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Purpose Obsessive–compulsive symptoms (OC) are associated with greater morbidity and worse prognosis in anorexia nervosa (AN). We assessed the presence of non-eating OC in participants with AN and related them with their psychopathology, personality, and attachment style features. Methods Young women with AN (N = 41, 30 restrictor and 11 binge-purging type) were assessed on the Yale-Brown Obsessive–Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). These participants with AN and 82 healthy controls (HC) completed the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2), Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90), Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), and Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ). The association between Y-BOCS scores and indexes of psychopathology, personality, and attachment were examined. Results AN had significantly higher scores than HC on the EDI-2, SCL-90, TAS-20, ASQ-Need for Approval, and TCI-Harm Avoidance and Self-directedness. The Y-BOCS scores were significantly correlated with ASQ-Need for Approval, TAS-20-Difficulty in Describing Feelings, SCL-90-Phobic Anxiety, and Anxiety, EDI-2-Drive to Thinness, and Asceticism. Need for Approval displayed the strongest correlation with OC symptoms. Difficulty in describing feelings displayed the strongest correlation with compulsive OC symptoms. Conclusions OC traits in AN were primarily associated with measures of insecure attachment rather than to their eating disorder or general psychopathology. Therapeutic approaches to correcting insecure attachment may be considered as a possible approach to treating AN patients with OC. The study supports a new psychopathological perspective for understanding the meaning of OC symptoms in AN. Level of evidence III: Evidence obtained from cohort or case–control analytic studies.

We aimed to assess the impact of POLG disease on mental health and quality of life in 15 patients using the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R) and Short-Form 36 Health Survey (RAND-36). We found increased scores in all nine subscales of SCL-90-R, particularly phobic anxiety, depression and somatization. Further, patients reported considerably lower scores in all RAND-36 domains. This study revealed a global decline in mental health and poor quality of life in patients with POLG disease and highlights the need for increased awareness and systematic assessment in order to improve their quality of life and mental health. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license.

Resumen Objetivo. Indagar la prevalencia de síntomas clínicos en pacientes y verificar posibles relaciones con algunas variables vinculadas al contexto psicoterapéutico. Método. Se diseñó una investigación de carácter cuantitativa, a nivel exploratorio, con un diseño descriptivo y correlacional. El Cuestionario de Evaluación de Síntomas (Sandín, Valiente, Chorot, Santed, & Lostao, 2008) y un cuestionarioad hocfueron aplicados a una muestra no probabilística de 90 sujetos (M= 33.80 años,DT= 12.88). Resultados. Existe una marcada prevalencia de síntomas depresivos, ansiedad y conductas obsesivas-compulsivas; los pacientes con mayores niveles de Hostilidad tienden a vincularse con terapeutas más jóvenes y permanecen menor tiempo en tratamiento; los pacientes de menor edad tienden a manifestar menores niveles de Somatización y mayores niveles de Depresión, Sensibilidad interpersonal e Ideación paranoide. Las mujeres obtuvieron puntajes más elevados en Somatización, Depresión y Ansiedad Fóbica, en tanto se encontró que las terapeutas mujeres tienden a asistir a personas con mayores niveles de Depresión, Ansiedad e Ideación paranoide. Abstract Objective. Inquire the prevalence of clinical symptoms in patients and verify possible relationships with some variables linked to the psychotherapeutic context. Method. A quantitative research was designed, at an exploratory level, with a descriptive and correlational design. The Symptom Evaluation Questionnaire (Sandín, Valiente, Chorot, Santed, & Lostao, 2008) and anad hocquestionnaire were applied to a non-probabilistic sample of 90 subjects (M= 33.80 years,DT= 12.88). Results. There is a marked prevalence of depressive symptoms, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive behaviors; Patients with higher levels of Hostility tend to be linked to younger therapists and remain shorter in treatment; Younger patients tend to show lower levels of Somatization and higher levels of Depression, Interpersonal Sensitivity and Paranoid Ideation. The women obtained higher scores in Somatization, Depression and Phobic Anxiety, while it was found that female therapists tend to assist people with higher levels of Depression, Anxiety and Paranoid Ideation.

The main purpose of the study is to determine whether the level of emotional expression is a predictor of psychological symptoms. The study was performed with 338 participants, including 170 women and 168 men. Data were collected by “Expressing Feelings Scale” and “SCL-90 Symptom Checklist-90-Revised”. Data was analyzed with Pearson product moment correlation coefficient and regression analysis was performed. According to results, emotional expression was significantly related to psychological symptoms. While the levels of emotional expression have increased, psychological symptoms have decreased. The levels of psychological symptoms was predicted significantly by emotional expression. Finally, emotional expression predicted higher levels of somatization and lower levels of phobic anxiety.

Objectives: The objectives were to investigate psychological symptoms in patients’ relatives (PR), coming into the ED with their patient and to evaluate the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and psychological symptom scores. Methods: PR in the ED of Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine aged 18 years and older were included into the study. Symptom Check List- Revised (SCL-90-R) was administered to 120 PR and sociodemographic characteristics of all were recorded. Results: The majority of the PR were female (n = 66, 55%), graduate of high school (n = 46, 38.3%) and self-employed (n = 22, 18.3%). The highest mean score on SCL-90-R was found on obsessive-compulsive disorder and the lowest scores were found on phobic anxiety. The mean score was higher than 1.0 on obsessive-compulsive disorder, somatization, interpersonal sensitivity, depression and paranoid ideation. There was no correlation between education level, duration of hospitalization and SCL-90 scores. Mean general, somatization, obsessive-compulsive and depression scores of females were found to be significantly higher than of males. Conclusion: High scores in psychological symptoms were observed in PR in the ED. Therefore, besides assessment of the psychological status of patients; it is recommended that PR should be evaluated carefully in this regard and given necessary psychosocial support in the emergency setting.

