ABSTRACT
Emerging research in animal models and healthy women indicates that the sex hormone estradiol may moderate fear of extinction. There is limited research on estradiol in exposure-based therapy among clinically anxious women. The current pilot study aimed to address this gap by comparing exposure outcomes in women with panic disorder (PD) who had high (HE) vs. low estradiol (LE). Twenty-eight women (14 per group) with PD completed two interoceptive exposure sessions on consecutive days as well as self-report measures of panic severity. Electrodermal activity was assessed continuously throughout the exposure sessions. Results showed that although anxiety sensitivity and subjective distress improved from pre- to postexposure, suggesting that the intervention was effective in reducing panic-related anxiety, there were no differences in outcomes between the HE and LE groups. The findings suggest that estradiol may not moderate outcomes in exposure therapy in clinically anxious samples, although replication in larger samples will be needed.
ABSTRACT
The objective of the present study was to examine the reliability and validity of a new semi-structured interview for pediatric psychiatric disorders, which is needed as existing interviews do not cover the full range of anxiety, mood, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)-related disorders. Three hundred eleven child patients (aged 10-17) were administered the Diagnostic Interview for Anxiety, Mood, and OCD and Related Neuropsychiatric Disorders-Child and Adolescent Version (DIAMOND-KID). Of these, 65 provided interrater reliability data and 59 provided test-retest reliability data. Participants also completed self-report measures that assessed symptoms of anxiety, mood, and OCD and related disorders. Although parents/guardians could participate in the interview at the clinician's discretion, most of the initial interviews and all of the reliability interviews were based on the child's self-report. Test-retest reliability ranged from very good to excellent. Interrater reliability was more variable, with estimates for generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder in the questionable range; the other interrater reliability estimates ranged from good to very good. Convergent validity was established by significant between-group comparisons on applicable self-report measures for all diagnoses. The results of the present study indicate that the DIAMOND-KID is a promising semi-structured diagnostic interview for 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in pediatric populations.