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Competitive Memory Training (COMET) is a cognitive intervention that aims to change the maladaptive cognitive-emotional networks underlying obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). COMET has not been previously tried as a self-help intervention. The present study tested the preliminary feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of COMET for OCD implemented as a self-help intervention. Sixty-five participants with OCD recruited through online OCD self-help fora completed an online baseline assessment including measures of OCD symptoms, self-esteem, and depression. Participants were randomly assigned to either COMET or a wait-list control group. All participants were approached 4 weeks later to complete an online post-assessment. There was no evidence for a greater decline of OCD symptoms or depression under COMET. When analyses were limited to only those participants who reported reading the entire manual at least once, self-esteem was higher at post-assessment in the COMET group. Although 78.1% of patients in the COMET group rated it as appropriate for self-administration, only 56.5% performed COMET exercises regularly and 26.4% read the entire manual at least once. The feasibility and effectiveness of COMET as a self-help internet intervention for OCD was not supported in this study. Further work is needed to better understand if modifications to our implementation of COMET may yield improved outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:Phenomenological descriptions of psychosis traditionally emphasize the subjective burden that psychosis inflicts on patients. However, a growing body of work suggests that in a subgroup of patients, psychotic symptoms are appraised as positive. The present study set out to explore the frequency of positive, negative and ambivalent attitudes towards positive symptoms. We were also interested in characterizing the phenomenological structure of positive symptoms. Method:Participants were recruited over the Internet via specialized psychosis forums. Among other questionnaires, participants completed the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE) scale. In addition, we administered a novel scale called Subjective Perception of Positive Symptoms (SUPPOSY) that assesses core positive symptoms along various dimensions (e.g. emotional appraisal, impact on daily life). Results:For all symptom clusters, the majority of participants expressed ambivalence. Psychotic symptoms were associated with both self-reported positive and negative emotions. Experiencing regret should positive symptoms disappear was associated with prior medication noncompliance. Discussion:The present study indicates that symptoms are neither regarded as an “emotional hell” nor as a “preferred reality”. Thus, for a symptom to become a target of treatment, various aspects of the symptom have to be carefully weighed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 2-stage procedure for estimation and testing of observed measure correlations in the presence of missing data is discussed. The approach uses maximum likelihood for estimation and the false discovery rate concept for correlation testing. The method can be used in initial exploration-oriented empirical studies with missing data, where it is of interest to estimate manifest variable interrelationship indexes and test hypotheses about their population values. The procedure is applicable also with violations of the underlying missing at random assumption, via inclusion of auxiliary variables. The outlined approach is illustrated with data from an aging research study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]