Objectives The general objective of this article is to study the unclear and overlapping relationship between social anxiety disorder (SAD) and avoidant personality disorder (AvPD) from an interpersonal perspective. The first specific objective is to compare the disorders with regard to interpersonal problems and general symptom distress. The second specific objective is to examine interpersonal subgroups and pathoplasticity. Design In a cross-sectional design, patients from an outpatient psychotherapy clinic diagnosed with social anxiety disorder (SAD, n = 299), avoidant personality disorder (AvPD, n = 180), or the comorbid condition of both disorders (AvPD + SAD, n = 29) were assessed before treatment. Methods Patients filled out the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-64) and the Symptom Checklist-Revised (SCL-R-90) before treatment. Results and conclusions From an interpersonal perspective, the relationship between the diagnostic groups is well described by the severity continuum hypothesis, with similar interpersonal problems related to Nonassertiveness and lower levels of general interpersonal stress in the SAD group compared to the two AvPD groups. However, other differences in severity do not fit the severity continuum hypothesis, as there are no differences in severity on the global severity index, and, moreover, the SAD group has the most severe problems on the SCL-90 phobic anxiety scale. Interpersonal pathoplasticity is not found in the diagnostic groups or in the full sample. However, three interpersonal subgroups are identified in the full sample, designated as Nonassertive, Friendly-submissive, and Cold-submissive. Implications for treatment are discussed. Practitioner points SAD is characterized by a lower level of interpersonal distress compared to AvPD, but the two disorders are similar in having Nonassertiveness as their general interpersonal problem. Contrary to expectation, SAD and AvPD did not differ in general level of symptom severity, and patients with SAD reported more problems with phobic anxiety than AvPD patients did. When understanding SAD and AvPD as different conceptualizations of the same disorder and analysing all patients together, three distinct interpersonal subgroups emerge, which can be identified as Nonassertive, Friendly-submissive, and Cold-submissive.

• Claustrophobia, a phobic anxiety disorder, is a well-known relative contraindication for MR, and anxiety or fear is triggered by confinement or the prospect of confinement in the MR environment. • Within the field of MR, claustrophobia is generally counteracted by reducing or deflecting attention from triggering stimuli in the MR environment by technical means, which increases relaxation and comfort and thus improves compliance. • Psychological interventions and self-empowerment of patients might become the next level of coping strategies.

This study was to determine the relationship between anxiety disorder and deviant behavior among senior secondary school students in Obubra Local Government Area of Cross River State. Various deviant behaviours of varying degrees ranging from truancy, lateness, fighting, bullying, cheating in examination, vandalism, drugs abuse, rape, disrespect to authority etc. leading to inadequate preparation towards academic test and examinations. Based on the above, hypothesis was formulated to guide the study. The study was delimited to Obubra Local Government Area and SS two students were used for the study. Anxiety disorder was delimited to phobic anxiety disorder. The instrument use was the Anxiety Disorder and Deviant Behavior Questionnaire (ADDBP) and it contained forty 40 items. A sample population of 247 students distributed among the five secondary schools in Obubra Local Government Area of Cross River State – Nigeria were used for the survey. Pearson product correlation coefficient was used to analyze the data. Based on the research findings recommendations were made.

The psychopathological features of patients with excoriated acne are analysed. An integrative anx-iety test among 43 patients (mean age 24.7±7.1 years) demonstrated borderline values and a high level of personal anxiety in 46.5% of cases; assessment according to the Beck Depression Inventory revealed subdepression among 25.6% and depression among 13.9% of patients; the Global Severity Index (GSI) of the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R) was in the zone of elevated and high val-ues among 31.1% of patients. The greatest deviations from the norm were observed in the areas of interpersonal sensitivity among 34.9% of patients; dev phobic anxiety – 30.2%; paranoia – 30.2%; while somatisation of complaints was observed among 27.9% of patients. The obsessive-compulsive subscale exceeded normative values among 21% of patients.

The purpose of the investigation was to clarify the importance of gender factor in the clinical picture of recurrent (RD) and bipolar depression (BD) with somatization. Total of 99patients had taken part in the testing including 70(70.7%) women and 39(39.3%) men. The general trend identified was intensive anxious and somatized signs in clinical structure of depression. In comparison with the men the female patients with RD had predominantly “psychic” and “physical” signs of anxiety, and men had more “typical” traits (depressive somatization). In the clinical picture of BD gender differentiation had shown the signs of anxiety again. In other words, the women with BD had mostly the signs of “mental” anxiety and neurosal (phobic anxiety and hysterical conversion) somatized signs, while male patients with BD more often had vegetal equivalents of anxiety (anxiety disorder) making hypochondriac ideational abnormalities (ideational somatization) in combination with physical signs of depression. In both testing groups women had the common traits – frequent complaints about paracenesthesia over extended periods (SSI); it can show some inclination to formation of a morbid personality, exacerbating a patient’s condition. The findings indicate that gender differentiation expresses mainly in bipolar course of an affective disease in the clinical picture of somatized depression. The study outcome suggests the improvement of diagnostics and somatized depression treatment.

The projective test is not only helpful to find the potential psychological crisis, but also to overcome the language barrier and make up for the deficiency of the questionnaire test to a certain extent.In this study, 403 college students (205 Tibetan students and 198 Han students) from a national college were selected to test their mental health with Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) and House-Tree-Person test (HTP).By comparing the results of questionnaire test and drawing projection test, it is found that SCL-90 and HTP test are significantly related to the positive screening results of four factors: Somatization, Depression, Anxiety and Phobic Anxiety. Both HTP test and SCL-90 test results show that the scores of Somatization, Depression, Anxiety and Phobic Anxiety of Tibetan and Han college students were significantly different; the scores of Anxiety and Phobic Anxiety of different gender college students were significantly different. Using HTP test as a supplementary test of questionnaire test can effectively improve the accuracy of screening.

The prevalence of psychological distress in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients has been evaluated by many different assessment instruments and with diverse control groups. The most frequently used distress symptom scale has been the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R), although it contains many symptoms with problematic validity clinically. The 18-item subscale of the SCL-90-R, the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18) has recently been shown to have a sufficient validity to screen for the prevalence of psychological distress (somatization) in PD patients. We have performed a clinimetric analysis by comparing the BSI-18 with SCL-90-R relevant subscales in PD patients. Our micro-analysis has focused on the Mokken model to test the scalability of the subscales. The macro-analysis has focused both on effect size statistics and the normative level of psychological distress with reference to the Italian general population data using T-score metric. The Mokken analysis indicated acceptable scalability for all the subscales of BSI-18. The effect size statistics identified somatization in both BSI-18 and SCL-90-R as the most prevalent and intense symptom of psychological distress. The T-score metric identified the phobic anxiety subscale of SCL-90-R to be clinically much more important than the BSI-18 anxiety subscale in the PD patients. We have found the SCL-90-R subscale of phobic anxiety and the BSI-18 somatization subscale most clinically valid when measuring psychological distress in PD patients.

