Treatment Procedures for the Anxiety Disorders

1991 ◽  
pp. 185-211
Author(s):  
Ronald A. Kleinknecht
Author(s):  
Peter D. McLean ◽  
Sheila R. Woody

This chapter discusses specific fears and phobias, and provides an informational and theoretical base from which will be expanded into more complex anxiety disorders in later chapters. Specific phobias will be considered within a three-systems perspective, including behavioral, physiological, and cognitive components of the fear response. Unique features of some of the specific phobias will be discussed, and empirically supported treatment procedures will be described.


2017 ◽  
Vol 225 (3) ◽  
pp. 252-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Richter ◽  
Andre Pittig ◽  
Maike Hollandt ◽  
Ulrike Lueken

Abstract. As a core component of cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBT), behavioral exposure is an effective treatment for anxiety disorders. Still, recent treatment studies demonstrate relatively high rates of treatment dropout, nonresponse, and relapse, indicating a substantial need for optimizing and personalizing existing treatment procedures. In the present article, we aim to address current challenges and future demands for translational research in CBT for the anxiety disorders, including (a) a better understanding of those mechanisms conferring behavioral change, (b) identifying important sources of individual variation that may act as moderators of treatment response, and (c) targeting practical barriers for dissemination of exposure therapy to routine care. Based on a recursive process model of psychotherapy research we will describe distinct steps to systematically translate basic and clinical research “from bench to bedside” to routine care, but also vice versa. Some of these aspects may stimulate the future roadmap for evidence-based psychotherapy research in order to better target the treatment of anxiety disorders as one core health challenge of our time.


1992 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan G. Kamhi

My response to Fey’s article (1985; reprinted 1992, this issue) focuses on the confusion caused by the application of simplistic phonological definitions and models to the assessment and treatment of children with speech delays. In addition to having no explanatory adequacy, such definitions/models lead either to assessment and treatment procedures that are similarly focused or to procedures that have no clear logical ties to the models with which they supposedly are linked. Narrowly focused models and definitions also usually include no mention of speech production processes. Bemoaning this state of affairs, I attempt to show why it is important for clinicians to embrace broad-based models of phonological disorders that have some explanatory value. Such models are consistent with assessment procedures that are comprehensive in nature and treatment procedures that focus on linguistic, as well as motoric, aspects of speech.


2000 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Ottosson ◽  
Martin Grann ◽  
Gunnar Kullgren

Summary: Short-term stability or test-retest reliability of self-reported personality traits is likely to be biased if the respondent is affected by a depressive or anxiety state. However, in some studies, DSM-oriented self-reported instruments have proved to be reasonably stable in the short term, regardless of co-occurring depressive or anxiety disorders. In the present study, we examined the short-term test-retest reliability of a new self-report questionnaire for personality disorder diagnosis (DIP-Q) on a clinical sample of 30 individuals, having either a depressive, an anxiety, or no axis-I disorder. Test-retest scorings from subjects with depressive disorders were mostly unstable, with a significant change in fulfilled criteria between entry and retest for three out of ten personality disorders: borderline, avoidant and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. Scorings from subjects with anxiety disorders were unstable only for cluster C and dependent personality disorder items. In the absence of co-morbid depressive or anxiety disorders, mean dimensional scores of DIP-Q showed no significant differences between entry and retest. Overall, the effect from state on trait scorings was moderate, and it is concluded that test-retest reliability for DIP-Q is acceptable.


2017 ◽  
Vol 225 (3) ◽  
pp. 200-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Baumann ◽  
Miriam A. Schiele ◽  
Martin J. Herrmann ◽  
Tina B. Lonsdorf ◽  
Peter Zwanzger ◽  
...  

Abstract. Conditioning and generalization of fear are assumed to play central roles in the pathogenesis of anxiety disorders. Here we investigate the influence of a psychometric anxiety-specific factor on these two processes, thus try to identify a potential risk factor for the development of anxiety disorders. To this end, 126 healthy participants were examined with questionnaires assessing symptoms of anxiety and depression and with a fear conditioning and generalization paradigm. A principal component analysis of the questionnaire data identified two factors representing the constructs anxiety and depression. Variations in fear conditioning and fear generalization were solely associated with the anxiety factor characterized by anxiety sensitivity and agoraphobic cognitions; high-anxious individuals exhibited stronger fear responses (arousal) during conditioning and stronger generalization effects for valence and UCS-expectancy ratings. Thus, the revealed psychometric factor “anxiety” was associated with enhanced fear generalization, an assumed risk factor for anxiety disorders. These results ask for replication with a longitudinal design allowing to examine their predictive validity.


2016 ◽  
Vol 224 (2) ◽  
pp. 62-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Straube

Abstract. Psychotherapy is an effective treatment for most mental disorders, including anxiety disorders. Successful psychotherapy implies new learning experiences and therefore neural alterations. With the increasing availability of functional neuroimaging methods, it has become possible to investigate psychotherapeutically induced neuronal plasticity across the whole brain in controlled studies. However, the detectable effects strongly depend on neuroscientific methods, experimental paradigms, analytical strategies, and sample characteristics. This article summarizes the state of the art, discusses current theoretical and methodological issues, and suggests future directions of the research on the neurobiology of psychotherapy in anxiety disorders.


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