Predictors of adherence to a publicly available self-guided digital mental health intervention.

Low adherence to self-guided digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) have raised concerns about their real-world effectiveness. Naturalistic data from self-guided DMHIs are often not available, hindering our ability to assess adherence among real-world users. This study aimed to analyze 3 years of user data from the public launch of an empirically supported 12-session self-guided DMHI, to assess overall program adherence rates and explore predictors of adherence. Data from 984 registered users were analyzed. Results showed that only 14.8% of users completed all 12 modules and 68.6% completed less than half of the modules. Users who were younger, had milder depression, had never seen a mental health provider, and who rejected signing-up for weekly program emails completed significantly more modules. Results add to concerns about the generalizability of controlled research on DMHIs due to lower adherence outside of research trials. This study highlights the potential of user data in identifying key factors that may be related to adherence. By examining adherence patterns among different sub-sets of users, we can pinpoint and focus on individuals who may adhere and benefit more from self-guided programs. Findings could also have implications for guiding intervention personalization for individuals who struggle to complete DMHIs.

Self-compassion and body image inflexibility as mediators of outcomes in a residential eating disorder sample.

Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions that are accompanied by negative health outcomes, high mortality rates, impaired functioning, and comorbid mental health conditions. Despite many empirically supported interventions for eating disorders, it remains one of the most challenging mental disorders to treat, as individuals often struggle to maintain treatment gains. One method of improving our understanding of effective eating disorder treatment is to identify important processes of change to target during therapy. The aim of the current study was to test two candidate mediators of disordered eating symptom change during residential treatment: self-compassion and body image inflexibility. In the present study, women and adolescent girls (N = 132) completed a battery of measures, including eating disorder severity, self-compassion, and body image inflexibility, at admission to and discharge from a residential eating disorder facility. Our results indicated that changes in body image inflexibility and self-compassion, specifically self-judgment, were both mediators between ED symptom severity from pre- to post-treatment. These results have potential treatment implications, pointing to the possible importance of targeting body image inflexibility, self-judgment, and self-compassion while treating eating disorders.

Leveraging observational data to identify in-session patient and therapist predictors of cognitive processing therapy response and completion.

Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) is an evidence-based treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but little is known about in-session process variables that predict symptom reduction and treatment completion during CPT. Examining potentially malleable factors that may promote or impede recovery can inform care delivery and enhance outcomes. The current study used observational ratings of CPT session recordings to examine in-session patient and therapist factors in cognitive, affective, and interpersonal domains to identify their relative contributions to predicting symptom outcomes and treatment completion. Participants were 70 adult survivors of interpersonal violence who received CPT. Predictors of better posttreatment PTSD outcomes included less patient fear, ß = .32, and less patient avoidance of engaging with the therapist, ß = .35. When using the last available PTSD score, less fear, ß = .23, and avoidance, ß = .28, continued to predict better outcomes, and more patient cognitive flexibility emerged as a stronger predictor of outcome, ß = -.33. Predictors of a higher likelihood of treatment completion included more therapist use of Socratic dialogue, OR = 6.75, and less therapist encouragement of patient affect, OR = 0.11. Patient sadness and anger and therapist expression of empathy did not predict symptom outcomes or treatment completion versus dropout. The results highlight the importance of patients' cognitions, emotions, and engagement with their therapist in CPT as well as the role of therapist behaviors in patient completion of treatment.

Acceptance and commitment therapy versus progressive relaxation training for misophonia: Randomized controlled trial protocol, interventions, and audiological assessments.

BACKGROUND: Misophonia is a disorder characterized by an intense emotional reaction to specific sounds, often leading to significant distress and impairment in daily functioning. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a promising psychotherapy for treating misophonia, but has only been previously tested in case studies. This paper presents a protocol for the first randomized controlled trial (RCT) assessing the efficacy and feasibility of ACT supplemented by audiological interventions for misophonia versus progressive relaxation training (PRT). METHODS: The outlined protocol is a RCT with 60 adults with misophonia. After undergoing a comprehensive psychological and audiological evaluation, participants were randomly assigned to ACT (n = 30) or PRT (n = 30). All participants completed clinician-administered and self-report assessments at baseline, post-intervention, 3-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up. The primary outcome was misophonia severity and impairment measured via clinical interview. Secondary outcomes included disgust, anger, sensory sensitivities, well-being, distress, and psychological flexibility. DISCUSSION: This paper outlines the rationale of using ACT supplemented by audiological methods for misophonia with the novel therapeutic target of enhancing psychological flexibility. The results of this randomized controlled trial will help determine if ACT is an efficacious and acceptable treatment for misophonia. This trial will also help clarify active psychological mechanisms of misophonia, and assess whether this combination of psychological and audiological services can effectively help individuals with misophonia.