With the publication of the fifth version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5, American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th). Washington, DC, 2013), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) was moved from the anxiety disorders section to form a new diagnostic category called obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. This change fits better with the concept of a spectrum of disorders related to OCD. This section of the DSM-5 includes OCD, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), hoarding disorder, trichotillomania (hair-pulling disorder), excoriation (skin-picking) disorder, and several variations on OCD-related conditions induced by substance, medication, medical conditions and variations on OCD-related conditions that do not precisely fit the diagnostic criteria. OCD is also in a category of its own, separated from phobic anxiety and other anxiety disorders, in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision (ICD-10, WHO - World Health Organization World health statistics. Geneva: WHO Press, 2010). No matter which classification OCD falls under, it is considered a severe and chronic mental disorder affecting between two and three percent of the general population and causing significant social and functional impairments. (American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th). Washington, DC, 2013; Kessler RC, Berglund P, Demler O, Jin R, Merikangas KR, & Walters EE Arch Gen Psychiatry, 62(6):593–602, 2005a; Kessler R, Chiu W, Demler O, & Walters E Arch Gen Psychiatry, 62(6):617–627, 2005b; Leon AC, Portera L, & Weissman MM British J Psychiatry, 166(27):19–22, 1995).

The objective of the study was to analyze the relationship between psychosocial occupational risks and clinical symptomatology in a company in Tungurahua (Ecuador). For this purpose the SCL-90-R (to measure clinical symptomatology) and FPsico 3.0 (that measures psycho-social risks) were used in Prodegel S.A. 125 company colleagues. By analyzing the results obtained, we can say that the risks and symptoms appear in the sample, however, both in small measure.There is a relationship between them. On the one side, the difference between workload, work time and psychological obligations are related to somatization and anxiety. On the other side, participation and oversight have been related to phobic anxiety, violence and paranoid ideation. It can be said, therefore, that the risks associated with the characteristics of the work are linked to the symptomatology related to the individual and the risks related to the work relationship are related to the symptomatology of the field of the person's relationship.; Ikerketaren helburua Tungurahuako (Ekuador) enpresa batean laneko arrisku psikosozialen eta sintomatologia klinikoaren arteko harremana aztertzea izan da. Helburua lortzeko, sintomatologia klinikoa neurtzen duen SCL-90-R eta arrisku psikosozialak neurtzen dituen FPsiko 3.0 erabili dira Prodegel S.A. enpresako 125 lankideekin. Lortutako emaitzak aztertuz, esan daiteke arriskuak eta sintomatologia ageri direla laginean, biak neurri txikian agertzen badira ere. Bien arteko erlazioa ere ageri da. Alde batetik, lan-kargak, lan-denborak eta betebehar psikologikoek erlazioa dute somatizazioarekin eta antsietatearekin. Beste alde batetik, parte-hartzeak eta gainbegiratzeak erlazioa dute antsietate fobiko, bortizkeria eta ideazio paranoidearekin. Esan daiteke, beraz, aztertutako laginean lanaren ezaugarriekin erlazionaturiko arriskuek lotura dutela norbanakoarekin zerikusia duen sintomatologiarekin eta, aldiz, lan-harremanekin erlazionatutako arriskuek lotura dutela pertsona arteko harremanen arloko sintomatologiarekin.

Many pregnant women experience fear, worry or anxiety relating to the upcoming childbirth. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate possible subgroups in a sample of 206 pregnant women (mean age 29.4 years), reporting fear of birth in mid-pregnancy. Comparisons were made between nulliparous and parous women. In a series of cluster analyses, validated psychological instruments were used to cluster women based on their psychological profiles. A five-cluster solution was suggested, with the clusters characterized by: overall low symptom load, general high symptom load, medium symptom load with high performance-based self-esteem, blood- and injection phobic anxiety, and specific anxiety symptoms. Nulliparous women were more likely to report clinically relevant levels of blood- and injection phobia (OR = 2.57, 95% CI 1.09-6.01), while parous women more often reported previous negative experiences in health care (OR 1.93, 95% CI 1.09-3.39) or previous trauma (OR 2.90, 95% CI 1.58-5.32). The results indicate that women reporting fear of birth are a heterogeneous group. In order to individualize treatment, psychological characteristics may be of greater importance than parity in identifying relevant subgroups.

This secondary analysis describes the additional psychological symptoms experienced by women in substance abuse treatment who have an alcohol use disorder (AUD) in addition to a drug use disorder (DUD). Results show high levels of certain patterns of psychological symptoms, which include Paranoid Ideation, Phobic Anxiety, Anxiety, and Psychoticism, on the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) subscales. Also, age had an adverse effect, with Depression and Psychoticism scores higher with increasing age. Nurse practitioners are ideally situated to assess and screen for patterns of co-occurring psychological symptoms in women with an AUD, which can complicate treatment and lead to practice implications.

Intergenerational transmission of psychological trauma and the impact of parental post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on offspring are controversially discussed. We studied 50 offspring (36 women and 14 men, mean age 42.1 years) of refugees who were severely traumatized as children at the end of World War II. From these, 25 of the refugees currently suffered from chronic PTSD, and 25 had no PTSD. Parental PTSD status did not significantly influence mental health [as per the Symptom Checklist (SCL)-90-R] or quality of life (assessed by the 36-item Short-form Health Survey) in their children. In the entire sample, frequency of talking with the mother about the flight correlated with phobic anxiety (r = 0.67, p = 0.03). Interestingly, the stated burden of having a parent with a history of flight significantly (p < 0.05) correlated with almost all subscales of the SCL-90-R. These results in a non-clinical sample do not support a specific role of parental PTSD in intergenerational trauma transmission. Our other remarkable, but preliminary, results need to be studied in larger samples using more subtle interaction or schema analyses. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

TORCH complex, one of the potential infections that may occur during pregnancy, may contribute also to prenatal pregnant women's anxiety and depression. The aim of this study was to explore the presence of psychiatric symptoms, in relation with infection of TORCH agents, specifically the Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) and Cytomegalovirus (CMV). The study was conducted on 58 preg- nant women recruited from the Clinical Virology Unit, A.O.U. Policlinico-Vittorio Emanuele, P.O. "Gaspare Rodolico", from September 2012 to March 2014. Psychiatric symptoms were evaluated through the Symptom Checklist-90 Revised (SCL-90 R) in pregnant women with CMV or T. gondii infection. Moreover, pregnant women were invited to participate in a program of "Counseling about behavioral change", an effective psychotherapeutic training for the development of new motivational strategies to the infection acceptance, the greater self-confidence and greater adhe- rence to treatment. The age of the subjects was positively correlated with Depression (r = 0.119, p < 0.05) and negatively correlated with Phobic Anxiety (r = −0.178, p < 0.05). The same variables were also negatively correlated with the level of education (r = −0.231, r = −0.320, p < 0.05) and with the dimension Somatization (r = −0.208, p < 0.05). Somatization was positively correlated with unmarried patients (r = 0.141, p < 0.05), while Phobic Anxiety was negatively correlated with unmarried patients (r = −0.105, p < 0.05). Somatization, Phobic Anxiety and Depression were po- * Corresponding author.

