Search

Copyright of European Journal of Psychotraumatology is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of European Journal of Psychotraumatology is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Both auditory and visual emotional memories can be made less emotional by loading working memory (WM) during memory recall. Taxing WM during recall can be modality specific (giving an auditory [visuospatial] load during recall of an auditory [visual] memory) or cross modal (an auditory load during visual recall or vice versa). We tested whether modality specific loading taxes WM to a larger extent than cross modal loading. Ninety-six participants undertook a visual and auditory baseline Random Interval Repetition task (i.e. responding as fast as possible to a visual or auditory stimulus by pressing a button). Then, participants recalled a distressing visual and auditory memory, while performing the same visual and auditory Random Interval Repetition task. Increased reaction times (compared to baseline) were indicative of WM loading. Using Bayesian statistics, we compared five models in terms of general and modality specific taxation. There was support for the model describing the effect on WM of dual tasking in general, irrespective of modality specificity, and for the model describing the effect of modality specific loading. Both models combined gained the most support. The results suggest a general effect of dual tasking on taxing WM and a superimposed effect of taxing in matched modality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Journal of Psychotraumatology is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: After reactivation, memories can become unstable and sensitive to modification before they are restored into long-term memory. Using behavioural manipulations, reactivated memories may be disrupted via the mechanism of interference (i.e. novel learning). In a laboratory study, Wichert et al. (2013a) showed that new learning after reactivation changed episodic memory, while new learning alone or reactivation alone did not. Objective: Given the potential clinical application of such a procedure in trauma-focused psychological treatments, such as CBT or EMDR, the aim of this study was to replicate Wichert et al. Method: On Day 1, participants (N = 96) viewed and recalled a series of emotional and non-emotional pictures. Then, participants were randomized to one of four groups. One week later, on Day 8, Group 1 reactivated the previously learned pictures and learned new pictures. To control for specific effects of reactivation or new learning, Group 2 only reactivated the previously learned pictures, and Group 3 only learned new pictures. Group 4 received no reactivation and no new learning. On Day 9, all groups indicated for each picture out of a series whether they had seen it on Day 1. Results: The data were analysed using Bayesian hypothesis testing, which allows for quantifying the evidence in favour of the alternative and the null hypothesis. In general, results showed that Group 1 recognized fewer pictures from Day 1 compared to Groups 2 and 4 on Day 9. However, the expected difference between new learning following reactivation (i.e. Group 1) and new learning alone (i.e. Group 3) was not substantially supported by the data for any of our dependent measures. Conclusions: We replicated some of the findings by Wichert et al., but did not find substantial support for the critical difference between new learning following reactivation and new learning alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is an effective psychological treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder. Recalling a memory while simultaneously making eye movements (EM) decreases a memory’s vividness and/or emotionality. It has been argued that non-specific factors, such as treatment expectancy and experimental demand, may contribute to the EMDR’s effectiveness. Objective: The present study was designed to test whether expectations about the working mechanism of EMDR would alter the memory attenuating effects of EM. Two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, we examined the effects of pre-existing (non-manipulated) knowledge of EMDR in participants with and without prior knowledge. In Experiment 2, we experimentally manipulated prior knowledge by providing participants without prior knowledge with correct or incorrect information about EMDR’s working mechanism. Method: Participants in both experiments recalled two aversive, autobiographical memories during brief sets of EM (Recall+EM) or keeping eyes stationary (Recall Only). Before and after the intervention, participants scored their memories on vividness and emotionality. A Bayesian approach was used to compare two competing hypotheses on the effects of (existing/given) prior knowledge: (1) Prior (correct) knowledge increases the effects of Recall+EM vs. Recall Only, vs. (2) prior knowledge does not affect the effects of Recall+EM. Results: Recall+EM caused greater reductions in memory vividness and emotionality than Recall Only in all groups, including the incorrect information group. In Experiment 1, both hypotheses were supported by the data: prior knowledge boosted the effects of EM, but only modestly. In Experiment 2, the second hypothesis was clearly supported over the first: providing knowledge of the underlying mechanism of EMDR did not alter the effects of EM. Conclusions: Recall+EM appears to be quite robust against the effects of prior expectations. As Recall+EM is the core component of EMDR, expectancy effects probably contribute little to the effectiveness of EMDR treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: According to the working memory (WM) theory of eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR), dual tasks that tax WM during memory recall reduce image vividness and emotionality of memory during future recalls when no