Serial Mediation Analysis of Psychological Inflexibility and Daytime Insomnia Rumination in the Relationship Between Dysfunctional Beliefs About Sleep and Insomnia in College Students.

Emerging research suggests that psychological inflexibility may be a factor contributing to the development and maintenance of insomnia. However, less is known about the potential cognitive pathways that may explain this relationship. In this study, we investigated the serial mediating effects of psychological inflexibility and daytime insomnia-related rumination on the association between dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes about sleep (DBAS) and insomnia symptoms. The sample included 490 college students who underwent assessments at two time points over a 1-month period. The results of our mediational tests yielded significant indirect effects, supporting the prediction that psychological inflexibility and daytime insomnia rumination serially mediate the relationship between DBAS and insomnia. The study provides insights into potential mechanisms for insomnia, emphasizing the role of psychological inflexibility in perpetuating maladaptive cognitive processes associated with insomnia. Future researchers should explore other maladaptive responses to insomnia-related concerns and distress, such as worry and safety behaviors, and replicate findings in clinically elevated insomnia samples.

Thought-shape fusion in residential eating disorder treatment: Cognitive defusion as a mediator between thought-action fusion and treatment outcome.

An understudied cognitive bias within eating disorder (ED) psychopathology is Thought-Shape Fusion (TSF), which involves irrational beliefs about the likelihood and moral implications of feared outcomes related to shape, weight, and food. This phenomenon has received less attention within the context of ED treatment, with little known about potential processes of change to address TSF and ultimately promote ED recovery. We propose cognitive defusion as a process of change, a metacognitive process that emphasizes observing thoughts objectively rather than appraising thoughts as absolute truth. We explored whether cognitive defusion, that is, reductions in body image-related cognitive fusion, mediated the relationship between trait-level TSF and treatment outcomes in a transdiagnostic ED sample of adult and adolescent females (N = 130) presenting to residential care. We found that reductions in body image-related cognitive fusion mediates the association between trait-level TSF at baseline and ED severity at discharge. However, when the sample was separated into adolescent and adult subgroups, these results only remained significant for adolescents. These findings underscore the relevance of targeting cognitive defusion as a potential mechanism to address the impact of trait levels of TSF cognitions on ED psychopathology.

Evaluating the relative contribution of patient effort and therapist skill in integrating homework into treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder.

OBJECTIVE: Homework has historically been an integral component of cognitive behavioral interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Previous studies differ in the measurement of therapy homework, resulting in inconsistent conclusions about its contributions to symptom reduction. Given the methodological burden associated with examining therapist skill within sessions, there has been no research evaluating the impact of both therapist and patient efforts on homework within and outside of the therapy session across protocols. METHOD: We first examined the relative contribution of four homework-related variables to treatment outcomes of survivors of interpersonal violence (12 sessions; 58 survivors) diagnosed with PTSD and treated with cognitive processing therapy (CPT) in two randomized, controlled clinical trials. We then assessed the moderating effect of therapist competency in the homework element of CPT on these associations by examining therapist skill in 544 therapy sessions scored by independent raters. RESULTS: Perceived helpfulness of assignments emerged as the only significant predictor of PTSD symptom reduction (ß = 0.48). Therapist homework competency moderated the relationship between time spent on homework and treatment outcome, such that more time spent on homework was associated with significantly poorer treatment response at low levels of therapist homework competency. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that patients' understanding of the direct contribution of homework to recovery is critical for increasing the effectiveness of the homework component of therapy. Therapist skill in incorporating homework effectively into the protocol is variable. It is essential that therapists ensure that patients' efforts (e.g., time dedicated to the task) are yielding clear results and perceived as fruitful. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The Relative Impact of Different Types of Military Sexual Trauma on Long-Term PTSD, Depression, and Suicidality.

Sexual assault and harassment in the U.S. military are very common. Military sexual trauma (MST) is defined as sexual assault or harassment experienced during military service; yet, the relative impact of sexual assault, harassment, and their combination is not well understood. Given the extent and potential severity of the long-term outcomes of MST, it is critical to evaluate the relative impacts of these types of MST on long-term mental health outcomes. Veterans (n = 2499; 54% female) completed self-report measures of experiences of sexual assault and harassment perpetrated by coworkers during military service, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and suicidality. Controlling for combat exposure, all types of MST experiences (Harassment Only, Assault Only, or Both) compared to No MST predicted greater severity of PTSD, depression, and suicidality after military service. Compared to Veterans with No MST, those who experienced Both Assault and Harassment reported significantly more severe PTSD, depression, and suicidality followed by Harassment Only, and then Assault Only. Data suggest that different types of MST experiences have an impact on long-term mental health outcomes, and the combination of Both sexual Assault and Harassment is particularly deleterious.