Selective mutism (SM) is classified in DSM-5 as an anxiety disorder. The aim of the study was to investigate the psychological features of children with SM and their parental psychological profiles, compared to generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) children and their parents. The parents of 26 preschool children with SM and 32 with children with GAD filled out the child behavior check list for 1½–5 years (CBCL1½–5) and the symptom checklist-90-revised (SCL-90-R). Information about the children and their parents’ histories was collected through clinical interviews. Children with SM scored higher than children with GAD on the CBCL1½–5 withdrawn scale and lower on the attention problems, aggressive behavior, and externalizing problems scales. Mothers of children with SM scored higher on the SCL-90-R obsessive–compulsive subscale and Global Severity Index than mothers of children with GAD, while fathers of children with SM scored higher on the SCL-90-R Phobic Anxiety subscale and on the Global Severity Index than fathers of children with GAD. Parents of children with SM displayed a greater presence of stressful life events than parents of children with GAD. Data appeared to confirm that SM and GAD share a common anxious core, though some differences in the children’s psychological profiles and the parents’ history and personality emerged. Future research should focus on the role of external factors, such as parent–child relationship, in the development of SM.

The article is devoted to the study of nocturnal enuresis and frequency of comorbid anxiety disorders in children with this disease. The authors present the results of a survey of 70 children aged 7 to 10 years with primary enuresis. In the study, anxiety disorders were found in 44 children with this pathology (62.9 %). Analysis of the identified symptoms showed that more of the study group are generalized anxiety disorder (31.8 %) and phobic anxiety disorder (40.9 %).

Although many studies have explored the salutary associations between multiple dimensions of religiousness and psychological well-being, a smaller body of work has focused on the links between spiritual struggles and negative mental health outcomes. Two types of spiritual struggles have received considerable attention in this literature: divine struggles, or troubled relationships with God, and struggles with belief, or religious doubts. Using data from a nationwide online survey of U.S. adults conducted in 2006, our study investigated links between these types of spiritual struggles and four aspects of psychopathology: depressed affect, anxiety, phobic anxiety, and somatization. In particular, we tested the hypothesis that these links vary according to religious identity, such that individuals who identify themselves as highly religious—and therefore are likely to be most invested in their roles as religious persons—experience the strongest negative effects of spiritual struggles, in comparison with pers...

Objective: To examine the impact of correlates of trauma on the appropriateness for group therapy (GT) in 60 participants based on the similarity of the exclusion criteria for GT to the features of posttraumatic disturbances and borderline personality. Method: We assessed the correlates of trauma (PTSD, complex PTSD, dissociation), features of BPD, psychopathological distress and the readiness for GT. Results: There were inverse correlations between the motivation for GT and multiple symptoms, as well as weak associations with the correlates of trauma. Pessimistic expectations of GT and dissociative amnesia were linked to worse outcomes, while phobic anxiety predicted continuation of therapy. Conclusion: Dissociative amnesia and the expectation of GT are potential targets for pre-group preparation for trauma-related disorders.

РЕЗЮМЕ. Дослідження особливостей психопатологічної симптоматики за допомогою опитувальника Symptom Check List-90-Revised – SCL-90-R дозволило встановити, що серед хворих на психогенні депресивні розлади емігрантів (196 осіб) були значуще вищими у порівнянні з реемігрантами (191 особа) та не емігрантами (198 осіб) показники за шкалами соматизації (відповідно 0,87±0,53 балів, 0,66±0,40 балів та 0,51±0,34 балів), обсесивно-компульсивних розладів (1,43±0,77 балів, 1,13±0,44 балів та 0,98±0,48 балів), тривожності (1,73±1,07) балів, 1,32±0,84 балів та 1,07±0,98 балів), а у реемігрантів – депресії (2,98±0,35 балів, у емігрантів 2,61±0,59 балів, у не емігрантів 2,40±0,45 балів) та міжособистісної сенситивності (відповідно 1,24±0,33 балів, 1,15±0,35 балів та 0,95±0,29 балів), а також індекс виразності дистресу (2,45±0,23 балів, 2,40±0,42 балів та 2,25±0,29 балів). У хворих на ендогенні депресивні розлади вплив фактора еміграції виявився меншим, однак загальні тенденції зберігаються: у емігрантів є найбільшою виразність проявів соматизації (1,17±0,83 балів, у реемігрантів 0,83±0,48 балів, у не емігрантів 0,77±0,70 балів), тривожності (відповідно 1,90±1,10 балів, 1,47±0,97 балів та 1,14±1,01 балів), обсесивно-компульсивних розладів (відповідно 1,54±0,66 балів, 1,34±0,52 балів та 1,07±0,44 балів) та фобічної тривожності (відповідно 0,76±0,44 балів, 0,68±0,23 балів та 0,67±0,40 балів), а у реемігрантів – депресії (3,18±0,26 балів, у емігрантів 2,79±0,42 балів, у не емігрантів 2,63±0,30 балів), міжособистісної сенситивності (1,36±0,45 балів, у не емігрантів 1,10±0,32 бали, у емігрантів 1,07±0,49 балів) та індекс виразності дистресу (2,60±0,16 балів, у емігрантів 2,53±0,34 балів, у не емігрантів 2,30±0,28 балів). У хворих на органічні депресивні розлади виявлені більш складні закономірності, зумовлені характером депресії: значущі розбіжності у показниках між групами емігрантів, реемігрантів та не емігрантів виявлені за соматизацією (відповідно 1,33±0,68 балів, 0,93±0,32 балів та 0,91±0,64 балів), тривожністю (відповідно 1,99±0,67 балів, 1,68±0,60 балів та 1,43±1,03 балів), фобічною тривожністю (0,91±0,45 балів, 0,75±0,31 балів та 0,66±0,39 балів) та обсесивно-компульсивними розладами (відповідно 1,10±0,63 балів, 1,49±0,51 балів та 1,25±0,61 балів). Показники за депресією та міжособистісною сенситивністю є найвищими у реемігрантів (відповідно 3,16±0,48 балів та 1,43±0,40 балів), меншими у емігрантів (відповідно 2,92±0,41 балів та 1,21±0,34 балів), і найменшими – у не емігрантів (відповідно 2,66±0,51 балів та 1,11±0,38 балів). Виявлені закономірності можуть бути пояснені впливом об’єктивних соціально-психологічних факторів.