dual task is carried out. There is some evidence that WM taxing also reduces vividness and emotionality of auditory or verbal imagery. Objective: The present study tests the effect of eye movements (EM) on positive verbal material (verbal imagery), which is used in different parts of the EMDR protocol. In the Dutch version of the standard EMDR protocol, a procedure ''Positive Closure'' (PC) is performed, which uses verbal imagery under dual task condition (EM). The value of EM in this procedure has not been established and according to the WM account would be counterproductive. Two earlier studies with undergraduates, with a set-up comparable to the present one, showed no additive value of the EM in the procedure, but no counterproductive effect either. Method: Thirty-six patients rated the belief in possessing two positive personality traits and emotionality of the traits. They then had an EMDR session targeting a negative memory and recalled and re-rated the belief and emotionality of the traits afterward. Subsequently, they recalled one trait while dual tasking (EM) and the other trait without dual tasking. Afterward, they re-rated the belief and emotionality. Results: EM did not affect the belief in possessing the trait or the emotionality. Secondary analysis shows an effective EMDRsession itself enhances the belief in the traits, compared to a less or non-effective EMDRsession. Conclusions: EM are not effective in enhancing the belief in possessing a personality trait or the emotionality. If replicated by other patient studies, this suggests elimination of the PC procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Eyemovement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is an effective treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder. The workingmemory (WM) theory explains its efficacy: recall of an aversivememory and making eye movements (EM) both produce cognitive load, and competition for the limited WM resources reduces the memory's vividness and emotionality. The present study tested several predictions fromWM theory. Objective: We hypothesized that 1) recall of an aversive autobiographical memory loads WM compared to no recall, and 2) recall with EM reduces the vividness, emotionality, and cognitive load of recalling the memory more than only recall or only cognitive effort (i.e., recall of an irrelevant memory with EM). Method: Undergraduates (N = 108) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: 1) recall relevant memory with EM, 2) recall relevant memory without EM, and 3) recall irrelevant memory with EM. We used a random interval repetition task to measure the cognitive load of recalling the memory. Participants responded to randomly administered beeps, with or without recalling the memory. The degree towhich participants slowdown during recall provides an index of cognitive load. We measured the cognitive load and self-reported vividness and emotionality before, halfway through (8 x 24 s), and after (16 x 24 s) the intervention. Results: Reaction times slowed down during memory recall compared to no recall. The recall relevant with EM condition showed a larger decrease in self-reported vividness and emotionality than the control conditions. The cognitive load of recalling the memory also decreased in this condition but not consistently more than in the control conditions. Conclusions: Recall of an aversive memory loads WM, but drops in vividness and emotionality do not immediately reduce the cognitive load of recalling the memory. More research is needed to find objective measures that could capture changes in the quality of the memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), patients make eye movements (EM) while recalling traumatic memories. Making EM taxes working memory (WM), which leaves less resources available for imagery of the memory. This reduces memory vividness and emotionality during future recalls. WM theory predicts that individuals with small working memory capacities (WMCs) benefit more from low levels of taxing (i.e., slow EM) whereas individuals with large WMC benefit more from high levels of taxing (i.e., fast EM). Objective: We experimentally examined and tested four prespecified hypotheses regarding the role of WMC and EM speed in reducing emotionality and vividness ratings: 1) EM--regardless of WMC and EM speed--are more effective compared to no dual task, 2) increasing EM speed only affects the decrease in memory ratings irrespective of WMC, 3) low-WMC individuals--compared to high-WMC individuals--benefit more from making either type of EM, 4) the EM intervention is most effective when--as predicted by WM theory--EM are adjusted to WMC. Method: Undergraduates with low (n=31) or high (n=35) WMC recalled three emotional memories and rated vividness and emotionality before and after each condition (recall only, recall + slow EM, and recall + fast EM). Results: Contrary to the theory, the data do not support the hypothesis that EM speed should be adjusted to WMC (hypothesis 4). However, the data show that a dual task in general is more effective in reducing memory ratings than no dual task (hypothesis 1), and that a more cognitively demanding dual task increases the intervention's effectiveness (hypothesis 2). Conclusions: Although adjusting EM speed to an individual's WMC seems a straightforward clinical implication, the data do not show any indication that such a titration is helpful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reduced memory specificity is associated with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and some other forms of psychopathology. Reduced memory specificity is also associated with reduced specificity of envisioned future events. Research in this area has mostly relied on cue-word methods that include explicit instructions to develop specific memories of future events. These methods are limited in their ability to assess how participants habitually remember the past and imagine the future when the specificity constraints inherent in the cue-word task are removed. Sentence completions tasks have been developed that can be used to assess habitual patterns of memory and prospection. Little is known about the association of habitual memory and prospection with concurrently and prospectively assessed psychopathology. In the current study 142 participants completed sentence completion tasks tapping habitual memory and prospection at baseline and completed measures tapping psychological symptoms at baseline and 1 year later. Among other things, it was found that reduced memory specificity (but not reduced future specificity) was associated with concurrent and later depression, as well as with symptom levels of PTSD tapped 1 year beyond baseline. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Memories that are recalled while working memory (WM) is taxed, e.g., by making eye movements (EM), become blurred during the recall + EM and later recall, without EM. This may help to explain the effects of Eye Movement and Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in which patients make EM during trauma recall. Earlier experimental studies on recall + EM have focused on emotional memories. WM theory suggests that recall + EM is superior to recall only but is silent about effects of memory emotionality. Based on the emotion and memory literature, we examined whether recall + EM has superior effects in blurring emotional memories relative to neutral memories. Healthy volunteers recalled negative or neutral memories, matched for vividness, while visually tracking a dot that moved horizontally (“recall + EM”) or remained stationary (“recall only”). Compared to a pre-test, a post-test (without concentrating on the dot) replicated earlier findings: negative memories are rated as less vivid after “recall + EM” but not after “recall only”. This was not found for neutral memories. Emotional memories are more taxing than neutral memories, which may explain the findings. Alternatively, transient arousal induced by recall of aversive memories may promote reconsolidation of the blurred memory image that is provoked by EM. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To test the effect of misinformation outside of the laboratory and to explore correlates of the effect, including arousal, cognitive ability, and neuroticism. About 2 months before deployment to Afghanistan, 249 soldiers enrolled in this study, which was embedded in a larger project. Two months after deployment, participants were interviewed about stressors on deployment and they received subtle misinformation about a fictional event on deployment. Seven months later, they were retested, and completed a questionnaire about events on deployment. At 9 months, a total of 26% of participants reported that they had experienced the fictional event, although 7 months earlier they said they had not experienced it. Logistic regression analyses revealed that lower cognitive ability and a combination of high arousal and more stressors on deployment were related to higher susceptibility to the misinformation effect. Results suggest that information provided by another source may be incorporated into related autobiographical memory, particularly for individuals with lower cognitive ability, high arousal at the time of encoding the information and more related experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotional reasoning involves the tendency to use subjective responses to make erroneous inferences about situations (e.g., “If I feel anxious, there must be danger”) and has been implicated in various anxiety disorders. The aim of this study of individuals with fear of spiders was to test whether computerised experimental training, compared to control training, would decrease emotional reasoning, reduce fear-related danger beliefs, and increase approach behaviour towards a fear-relevant stimulus. Effects were assessed shortly after the experimental manipulation and one day later. Results showed that the manipulation significantly decreased emotional reasoning in the experimental condition, not in the control condition, and resulted in lower danger estimates of a spider, which was maintained up to one day later. No differences in approach behaviour towards the spider were found. Reducing emotional reasoning may ultimately help patients with anxiety disorders attend more to objective situational information to correct erroneous danger beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Patients with an anxiety disorder are characterised by a tendency to impose threatening interpretations on ambiguous information. Past research has examined the causal relationship between experimentally modified interpretive bias and its effects on anxiety. Effective modification of interpretation bias is typically shown on two specific tasks: an on-line reaction-time task and a post-training “recognition task”. Both tasks measure accessibility of negative or positive interpretations in a specific domain (social anxiety). From a theoretical and clinical perspective, it is important to know whether the effect of altered interpretation bias generalises to other tasks or domains. Therefore, in the present experiment, both the generalisation of Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM) to other tasks (a vignette and a video task) and the transfer to another domain (academic performance) were investigated. Results showed that the modified interpretive bias did not generalise to the other tasks, while it did transfer to another domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study explored the presence of complaint-specific implicit associations in the domain of spider fear. Participants' implicit negative associations with spider cues were measured in highly fearful ( n = 18) and explicitly nonfearful individuals ( n = 