This study is based on two previous studies that showed a post-treatment decrease in total criminal thinking (PICTS) and an increase in total sense of coherence (SOC) among youths and adults. The current study investigated whether these interventions changed the sub-scales of PICTS and SOC, and whether an increase in SOC would mediate a decrease in PICTS. Among both groups, the mean value of the sub-factors of PICTS decreased by the interventions, and increased for SOC sub-factors meaningfulness and manageability. Only among the adults, the increase in total sense of coherence and the sub-factor of manageability mediated the decrease of criminal thinking. 

The present study examined if an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)-based online intervention for parents had indirect effects on their children's quality of life mediated by changes in parental well-being, psychological flexibility and mindfulness skills. Participants were 74 adults, who either received an ACT-based guided online intervention or were allocated to the wait list control group, and their children (n = 66) who had type 1 diabetes or functional disabilities. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and a bias-corrected bootstrap approach were applied to examine the indirect effects of the treatment on children's quality of life through changes in parents' well-being and psychological processes involving psychological flexibility, cognitive defusion, and mindfulness skills. Children's quality of life was assessed both by self-reports and parents' evaluations. Significant indirect effects on children's quality of life were found through improvements in parental well-being and mindfulness skills. The intervention had significant indirect effects on parents' evaluations of their children's quality of life concerning family and other social relationships, as well as on physical well-being. In regard to children's self-reported quality of life, the intervention had significant indirect effects on self-esteem, family relations, emotional well-being, and functioning at school/kindergarten. The results indicate that it is beneficial for children's quality of life to improve parents' ability to describe their experiences, being non-reactive to one's inner experiences and acting with awareness as well as cognitive defusion.

The current study investigates the possibility that athletes have more parallel ADHD symptoms than non-athletes. High-level youth sport athletes were compared with non-athletes in leisure time (i.e., sport) and in the school in ADHD symptoms. Athletes and students were evaluated by a trained psychotherapist using Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) on activities at school and during activities in leisure/sports time. They also filled in the Autism Spectrum Questionnaire (AQ) as a self-report assessment. Results showed significant differences in ASRS-scores for athletes in school and in their sport, with high scores in school and low scores in sport. No differences were found in AQ between the groups. The findings indicate that many athletes might display a cognitive profile of parallel of ADHD criteria. Future research needs to further investigate potential benefits of the cognitive profile in athletes and how they handle different contexts including sport and school settings.

Background

Parents of children with chronic conditions often experience a crisis with serious mental health problems for themselves as a consequence. The healthcare focus is on the children; however, the parents often worry about their children's health and future but are seldom offered any counselling or guidance.

Aim

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of two group-based behavioural interventions on stress and burnout among parents of children with chronic conditions.

Design, participants and setting

After a waiting list control period (n = 28), parents were offered either a cognitive behavioural (CBT, n = 10) or a mindfulness program (MF, n = 9).

Results

Both interventions decreased significantly stress and burnout. The within-group effect sizes were large in both interventions (CBT, g = 1.28–1.64; MF, g = 1.25–2.20).

Conclusions

Hence, the results of this pilot study show that treating a group using either CBT or mindfulness can be an efficient intervention for reducing stress levels and burnout in parents of children with chronic conditions.

The cognitive intervention programme 'New Challenges' targeting adult men with a criminal lifestyle was evaluated in a pilot study. The participants were divided into a cognitive treatment group (n = 32) and a control group (n = 11). In the control group, six participants had no treatment and five participated in 12-step treatment. The participants were measured pre and post using the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS), the abridged version of sense of coherence (SOC), Positive and Negative Affect Scale, and Bergström's quality of programme delivery (QPD). The results of the treatment group showed that criminal thinking patterns dropped significantly from high values to close to normal level. SOC and positive affect increased significantly in the treatment group. Both SOC and positive affect showed positive correlation with QPD. Regarding the possible influence of the 12-step treatment, there was no difference in the control group between participants receiving 12-step treatment and those not receiving treatment. The main conclusion is that the cognitive treatment programme 'New Challenges' can contribute to reduced criminal thinking and increased SOC and positive affect, which may prove to be important precursors of reduced criminality.

Experiential avoidance, cognitive defusion, and mindfulness have all been associated with psychological disorders and well-being. This study investigates whether they predict psychological distress, i.e., symptoms of burnout, depression, stress and anxiety, in parents of children with chronic conditions. We hypothesized that these factors would exhibit a large degree of common variance, and that when compared to mindfulness and defusion, experiential avoidance on its own would predict a larger proportion of unique variance. 75 parents of children with chronic conditions having burnout symptoms who participated in an intervention study completed measures of burnout, stress, anxiety, depression, experiential avoidance, cognitive defusion, and mindfulness at the beginning of the intervention study (baseline). We ran several regression analyses to assess the predictive ability of these different constructs. Experiential avoidance on its own accounted for 28-48% of the variance in different psychological symptoms. Cognitive defusion and mindfulness did not make a significant contribution to explaining burnout, stress and anxiety, but cognitive defusion contributed to explaining depression. The results confirmed our hypothesis, supporting research on the importance of psychological flexibility as a central factor in understanding the occurrence of psychological distress.

Introduction: Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is often comorbid with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). But to what extent can obsessional symptoms in individuals with ASD be considered “genuinely” comorbid OCD – or are there other mechanisms that are related to ASD? Which mechanisms in OCD with and without ASD share common features? People with ASD have a cognitive profile characterized by “mindblindness”; the antecedent is often referred to in terms of not knowing how to perform or behave and this is the cause of discomfort. This raises the question whether individuals with ASD and comorbid OCD share the same cognitive elements of responsibility interpretation and the same fear of causing harm as individuals who merely have OCD.

Objective: The aim of the present study is therefore to evaluate the extent of responsibility interpretation in individuals with OCD alone compared with people experiencing OCD in the context of ASD.

Methods: Two instruments, the Responsibility Attitude Scale (RAS) and the Responsibility Interpretations Questionnaire (RIQ), were administered to three groups of participants: (i) individuals diagnosed with OCD (n = 32); (ii) individuals with ASD and OCD (n = 19); and (iii) non-clinical control participants (n = 23).

Results: Results indicate significant differences in all measures of responsibility belief (interpretation of obsession and assumption of responsibility) between the OCD-only group and the two other groups.

Conclusion: The conclusion is that OCD in people with ASD is not as “genuine” as in people with only OCD, according to cognitive behavioral theory of OCD.

Background: Previous researches have indicated that self-reported positive affect and negative affect is changing in a healthy direction during Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).Objective:The aim of the present study was to examine how affective personality is related to psychopathology before and after CBT.

Method: A group of clients (n = 73) was measured before and after CBT, differentiated by their problem areas at pre-therapy (i.e., depressive, anxious and mixed).

Results: After therapy, clients experienced higher positive affect (p < .02, d=0.66), lower negative affect (p < .001, d=0.98) and there was a significant change in the distribution of affective personality regardless of problem area, χ2 = 8.41, df = 3, two-tailed p = .04, 99% CI [0.03, 0.04]. The change in the distribution was largest for the two most relevant personality types, self-actualization and self-destructive affective personality.

Conclusion: Results indicate that CBT can achieve changes in affect and affective personality.