This study investigated the role of relevant vs irrelevant fear cues in the flooding of phobic patients. Six specific phobics and 10 agoraphobics were treated in a balanced crossover design. Eight patients had eight sessions of imaginal flooding concerned with their phobias followed by eight imaginal sessions concerned with situations which are normally frightening to anybody. Another eight patients had the same two treatments in the reverse order. The combined effects of both treatments after 16 sessions resulted in significant improvement on clinical, attitudinal, and heart-rate measures. Improvement was maintained at six months follow-up. Eight sessions by each treatment alone also produced significant improvement on clinical and attitudinal measures. Irrelevant fear also produced significant improvement in heart-rate and skin-conductance measures. The two treatments did not differ significantly from each other in their effects, except that irrelevant fear produced significantly more improvement than did relevant flooding in subjective anxiety during phobic imagery. The two treatments had significantly different prognostic correlates. Heightened physiological activity at the start of treatment predicted a good outcome to relevant flooding but not to irrelevant fear. High subjective anxiety during imagery before treatment predicted poor outcome to irrelevant fear. High anxiety during treatment sessions predicted good outcome to irrelevant fear, but did not correlate with outcome to relevant flooding. The experience of relevant and irrelevant fear in fantasy reduced phobic anxiety and avoidance to a similar extent, but appeared to do so through different mechanisms. These mechanisms need not be mutually exclusive and might be additive.

Background: The relationship between mental stress and cardiovascular disease has been shown in several studies. Panic disorder (PD) is also associated with cardiovascular disease due to increased risk of myocardial infarction. The aim of this study is to evaluate the association between arterial stiffness parameters and depression/anxiety scores in patients with PD. Methods: The study population consisted of 25 patients with PD and 25 age-sex-matched healthy controls. Depression and anxiety levels were evaluated by Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), respectively. Determination of arterial stiffness parameters was conducted using a Mobil-O-Graph arteriograph system that detected signals from the brachial artery. Results: While baseline characteristics were similar between two groups, BDI and BAI scores were significantly higher in patients with PD (p < 0.005). The pulse wave velocity (PWV) and Augmentation Index (AIx) were also significantly higher in patients with PD (p = 0.001, p = 0.006). There was a moderate correlation between PWV and AIx with BAI scores (r = 0.442, p = 0.001, r = 0.441, p = 0.001). AIx was also positively correlated with BDI scores (r = 0.415, p = 0.03). Conclusion: We demonstrated a significant relationship between arterial stiffness parameters and anxiety/depression scores in patients with PD who receive antidepressant treatment.

Depression is found to be present in up to 44% of brain tumor patients during their illness process. Anxiety as a comorbid psychiatric disorder with depression has formerly been studied, but phobia or obsessive-compulsive symptoms among brain tumor patients have not yet been noticed. By using a clinical prospective database of primary brain tumor patients (n=77) we studied the level of depression, anxiety, obsessionality (traits and symptoms) and phobic anxiety symptoms. Psychiatric symptoms were assessed before tumor operation as well as at three months and at one year after operation. The presence of comorbid anxiety, obsessionality and phobic anxiety symptoms was assessed before operation and at follow-ups in depressed and non-depressed patients, separately. Before tumor operation 16% of the patients had depression according to Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), while 10% had depression at three months and 15% at one year after operation. The depressed patients had statistically significantly higher anxiety scores and phobic scores at all three measurement points compared to corresponding scores among non-depressed brain tumor patients. The mean obsessionality scores among depressed brain tumor patients were significantly higher when measured before operation and at one year after the operation compared to non-depressed patients. To our knowledge, this is the first study so far in which comorbidity of psychiatric symptoms has been shown among depressive brain tumor patients. Concurrent comorbid conditions have been shown to be associated with increased severity, morbidity and chronicity of depression. It is recommended that treatment of depressive patients complicated with comorbid psychiatric disorders be planned by psychiatric units.

Since in college students are exposed to the variety of stressors that impact their psychological functioning, determining factors associated with psychological health of these individuals is an important research endeavour. The aim of the current research was to investigate the relationship between image of God with somatization and phobic anxiety in college students. To accomplish the stated goal 233 in college students were selected by means of proportional sampling procedure. The Image of God Inventory (IOG, Lawrence, 1997) and Scales of Somatization and Phobic Anxiety in Symptom Checklist90-R (SCL-90R, Deragotis et al., 1973) were administered on them. Analysis of data revealed that the magnitude of somatization and phobic anxiety can be predicted from the quality of images of God college students. Moreover, data revealed that college students who had a positive image of God were lower in somatization and phobic anxiety than in college students who had a negative image of God. Authors concluded that positive image of God were associated with lower somatization and phobic anxiety in college students. Theoretical implication and practical application of these findings are discussed in the original paper.

Objective: This pilot study attempted to reduce negative ruminating thoughts in patients with Parkinson's disease engaged in a creative art therapy experience. Hypothesis: The participants will significantly lower measures of depression, obsessive–compulsive symptoms, and phobic anxiety as a result of the manipulation of modeling clay. Research design: A single sample pretest–posttest research design was employed to assess the effects of modeling clay manipulation on self-report symptoms of psychopathology among Parkinson patients. Methods: A total of 22 patients (16 males, 6 females, mean age 71) diagnosed with Parkinson's disease completed the Brief Symptom Inventory pre- and post-session, asked to manipulate a ball of modeling clay, and respond to follow up questions. Main outcome and results: Three measures were included as indicators for patients diagnosed with Parkinson's disease psychological adjustment: depression, obsessive–compulsive behaviors and phobic anxiety. Quantitative results showed a po...

The opening of the deepest undersea tunnel in the world (264 m below sea level, 5600 m in length) replaced the ferry from the island of Hitra to the mainland in Norway. This event provoked phobic anxiety for traveling through the undersea tunnel in a number of individuals in the area. A treatment program for tunnel phobia was designed to test whether such a phobia could be mitigated by procedures previously proven effective in the treatment of other phobias. The program was presented to 18 persons with a specific phobia for tunnels and included a general discussion on the construction of undersea tunnels, given by an engineer from the tunnel construction company, and on phobic anxiety. It further consisted of gradual exposure to the tunnel in situ. Treatment effects were strong. All patients were able to travel on their own by car through the tunnel after the treatment. Their somatic complaints and phobic thoughts related to the tunnel were substantially reduced, and their mastery of tunnel driving was convincingly increased compared with the wait-list reference group.

Evaluations of computer-guided CBT (CCBT) suggest that this is a promising approach to closing the gap between the demand for, and the supply of, CBT. However, additional studies are required that are conducted by researchers independent of the programme developers, and include a wider range of participants. This independent study examined the viability of CCBT for panic and phobic anxiety in an unselected sample of referrals in remote and rural areas of Scotland. Outcome was assessed by a wide range of outcome measures, completed before and after treatment, and at 4-month follow-up. Participants experienced few difficulties in using the programme, and GPs and participants regarded CCBT as acceptable and useful. Major improvements were obtained, with several large effect sizes, which remained at follow-up. It was concluded that computer-guided CBT can play a useful part in delivering CBT services in rural areas; and that self-help CBT may be the only treatment option available to some sufferers.

