Psychotherapy Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Psychotherapy, including details on psychiatry, psychoanalysis, methods, outcomes.

Childhood sexual abuse differentially predicts outcome of cognitive-behavioral therapy for deliberate self-harm.

Spinhoven P, Slee N, Garnefski N, Arensman E

Department of Psychology and Psychiatry, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands. spinhoven@fsw.leidenuniv.nl

This study examined the association of childhood abuse with deliberate self-harm and related psychopathology and the impact of childhood abuse on treatment outcome as assessed in a randomized controlled trial of cognitive-behavioral therapy for 90 young people who recently engaged in Deliberate Self-Harm (DSH). Participants with a history of childhood sexual abuse manifested more Axis I disorders and reported higher levels of DSH, depression, suicidal cognitions, anxiety, and dissociation. After statistically controlling for baseline differences in DSH and related psychopathology, participants with a reported history of childhood sexual abuse showed a significantly lower risk of repeated DSH in the Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy condition compared with those receiving treatment-as-usual (TAU). Our results suggest that a structured treatment format and focus on adequate emotion regulation skills may be essential elements in the treatment of persons with DSH and a history of childhood sexual abuse.

Published 15 June 2009 in J Nerv Ment Dis, 197(6): 455-7.
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Articles on Psychotherapy published 15 June 2009:

Development of the Readiness for Psychotherapy Index.   J Nerv Ment Dis, 197(6): 427-33.

Evaluation of the probability of success is an important task when selecting patients for psychotherapy. Discussions of selection criteria for psychotherapy often focus on variables that reflect the patient's "readiness." Readiness refers to the patient's positive attitude and preparedness to enter into a therapeutic relationship for the purpose of resolving problems. Although the concept of readiness is generally regarded as highly important, no widely accepted measure of it exists. ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

The effect of psychotherapy added to pharmacotherapy on cortisol responses in outpatients with major depressive disorder.   J Nerv Ment Dis, 197(6): 401-6.

The present study examined the changes of depressive symptoms and salivary cortisol responses in 36 outpatients with major depression. These patients were randomly assigned to receive combination therapy (CT), consisting of antidepressants and body-mind-spirit group psychotherapy, or monotherapy (MT), consisting of antidepressants only. The results indicated that CT and MT had similar effects on reducing depressive symptoms. Nevertheless, the results revealed that cortisol levels at night ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Psychotherapy published 5 June 2009:

Central and autonomic nervous system interaction is altered by short-term meditation.   Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 106(22): 8865-70.

Five days of integrative body-mind training (IBMT) improves attention and self-regulation in comparison with the same amount of relaxation training. This paper explores the underlying mechanisms of this finding. We measured the physiological and brain changes at rest before, during, and after 5 days of IBMT and relaxation training. During and after training, the IBMT group showed significantly better physiological reactions in heart rate, respiratory amplitude and rate, and skin conductance ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Psychotherapy published 3 June 2009:

Prevention of depression in at-risk adolescents: a randomized controlled trial.   JAMA, 301(21): 2215-24.

CONTEXT: Adolescent offspring of depressed parents are at markedly increased risk of developing depressive disorders. Although some smaller targeted prevention trials have found that depression risk can be reduced, these results have yet to be replicated and extended to large-scale, at-risk populations in different settings. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of a group cognitive behavioral (CB) prevention program compared with usual care in preventing the onset of depression. DESIGN, SETTING, ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Psychotherapy published 29 May 2009:

Effects of dance on movement control in Parkinson's disease: a comparison of Argentine tango and American ballroom.   J Rehabil Med, 41(6): 475-81.

OBJECTIVE: The basal ganglia may be selectively activated during rhythmic, metered movement such as tango dancing, which may improve motor control in individuals with Parkinson's disease. Other partner dances may be more suitable and preferable for those with Parkinson's disease. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of tango, waltz/foxtrot and no intervention on functional motor control in individuals with Parkinson's disease. DESIGN: This study employed a randomized, between- ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Psychotherapy published 27 May 2009:

Optimized antidepressant therapy and pain self-management in primary care patients with depression and musculoskeletal pain: a randomized controlled trial.   JAMA, 301(20): 2099-110.

CONTEXT: Pain and depression are the most common physical and psychological symptoms in primary care, respectively. Moreover, they co-occur 30% to 50% of the time and have adverse effects on quality of life, disability, and health care costs. OBJECTIVE: To determine if a combined pharmacological and behavioral intervention improves both depression and pain in primary care patients with musculoskeletal pain and comorbid depression. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: Randomized controlled trial ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Psychotherapy published 25 May 2009:

A randomized controlled trial of mental imagery augment generalization of learning in acute poststroke patients.   Stroke, 40(6): 2222-5.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Our previous studies demonstrated that mental imagery intervention enhanced poststroke patients relearning daily task performance. This study aimed to test the efficacy of mental imagery for promoting generalization of the task skills learned in a training environment to trained and untrained tasks carried out in a novel environment. METHODS: Thirty-five acute poststroke patients were randomly assigned to the mental imagery (MI; n=18) or conventional functional ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Psychotherapy published 20 May 2009:

Cognitive behavioral therapy, singly and combined with medication, for persistent insomnia: a randomized controlled trial.   JAMA, 301(19): 2005-15.

CONTEXT: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and hypnotic medications are efficacious for short-term treatment of insomnia, but few patients achieve complete remission with any single treatment. It is unclear whether combined or maintenance therapies would enhance outcome. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the added value of medication over CBT alone for acute treatment of insomnia and the effects of maintenance therapies on long-term outcome. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: Prospective, randomized ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

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