The efficacy of transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural therapy on reducing negative affect, anxiety sensitivity and improving perceived control in children with emotional disorders - a randomized controlled trial.

In response to the high rate of comorbidity among different types of emotional disorders in children, Transdiagnostic Unified Protocol of Emotional disorder in children (UP-C) was developed to address common underlying mechanisms in the development and maintenance of emotional disorders using empirically supported cognitive and behavioural strategies. Although, studies supported the effectiveness of this protocol in the treatment of wide range of emotional disorders, further studies are needed to examine its effect on transdiagnostic factors. The present study aimed to investigate the efficacy of the UP-C on negative affect, anxiety sensitivity and perceived control in children with emotional disorders. During this randomized controlled trial, 34 children aged 7 to 13 with emotional disorders were randomly assigned to treatment (n=18) and control (n=16) groups. The treatment group and their parents received 15 sessions of UP-C. Negative Affect Schedule for Children (PANASNA- C), Children's Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI), Anxiety Control Questionnaire-Children (ACQ-C) were carried out in all phases (pre-treatment, post-treatment, 3 and 8 months follow- up). The results showed that following UP-C, negative affect (hedges'g=2.01) and anxiety sensitivity (hedges'g=1.05) were significantly reduced, and perceived control (hedges'g= -2.36) was significantly improved. The results remained relatively constant during the follow-ups. Findings provide evidence that the UP-C has significant effect on negative affect, anxiety sensitivity and perceived control as roots of emotional disorders.

Emotion Regulation Difficulties and Academic Procrastination.

OBJECTIVE AND BACKGROUND: Academic procrastination as deliberate postponement of academic tasks, despite being aware of its consequences, is a common phenomenon among students. Current conceptualizations of procrastination support the rule of emotion regulation difficulties in the psychopathology of this phenomenon. In this regard, the current study is aimed to investigate the role of difficulty in emotion regulation in academic procrastination. METHOD: The present study is a cross-sectional study. Participants were 250 students who completed Tuckman Procrastination Scale (TPS), and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). RESULT: Correlation analyses showed that the TPS has a significant positive association on overall DERS and all but one of the six dimensions (DERS-Awareness) of emotion regulation difficulties (p < 0.01). This association remained significant after controlling for anxiety and depression. Further, the multivariate regression showed that the only DERS dimension that could predict TPS was DERS-Strategies. Finally, individuals with a high level of procrastination reported greater DERS scores than those with a lower level. DISCUSSION: Results indicate that difficulty in emotion regulation, especially the ones' believe about his/her ability in regulating unpleasant emotions effectively, is important in procrastination. However, despite the limited association between DERS and TPS, the findings raise some potentially useful implications for procrastination studies and interventions.

Emotion regulation as the mediator of reductions in anxiety and depression in the Unified Protocol (UP) for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders: double-blind randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: An important subject in evaluation of the efficacy of treatments is to examine how the intervention is effective and to identify the consequences of that treatment. In this regard, the current study investigates the role of emotion regulation as the mediator of the treatment outcomes of therapy using the Unified Protocol (UP) for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders. METHOD: This article describes a double-blind randomized clinical trial. A sample of 26 individuals was selected based on cut-off scores for the Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Anxiety Inventory and their final diagnoses were confirmed with the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV (ADIS-IV). The sample was randomly divided into two groups: control and treatment (13 patients each). The treatment group received 20 one-hour UP sessions. The Beck Depression Inventory, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale were administered at two stages, pre-treatment and post-treatment. RESULTS: The UP reduced anxiety and depression in patients through improvement in emotion regulation. Furthermore, the results showed that the difficulty engaging in goal-directed behavior and non-acceptance of emotional response subscales were capable of predicting 62% of variance in anxiety scores. In turn, two subscales, difficulty engaging in goal-directed behavior and lack of emotional clarity, predicted 72% of variance in depression scores. CONCLUSION: Emotion regulation can be considered as a potential mediating factor and as predictive of outcomes of transdiagnostic treatment based on the UP. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials, IRCT2017072335245N1.