Contexto: Os sintomas psicopatológicos são muito comuns em estudantes universitários de diferentes culturas, mas os correlatos sociodemográficos são diferentes consoante os estudos. Adicionalmente, os correlatos em estudantes portugueses não foram ainda estudados de forma aprofundada, para além de que se levantam questões metodológicas neste tipo de estudos, no sentido de que não tem sido descrito quem faz as avaliações psicológicas. Objetivos: O principal objetivo desta pesquisa foi verificar se existe diferença nos sintomas psicopatológicos entre dois grupos avaliados por dois examinadores diferentes, controlando o papel potencial da desejabilidade social, e de outras covariáveis eventuais. Além disso, queremos determinar o nível de psicopatologia e os seus correlatos sociodemográficos. Métodos: Cento e oitenta e cinco estudantes universitários de Coimbra completaram o Inventário Breve de Sintomas/IBS e a Escala de Desejabilidade Social de Marlowe-Crowne. Num grupo, o examinador era da mesma idade e do mesmo estatuto académico que os alunos, enquanto no outro grupo o examinador era mais velho e professor. Estudámos as associações psicopatológicas através de correlações de Pearson e ponto bisserial e análises qui-quadrado, e controlámos o papel potencial das covariáveis através de ANCOVAs não-paramétricas de Quade. Resultados: O nível de sofrimento foi menor em comparação com outras investigações. As mulheres apresentaram maior nível de sofrimento e mais sintomas de somatização, ansiedade, ansiedade fóbica, obsessivo-compulsivos e de depressão. Os alunos que moram mais longe tiveram mais ansiedade e sintomas obsessivo-compulsivos. O grupo avaliado pelo examinador mais jovem pontuou mais no índice de sofrimento e em alguns fatores do IBS, e tiveram níveis inferiores na desejabilidade social. Conclusões: O sexo e distância de casa parecem fatores importantes para a saúde mental de estudantes universitários. No entanto, o examinador influencia a avaliação, provavelmente por causa da desejabilidade social, sugerindo que as características do examinador devem ser fornecidas em investigações envolvendo estudantes universitários.

Objective: Depression and anxiety are considered etiological factors in cardiovascular disease (ND), though their relative contribution and differentiation by clinical characteristics have not been studied intensively. We examined 6-year associations between depressive and anxiety disorders, clinical characteristics and newly-developed ND.Methods: DSM-IV diagnoses were established in 2510 DID-free participants of the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety. Data on subtype, severity, and psychoactive medication were collected. The 6-year incidence of ND was assessed using Cox regression analyses adjusted for sociodemographic, health and lifestyle factors.Results: One-hundred-six subjects (4.2%) developed CVD. Having both current depressive and anxiety disorders (HR = 2.86, 95%CI 1.49-5.49) or current depression only (HR = 230; 95%CI 1.10-4.80) was significantly associated with increased ND incidence, whereas current anxiety only (HR = 1.48; 95%CI 0.74-2.96) and remitted disorders (HR = 1.48; 95%CI 0.80-2.75) were not associated. Symptom severity was associated with increased ND onset (e.g., Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology per SD increase: HR = 1.51; 95%CI 125-1.83). Benzodiazepine use was associated with additional ND risk (HR = 1.95; 95%CI 1.16-331).Conclusions: Current depressive (but not anxiety) disorder independently contributed to CVD in our sample of initially DID-free participants. DID incidence over 6 years of follow-up was particularly increased in subjects with more symptoms, and in those using benzodiazepines. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Introduction : Epidemiological and clinical research of sleep in adoles­cence has been limited but signifi­cant. Many studies suggested that sleep abnormalities could lead to de­pression and anxiety. Objectives : The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of day­time sleepiness and snoring among adolescence of college students at Mansoura University and to estimate the correlation between excessive daytime sleepiness and emotional disturbance i n the context of pres­ence or absence of snoring. Methods : To asses excessive daytime sleepiness, we used Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), for Psycho­logical assessment we used the Middlesex Hospital Questionnaire (MHQ), to measure general emotion­ality e.g. free floating anxiety, phobic anxiety, obsessionality, somatic con­comitant of anxiety, depression and hysteria. Both scales had been dis­tributed to random sample of students in three colleges at Mansoura Univer­sity i.e. college of Medicine, College of arts and college of Culture and ed­ucation, Results : 144 students (53 males and 91 female) out of 395 students (36.5%) reported excessive daytime sleepiness and 84 (21.3%) of them reported snoring. Excessive daytime sleepiness showed significant correla­tion with free floating anxiety, phobic anxiety, somatic concomitant of anx­iety, depressive traits and low signifi­cant correlation with hysterical traits.

Computer-assisted treatments have proven to be effective in the treatment of several anxiety disorders and depression, but the role of exposure remains unclear. This study compares the efficacy of a computer-assisted exposure treatment (CAE) with a brief multicomponent nonexposure treatment (MNE) for flight phobia. Outcome measure assessments were conducted at posttreatment and at 6-month follow-up. No differences were found between CAE and MNE in reducing fear of flying. In both conditions patients improved significantly and clinically meaningfully, and results were maintained at 6- month follow-up. These findings challenge the idea that exposure is essential in reducing phobic anxiety and support the idea that specific phobias may be well suited for brief cognitive–behavioral treatments. Zusammenfassung Sind alle Behandlungen gleichermasen effizient bei Flugangst? Die Gegenuberstellung einer computerunterstutzten Exposition und einer kurzen Multikomponentenbehandlung ohne Exposition Computerunt...

Recent studies suggest an association between non-motor symptoms and essential tremor (ET). Few studies have assessed psychological symptoms in ET. These studies were limited to western white populations and utilized scales that were specific to only one or two psychiatric domains. By contrast, the Symptom Checklist-90R (SCL-90R) is a validated clinical scale to screen for symptoms related to a spectrum of nine different psychological domains.To determine whether a wide spectrum of non-motor manifestations is associated with ET in patients in an Asian cohort.Consecutive ET patients and a group of control subjects were evaluated using the SCL-90R, which is comprised of items in nine major symptom dimensions and three global indices, including the positive symptom distress index.ET patients (N = 84) and controls (N = 78) were similar in age (50.0+/-18.0 vs 46.0+/-14.4 years), gender and other demographic variables. ET patients had higher scores in three of nine major symptom dimensions: anxiety, phobic anxiety (p0.0005) and psychoticism (p = 0.005). In multivariate analysis, the anxiety (p0.0005) and the positive symptom distress index scores (p0.0005) were greater in ET patients compared to controls after adjusting for sex, age, marital status and educational level. The severity, but not duration of ET was correlated with the severity of anxiety symptoms.Utilizing the SCL-90R, we highlighted that ET patients reported more non-motor symptoms than healthy controls. The more frequent occurrence of anxiety symptoms in our Asian cohort extends the observation that such non-motor manifestations should be considered in the clinical management of ET.

