Social anxiety does not impair attention inhibition: An emotion anti-saccade task.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Attention avoidance and attention vigilance are two typical attentional biases in individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD). Attention inhibition is a type of attention control, which may be the key factor affecting attention vigilance and attention avoidance. However, previous studies have not examined the difference between the attention inhibition in individuals with SAD and healthy controls. METHODS: To further explore this question, the current study used the single anti-saccade task with emotional facial stimuli to assess attention inhibition in 27 individuals with SAD and 22 healthy controls. RESULTS: Regardless of the emotional valence of the facial stimuli, error rates in the social anxiety group were lower than that of the healthy control group, but there was no significant group difference in the saccade latency. LIMITATIONS: This research only examined the attentional inhibition process highly related to attention avoidance and attention vigilance. Future research may benefit from adopting different research paradigms for more robust and generalizable conclusions. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that individuals with SAD have better attention inhibition abilities than healthy control. Such enhanced attention inhibition may underlie their avoidance of threatening social cues.

Predictors of treatment outcomes and adherence in internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy for social anxiety in China.

BACKGROUND: Although internet-based cognitive behaviour therapy (ICBT) is an effective treatment for social anxiety disorder (SAD), a substantial proportion of patients do not achieve clinically significant improvement. More research is needed to identify which factors predict treatment adherence and outcomes. AIMS: The aims of this study were to (1) identify demographic and clinical factors associated with treatment adherence and outcomes in ICBT for social anxiety in China, and (2) explore whether low-intensity therapist support results in improved treatment adherence or outcomes. METHOD: Participants were assigned to either therapist-guided (N = 183) or self-guided ICBT (N = 72). Level of social anxiety was measured at both pre- and post-treatment. Treatment adherence and outcomes were analysed using a two-step linear and logistic regression approach. Clinical and demographic characteristics were examined. RESULTS: No significant group differences were found for treatment adherence or outcomes between the therapist-guided and self-guided conditions. Participants diagnosed with SAD were significantly less likely to drop out (OR 0.531, p = .03) compared with subclinical participants with social anxiety symptoms. Older participants (B = 0.17, SE = 0.04, p = .008) and participants with a diagnosis of SAD (B = 0.16, SE = 0.44, p = .01) tended to complete more modules. Participants who completed more modules (B = 0.24, SE = 0.03, p = .01) and participants who identified as female (B = -0.20, SE = 0.18, p = .04) reported greater reductions in SAD symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding of factors related to adherence and outcome is necessary to prevent drop-out and optimize outcome.

The Effect of Patient Education on Chinese Adolescent and Parental Beliefs About Counselors' Breaches of Confidentiality.

The primary aim of the present study is to explore whether brief education can change Chinese adolescents' and parents' beliefs about when counselors would breach confidentiality. The two secondary aims are to examine whether the brief education (1) increases adolescents' willingness to share private information with their counselor and (2) decreases parents' expectations of the amount of information their child's counselor would divulge to them. Results showed that adolescents and parents who read a brief passage about the limitations of confidentiality were significantly less likely to believe counselors would breach confidentiality in situations where counselors reported they would not likely breach confidentiality. Regarding our secondary research aims, results indicate that education increases adolescents' willingness to share more sensitive information, such as about suicidality and drug use, but it does not change parents' expectations to have most of the information divulged to them by their child's counselor.

Mindfulness training for loneliness among Chinese college students: A pilot randomized controlled trial.

Loneliness has been found to predict a wide range of physical and mental health problems. It is suggested that China's One-Child Policy places young Chinese people at a particularly high risk for loneliness. Although loneliness is most prevalent in late adolescence and early adulthood, interventions have primarily targeted children or older adults with limited success. The current study examines a pilot randomized controlled trial of a mindfulness training program among Chinese college students. Participants with elevated loneliness (N = 50, ages 17-25) were randomized into either an 8-week mindfulness training or a control group. Self-reported measures of loneliness and mindfulness were administered at baseline and posttest. The training group also completed a program evaluation form and a 3-month follow-up assessment. Results provided preliminary evidence indicating that the intervention was feasible and effective at reducing loneliness among Chinese college students. Limitations and future directions were discussed.

Non-suicidal self-injury with and without borderline personality disorder: differences in self-injury and diagnostic comorbidity.

Although non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) occurs in people with and without borderline personality disorder (BPD), few studies have compared the clinical characteristics of these two groups. The present study sampled adults with a history of NSSI and compared those with and without BPD on (a) NSSI features, (b) co-occurring psychiatric disorders, and (c) severity of depression, suicidal ideation and emotion dysregulation. Participants (NSSI+BPD, n=46; NSSI Only, n=54) completed semi-structured interviews and self-report measures. Whereas the groups did not differ in age of NSSI onset, the NSSI+BPD group engaged in more frequent, recent and severe NSSI, and reported higher rates of skin carving, head banging, self-punching and self-scratching than the NSSI Only group. Participants with BPD also showed greater diagnostic comorbidity, particularly for anxiety disorders, but did not differ from participants without BPD in rates of mood, substance or psychotic disorders. The NSSI+BPD group reported more severe depressive symptomatology, suicidal ideation and emotion dysregulation than the NSSI Only group. Supplementary analyses on the subset of participants with recent (past year) NSSI revealed similarly medium to large differences between those with and without BPD. Implications for assessment and treatment are discussed.

Self-acceptance mediates the relationship between mindfulness and perceived stress.

Previous research has shown that the effects of mindfulness-based interventions and increased trait mindfulness are associated with reduced stress. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms by which mindfulness-based interventions exert their beneficial effect on decreased stress. The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of self-acceptance in the relationship between trait mindfulness and perceived stress among a sample of 132 students from Beijing, China. Results revealed that self-acceptance was found to partially mediate the relationship between mindfulness and stress. Limitations, clinical implications, and directions for future research are identified.

Identity disturbance and problems with emotion regulation are related constructs across diagnoses.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the relation between identity disturbance and emotion dysregulation in a cross-diagnostic sample. We assessed whether these constructs are related and relevant beyond borderline personality disorder (BPD). METHOD: We recruited 127 participants who completed measures assessing identity disturbance, emotion dysregulation, anxiety, and depression. The sample included primarily depressed adults meeting criteria for multiple diagnoses as well as psychiatrically healthy participants. RESULTS: Identity disturbance was significantly higher among psychiatric participants with and without BPD compared to healthy controls. Emotion dysregulation was a significant predictor of identity disturbance, even when controlling for BPD diagnosis, depression, and anxiety. In particular, clarity in emotional situations and problems using emotion regulation strategies were most closely related to identity disturbance. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that future research should examine identity disturbance and its relation with emotion regulation transdiagnostically.

Thriving in the shadow of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake: two studies on resilience in adolescents.

The objective of the current study was to explore the relationship between resilience and psychological adjustment in Chinese adolescents who experienced the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Study 1 compared the scores and factor structures on the Resilience Scale for Chinese Adolescents for 1436 adolescents, who were divided into a high-adversity group and a low-adversity group. The results showed that resilience following exposure to an earthquake included cognitive and emotive components. In Study 2, 311 Chinese adolescents who resided in the most severely affected areas were surveyed at 15 months (T1) and 20 months (T2) following the earthquake. The results revealed that resilience mediated the relationship between positive future expectations at T1 and adjustment at T2.