Emotion regulation as the mediator of reductions in anxiety and depression in the Unified Protocol (UP) for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders: double-blind randomized clinical trial / Regulação emocional como mediadora de reduções em ansiedade e depressão no Protocolo Unificado para o tratamento transdiagnóstico de transtornos psicológicos: ensaio clínico randomizado duplo-cego

Abstract Objective: An important subject in evaluation of the efficacy of treatments is to examine how the intervention is effective and to identify the consequences of that treatment. In this regard, the current study investigates the role of emotion regulation as the mediator of the treatment outcomes of therapy using the Unified Protocol (UP) for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders. Method: This article describes a double-blind randomized clinical trial. A sample of 26 individuals was selected based on cut-off scores for the Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Anxiety Inventory and their final diagnoses were confirmed with the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV (ADIS-IV). The sample was randomly divided into two groups: control and treatment (13 patients each). The treatment group received 20 one-hour UP sessions. The Beck Depression Inventory, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale were administered at two stages, pre-treatment and post-treatment. Results: The UP reduced anxiety and depression in patients through improvement in emotion regulation. Furthermore, the results showed that the difficulty engaging in goal-directed behavior and non-acceptance of emotional response subscales were capable of predicting 62% of variance in anxiety scores. In turn, two subscales, difficulty engaging in goal-directed behavior and lack of emotional clarity, predicted 72% of variance in depression scores. Conclusion: Emotion regulation can be considered as a potential mediating factor and as predictive of outcomes of transdiagnostic treatment based on the UP. Clinical trial registration: Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials, IRCT2017072335245N1.

Resumo Objetivo: É importante, na avaliação da eficácia de tratamentos, examinar como a intervenção tem efeito e identificar suas consequências. O presente estudo investiga o papel da regulação emocional enquanto mediadora de desfechos do tratamento que emprega o Protocolo Unificado (PU) para o tratamento transdiagnóstico de transtornos psicológicos. Método: Este artigo descreve um ensaio clínico randomizado duplo-cego. Uma amostra de 26 indivíduos foi selecionada com base em escores pré-estabelecidos para o Inventário de Depressão de Beck e o Inventário de Ansiedade de Beck, e seus diagnósticos finais foram confirmados utilizando o instrumento Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV (ADIS-IV). A amostra foi dividida aleatoriamente em dois grupos: controle e tratamento (13 pacientes em cada). O grupo tratamento recebeu 20 sessões de PU de 1 hora cada. O Inventário de Depressão de Beck, Inventário de Ansiedade de Beck Beck e Escala de Dificuldades de Regulação Emocional foram administrados em duas etapas, antes e depois do tratamento. Resultados: O PU reduziu a ansiedade e a depressão em pacientes, ao melhorar a regulação emocional. Além disso, os resultados mostraram que as subescalas dificuldade de se engajar em comportamentos orientados por objetivos e não aceitação de resposta emocional responderam por 62% da variância nos escores de ansiedade. Nos escores de depressão, duas subescalas, dificuldade de se engajar em comportamentos orientados por objetivos e falta de claridade emocional, explicaram 72% da variância. Conclusão: A regulação emocional pode ser considerada o principal fator mediador e também preditora de desfechos do tratamento transdiagnóstico baseado no PU. Registro do ensaio clínico: Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials, IRCT2017072335245N1.

Reductions in transdiagnostic factors as the potential mechanisms of change in treatment outcomes in the Unified Protocol: a randomized clinical trial.

Transdiagnostic approaches emphasize on the share underlying features of emotional disorders. In their view, these transdiagnostic factors play an important role in the etiology, maintenance, and treatment of emotional disorders. This study aimed to investigate the transdiagnostic factors as the potential mechanisms of change in the Unified Protocol (UP) for the transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders outcomes. The present study is a randomized clinical trial. Twenty-six individuals were selected based on the Beck anxiety inventory and Beck depression inventory and randomly assigned into two groups of control and treatment (n=13). The treatment group received 20 one-hour individual UP sessions. Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Difficulty in emotion regulation scale, Intolerance of Uncertainty scale and Acceptance and Action questionnaire were carried out in all three phases. UP enhances the difficulty in emotion regulation (large effect size, SEsg=1.81), intolerance of uncertainty (SEsg=1.91), and experiential avoidance (SEsg=1.78). In addition, the results of linear regression show the association between changes in anxiety and depression with changes in transdiagnostic factors. The difficulty in emotion regulation, intolerance of uncertainty and experiential avoidance can be considered as the potential mechanism of change in improving UP outcomes.