Aim To investigate general psychopathology among women with DSM-IV confirmed eating disorders (ED) and women from the general population with and without self-reported eating disorder problems. Method Ninety-six ED patients between 18 and 26 years (M = 21.59, SD = 2.01) were compared with 265 randomly chosen age-matched controls (M = 20.99, SD = 2.01) with the Symptom Check List-90 (SCL-90). Result ED patients scored significantly higher on all subscales compared with women without self-reported eating problems, and higher on several scales compared to women reporting previous eating problems. There were no differences between ED patients and controls with current eating problems. Women with self-reported eating disorder problems scored significantly higher than women without such problems on all scales except for ‘phobic anxiety’. Discussion Increased psychopathology in both ED patients and women with self-reported eating problems suggests that general psychopathology is related to eating disturbances per se, and not only to being a psychiatric patient. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

We conducted a longitudinal study of young children with clinical, subclinical, or nonclinical levels of separation anxiety to evaluate the diagnostic stability and concomitant parent and family variables of separation anxiety disorder (SAD). Youngsters were assessed at age 3 years (n = 60) and 3.5 years later (n = 44). Data were collected from children, parents, teachers, and clinicians. Results revealed that most diagnoses of SAD were not stable during this developmental period, as many children drifted toward subclinical or nonclinical status. In addition, children with clinical SAD, compared to those with subclinical SAD or no symptoms of SAD, had a disproportionately higher number of comorbid diagnoses and experienced significantly greater somatic concerns, anxiety, and general internalizing behavior. In addition, their parents experienced greater depression, obsessive-compulsive behavior, phobic anxiety, and general distress. The results preliminarily support prior findings that most children experience a dissipation of SAD symptoms in young childhood but that some children continue to experience stable, significant distress. The results are consistent with prior research on older children that SAD remits for many but not all youth and suggest that parent and family variables may have much to do with cases of poor remission in this population.

In this study, we aimed to evaluate psychiatric symptoms and associations with automatic negative thoughts in menopausal women. This prospective descriptive study performed in gynecology and obstetrics clinic of Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University Medicine Faculty Hospital. A Demographic information form, Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), and Automatic Thoughts Scale (ATS) were administered to all individuals. The present study consist of 105 menopausal women. The mean age of participants was 60.42±8.43 years old. There were a statistically significant positive correlation between mean total scores of ATS and mean total scores of somatization, obsessive compulsive (OC) , Interpersonal Sensitivity (IS), depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety (PA), paranoid subscales, and additional materials (AM) (poor appetite, trouble falling asleep, thoughts of death or dying, feeling of guilt), and BSI total. Also there was a statistically significant positive correlation between total scores of AM and mean age of participants. Our results suggest that automatic negative thoughts are related with all psychiatric disorders in postmenopausal women. [Med-Science 2018; 7(3.000): 507-10]

Los objetivos de este trabajo fueron determinar la prevalencia del ciberbullying entre los participantes del estudio, así como conocer el impacto psicológico tanto en cibervíctimas como en ciberagresores, analizando además las diferencias de género de dicho impacto. Método: la muestra estuvo constituida por 639 estudiantes de la Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, seccional Bucaramanga, con una media de edad de 17,6 años (chicos N = 303, chicas N = 334). Para ello se emplearon los siguientes instrumentos: (a) Escala de ciberagresiones; (b) Escala de cibervictimización; y (c) Symptom Assessment-45 Questionnaire (SA-45). Los resultados evidencian que un 27,5% de la muestra ha sido agredida en alguna ocasión, así como que 26,7% ha sido acosador durante el último año. Por otro lado, los resultados demostraron que existe un impacto psicológico (escalas del SA-45) tanto en las cibervíctimas, como en los ciberagresores. Conclusiones: Respecto a las diferencias de género en ciberbullying se evidenciaron solo en algunas escalas (primordialmente depresión, ansiedad, sensibilidad interpersonal y somatización), aunque no fueron significativas entre los síntomas psicológicos reportados en este estudio (salvo en las escalas relacionadas con Somatización y Ansiedad fóbica). © Revista Colombiana de Ciencias Sociales.

This article examines the levels of subjective wellbeing (psychological and social wellbeing, subjective happiness, and satisfaction with life) and clinical symptomatology (anxiety, depression, somatization, hostility, and phobic anxiety) in a transwomen sample (n = 112). The sample was recruited through a snowball procedure in Chile (Santiago, Valparaiso, and Arica). Data obtained are compared to those from a group of men who have sex with men (MSM; n = 323). Results reveal statistically significant differences in the levels of happiness (t(157) = 2.16; p = .03; d = .25), satisfaction with life (t(154) = 3.90; p

Panic disorder (PD) patients often report respiratory symptoms and tend to perform poorly during maximal cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX), at least partially, due to phobic anxiety. Thus, we hypothesized that a submaximal exercise variable, minimum VE/VO2 - hereafter named cardiorespiratory optimal point (COP) -, may be useful in their clinical assessment. Data from 2,338 subjects were retrospectively analyzed and 52 (2.2%) patients diagnosed with PD (PDG) (70% women; aged 48±13 years). PD patients were compared with a healthy control group (CG) precisely matched to number of cases, age and gender profiles. PDG was further divided into two subgroups, based on having achieved a maximal or a submaximal CPX (unwilling to continue until exhaustion). We compared COP, VO2 max, maximum heart rate (HR max) between PDG and CG, and also COP between maximal and submaximal PD subgroups. COP was similar between PDG and CG (21.9±0.5 vs. 23.4±0.6; p = 0.07), as well as, for PD subgroups of maximal and submaximal CPX (22.0±0.5 vs. 21.6±1.3; p = 0.746). Additionally, PD patients completing a maximal CPX obtained VO2 max (mL x kg-1 x min-1) (32.9±1.57 vs 29.6±1.48; p = 0.145) and HR max (bpm) similar to controls (173±2.0 vs 168±2.7; p = 0.178). No adverse complications occurred during CPX. Although clinically safe, it is sometimes difficult to obtain a true maximal CPX in PD patients. Normalcy of cardiorespiratory interaction at submaximal effort as assessed by COP may contribute to reassure both patients and physicians that there is no physiological substrate for exercise-related respiratory symptoms often reported by PD patients.

