-disgust vs. fear of contamination and the judgmental bias of contamination concerns.

Mechanisms by which trait-disgust, i.e. relatively stable individual differences in disgust proneness, affects anxious psychopathology are not well understood. A possible pathway might be the impact of trait-disgust on cognitive processes, which are involved in the anxiety disorders. The present study extends findings on interpretational and attentional bias by investigating the judgmental bias. Based on theories on disgust, it was assumed that trait-disgust is related to predictions of catching a disease. The present study examined the likelihood of becoming ill, the probability of avoidance behaviour, and the urge to wash in relation to disgust-sensitivity, disgust propensity, fear of contamination, and general anxiety using real-life scenarios. Results suggest that disgust-sensitivity makes a unique contribution to a judgmental bias additionally to fear of contamination and even when controlling general anxiety. Future research concerning the causal direction of this bias is warranted.

Meta-analysis of cognitive-behavioral treatments for generalized anxiety disorder: a comparison with pharmacotherapy.

The efficacy of (cognitive) behavioral therapy ([C]BT) for generalized anxiety disorder was investigated and compared with the efficacy of pharmacological therapy using meta-analytic techniques. A total of 65 (C)BT studies and pharmacological studies were included. (C)BT was more effective than control conditions. The results of the comparison between (C)BT and pharmacotherapy varied according to the meta-analytic methods used. Conclusions about differences in efficacy between therapy approaches are limited when all available studies are included owing to a number of factors that influence effect sizes. When only those studies that directly compared both therapies were included in the analysis, there were no significant differences in efficacy. Attrition rates were lower for (C)BT, indicating that it is better tolerated by patients.

A meta-analysis of the efficacy of psycho- and pharmacotherapy in panic disorder with and without agoraphobia.

The efficacy of (cognitive) behavioural ((C)BT) and pharmacological therapy was investigated using meta-analytic techniques. After a comprehensive review of the literature, the results of 124 studies were included. (C)BT was more effective than a no-treatment control and a placebo control. No difference of efficacy was found when using cognitive elements compared to not using them for anxiety; for associated depressive symptoms, additional cognitive elements seems superior. Pharmacotherapy was more effective than a placebo control; there was no superiority of any drug class. Sample size was related to effect size in pharmacotherapy and publication bias was found. (C)BT was at least as effective as pharmacotherapy and depending on type of analysis even significantly more effective. There were no significant differences between (C)BT alone and a combination approach but characteristics of studies have to be considered.

A meta-analytic review of the efficacy of drug treatment in generalized anxiety disorder.

A meta-analytic review of the efficacy of pharmacological treatment in generalized anxiety disorder was conducted. The main substance classes were compared: benzodiazepines and azapirones. The impact of methodological variables was investigated such as sample size and use of a placebo run-in. After a comprehensive literature search to May 2002 (via databases, hand search, secondary sources, internet, contact of researchers, and pharmaceutical companies), the results of 48 studies were integrated. Weighted Hedges g was computed and a random-effects analysis was done. Effect sizes were computed for anxiety, depression, and clinical significance. Sensitivity analyses were conducted. Pharmacotherapy was superior to placebo in all symptom categories. Azapirones and benzodiazepines were equally effective. Compliance (as measured by dropout rate) was higher for benzodiazepines. Only sample size was significantly associated with effect size. Pharmacotherapy, especially benzodiazepines and azapirones, is effective in the short-term treatment of patients with generalized anxiety disorder. There was no superiority of 1 drug class in reducing symptomatology.