19). To increase the reliability of the present study, two indices of implicit associations were used: a modified implicit association test (IAT), and an affective Simon paradigm (ASP). To test the stability of the IAT and the ASP, participants were tested twice. At the explicit level the attitude to spider cues was far more negative for high fear participants than for no fear participants. In contrast, high and low fear participants displayed very similar negative associations with spiders at the implicit level. Indicating their resistance to practice effects the ASP and IAT revealed similar results on both occasions. The dual attitude in low fear individuals suggests that the nonfearful individual is the one who can suppress the automatic negative spider stereotype, whereas the phobic individual is the one who does not attempt or is not able to control the negative associations with spider cues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A. Antonovsky (1987) defined the sense of coherence (SOC) as the ability to perceive a stressor as comprehensible, manageable, and meaningful. In this prospective study of pregnant women, the authors tested the relationships between the SOC in early pregnancy and crisis support and symptom severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression after pregnancy loss. A total of 1,372 women completed questionnaires in early pregnancy, including measures for the SOC and depressive symptoms, and were followed for every 2 months thereafter until 1 month after the birth due-date. Of this group, 126 women had a pregnancy loss, and 118 of them completed measures for crisis support, PTSD, and depression about 1 month later. The results showed that a stronger SOC in early pregnancy renders women somewhat resilient to symptoms of PTSD and depression after pregnancy loss, which appears to be due to the mobilization of crisis support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In two experiments selective attention to angry faces was investigated in relation to trait anger and anxiety. A pictorial emotional Stroop task comparing colour-naming latencies for neutral and angry faces was employed. In Experiment 1 using an unmasked task, individuals scoring high on trait anger showed an attentional bias for angry faces. In Experiment 2, unmasked and masked versions of the task were used. Individuals were selected on low and high trait anxiety, but there was no indication of a relation between attentional bias scores and anxiety. When individuals were subsequently reallocated to groups on the basis of trait anger scores, the high anger group showed an attentional bias for angry faces in the unmasked and the masked task. Results are discussed in relation to recent neurobiological findings from our laboratory, as reflecting an evolutionary-evolved, content-specific response to the facial expression of anger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An exploratory study of cancer knowledge in hypochondriacal subjects (n = 27) and matched controls (n = 27) is presented. Both quantity and quality of knowledge were investigated; i.e. whether hypochondriacal subjects were better able to discriminate between cancer warning signs and non-warning signs using the Knowledge of Cancer Warnings Signs Inventory (Berman and Wandersman, 1991). than controls. Also, level of cancer knowl edge in general was measured using the recently developed Cancer Knowledge Questionnaire (CKQ). Differential effects of threatening versus reassuring information were also studied. Results showed that hypochondriacal subjects were more likely to falsely identify non-warning signs as cancer warning signs than control subjects. Groups did not differ in general level of cancer knowledge. High health anxiety subjects agreed with threatening statements more often than non-hypochondriacal subjects. Hypochondriacal subjects' general coping style was characterized by more information seeking and less information avoiding. Implications of these results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: While normal tinnitus is a short-term sensation of limited duration, in 10-15% of the general population it develops into a chronic condition. For 3-6% it seriously interferes with many aspects of life. Objective: The aim of this trial was to assess effectiveness of a trauma-focused approach, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), in reducing tinnitus distress. Methods: The sample consisted of 35 adults with high levels of chronic tinnitus distress from five general hospitals in the Netherlands. Participants served as their own controls. After pre-assessment (T1), participants waited for a period of 3 months, after which they were assessed again (T2) before they received six 90 min manualized EMDR treatment sessions in which tinnitus-related traumatic or stressful events were the focus of treatment. Standardized self-report measures, the Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI), Mini-Tinnitus Questionnaire (Mini-TQ), Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) and the Self-Rating Inventory List for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (SRIP), were completed again halfway through treatment (T3), post-treatment (T4) and at 3 months' follow-up (T5). Results: Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed significant improvement after EMDR treatment on the primary outcome, TFI. Compared to the waiting-list condition, scores significantly decreased in EMDR treatment [t(34) = −4.25, p < .001, Cohen's dz = .72]. Secondary outcomes, Mini-TQ and SCL-90, also decreased significantly. The treatment effects remained stable at 3 months' follow-up. No adverse events or side effects were noted in this trial. Conclusions: This is the first study to suggest that EMDR is effective in reducing tinnitus distress. Randomized controlled trials are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]