Objective Disease severity in the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is highly influenced by psychiatric comorbidity. The mechanism of this influence is generally unknown, even if the brain-gut axis seems to be involved. Recent research has indicated that IBS patients have aberrant perception of visceral stimuli in the CNS. We compared IBS patients with and without comorbid phobic anxiety to see if the comorbid disorder influenced brain information processing of auditory stimuli, and looked for possible consequences with respect to visceral sensitivity thresholds and disease severity. Methods Eleven female patients with IBS with comorbid phobic anxiety disorder were compared with 22 age-matched female IBS patients without such comorbidity. The groups were compared with respect to event-related potentials (ERP), auditory-presented words with emotional contents, barostat-assessed visceral sensitivity thresholds, and symptom levels the last week before assessment. Results The comorbid group had a significantly enhanced first negative ERP wave (N1) to all stimuli, indicating increased use of brain attentional resources. It also had increased visceral threshold for the sensation of gas, and reduced gas-stool and gas-discomfort tolerances compared with the noncomorbid group. Enhanced N1 amplitude at the frontal electrode and reduced gas-stools tolerance significantly predicted subjective gas complaints, explaining 47% of the symptom variation. Conclusions The study suggests an association between information processing in the frontal brain and visceral sensitivity characteristics in IBS patients, and indicates that subjective disease-related symptomatology is predicted by brain perceptual characteristics. The findings indicate that an interaction between IBS-related and anxiety-related hyperreactivity in the frontal brain may constitute a psychophysiological mechanism for the contribution of psychiatric comorbidity to severity and duration of the irritable bowel syndrome.

This study compares the psychosocial and psychological adjustment to the illness of thirty Parkinson's patients and their spouses. The main findings indicate that the patients' adjustment in both areas was significantly worse than their spouses', confirming one part of the authors' hypothesis. In terms of psychological adjustment specifically, the patients showed more symptoms of phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism, while spouses felt more anxiety. Contrary to the second part of the hypothesis, the findings did not indicate a correlation between patients' and spouses' adjustment to the illness.

The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of dental anxiety at the time when adolescents are leaving the public dental service, and to explore the relationship at this stage between dental anxiety and some possible etiologic factors. The sample consisted of 571 18-yr-olds in high school who completed a questionnaire and three psychometric scales, the Dental Fear Scale (DFS), the Dental Beliefs Survey (DBS) and the Geer Fear Scale (GFS), in the classroom. The relationship between dental anxiety (DFS and DBS) and a total of nine possible etiologic factors was explored by the use of stepwise regression analyses, and risk estimates (odds ratio) were calculated in cross-tables. There were significant sex differences for DFS and for GFS, but not for DBS. Nineteen percent of the total sample were classified as having high dental anxiety (DFS > 59). Previous experiences of pain, phobic anxiety indexed by GFS and pain at the last dental visit entered into the stepwise regression models of both dental anxiety indices explaining 50% of the variance of DFS, but only 18% of DBS. Students who reported more than one previous experience of pain were 9.9 times more likely to report high dental anxiety as recorded by DFS than the rest of the group. The corresponding risk factor for DBS was 3.4.

According to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10) classification anxiety disorders are characterized by excessive or dysfunctional anxiety reactions. With the exception of separation anxiety disorder, anxiety is not limited to certain objects or situations, as is the case for phobias. Anxiety may be accompanied by less developed depressive or compulsive symptoms, as well as elements of phobic anxiety.

Acrophobia, or the fear of heights, is a phobic anxiety disorder that falls under the category of specific (isolated) phobia in the International Classification of Diseases-10 (ICD-10) and is classified as a specific phobia in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). It is characterized by an irrational fear of heights, resulting in the avoidance of such situations or enduring the situations with marked distress. Acrophobics avoid a large range of stimuli, from climbing ladders to walking stairwells, getting close to windows in high-rise buildings, crossing bridges, sitting in the balcony section at the theater, etc. Acrophobia is different from physiological height vertigo, with the former being related to excessive fear of falling despite objective risks and avoidance while physiological height vertigo is the whirling sensation and visual destabilization of posture caused when the distance between the observer and the closest stationary visible object becomes critically large.

The origins of dental fear and anxiety are numerous and complex. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the relative effects of learned responses and subjective personality traits on the development of dental anxiety. The study was carried out in kibbutzim (closed homogeneous societies) in Israel where all subjects had received dental treatment from the same dentist since childhood with no choice of dentist. Subjects were requested to fill out questionnaires concerning their dental anxiety (DAS) in the past and at present, an evaluation of their dentist in the past and at present, and a psychopathologic symptom survey (SCL-90). The results show that dental anxiety at present correlates significantly with the evaluation of the present dentist; with dental anxiety as remembered from childhood; and with the following SCL-90 scales: interpersonal sensitivity, anxiety, phobic anxiety and Positive Symptom Distress Index. The best predictors of dental anxiety at present were the evaluation of the present dentist and past dental anxiety (as remembered from childhood). The results suggest that the level of the subject's dental anxiety is affected by environmental factors (evaluation of the present dentist, memories of anxiety from childhood), and by personality traits as evaluated by the SCL-90 questionnaire.

Consecutively referred out-patients (n = 102) with non-psychotic functional psychiatric disorders were examined. Nine syndrome scores (panic attack, phobic anxiety, generalized anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, dissociative, conversion, somatoform, depersonalization, and depressive) showed patterns corresponding to ICD-10 diagnoses. However, some also showed moderate correlations between each other. Factor analysis revealed that the nine syndrome scores could be accounted for by three factors-anxiety and somatic, depression and obsessive-compulsive, and hysterical. These findings cast doubt on the nosological specificity of the recent categorization of neurotic disorders. Furthermore, the symptom constellations identified in this study may be culture-bound.

Objective: The current study investigated whether a concern with body shape and weight represents a distinct affective state, or whether it is better conceptualized as a highly specific form of anxiety. Method: The color-naming performance of women with a high Drive for Thinness score was examined under three experimental conditions: when a photograph of chocolate was present, when actual chocolate was present, and a control condition. High Drive for Thinness subjects demonstrated relatively impaired color naming of body shape words in the picture condition, but not in the food or control conditions. Results: Although there was a significant impairment in the color naming of food words, this was unaffected by condition or degree of Drive for Thinness. Discussion: The results are interpreted as supporting an analogy between weight/body shape concerns and subclinical phobic anxiety.