Journal articles: 'Cognitive therapy. Explanatory style (Psychology)' – Grafiati (2024)

Abstract:

This study investigated the possible relationship between Ellis's construct of irrational thinking and Seligman's construct of explanatory style, with a view toward possibly strengthening the personality theory underlying Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy in particular and cognitive-behavior therapies more generally. In this investigation 180 college students were administered the Survey of Personal Beliefs and the Attributional Style Questionnaire to measure irrational thinking and explanatory style, respectively. Students who scored higher on Pessimistic Explanatory Style also scored higher on Overall Irrational Thinking and on Low Frustration Tolerance than did those who were categorized as having an Optimistic Explanatory Style. This indicates support for Ellis's developing personality theory, especially his theoretical account of depression.

Abstract:

Explanatory style, a cognitive variable, reflects how people typically explain the causes of bad events involving themselves. Explanatory style emerged from the attributional reformulation of the learned helplessness and depression model as a way of explaining individual differences in response to uncontrollability. A central prediction of the reformulation is that people with habitual explanatory tendencies differ, and individuals with a pessimistic explanatory style will be more likely to exhibit depressive symptoms following bad events than individuals with an optimistic explanatory style. 116 upper-level undergraduates beginning a degree program at this university completed the Attributional Style Questionnaire. Scores were correlated with students' cumulative grade point averages and their total points earned in Consumer Behavior, the first course required in the Marketing major. Students with pessimistic explanatory style scores outperformed colleagues with optimistic explanatory style scores. Implications of these findings and possible explanations for why explanatory style did not correlate in the theoretically predicted way with academic achievement are considered.

Abstract:

Cognitive styles are the lenses through which individuals habitually process information from their environment. In this study, we evaluated whether different cognitive style individual difference variables, such as explanatory style and dispositional optimism, could predict changes in affective state over time in community-dwelling older adults. Based on previous research, we hypothesized that an optimistic explanatory style would be adaptive except when combined with life stressors, but that dispositional optimism would predict positive affective states regardless of life events. We found that older adults with a more optimistic explanatory style for health/cognitive events actually appeared to develop more depressive symptoms over six months of follow-up. However, dispositional optimism and orientation toward the future predicted a better affective profile over time.

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AbstractBackground: This study builds on previous studies reporting that depressive symptoms among adolescents are reduced and personal satisfactions with one's achievements and competence with peers are enhanced when students are taught strategies for engaging in more optimistic thinking (explanatory style) (Gillham, Reivich, & Freres et al., 2006) and social problem-solving (Ingoldsby, Kohl, McMahon, & Lengua, 2006). Additionally, engaging in regular exercise has also been found to be useful in reducing depressive symptoms in this age group (Bodin & Martinsen, 2004). Aim: The study investigated the effects of three interventions — explanatory style (cognitive training), conflict resolution, and exercise — known to help adolescents develop a strong sense of wellbeing. It involved 31students aged 11 to 13 years and their parents, and six class teachers from a large, metropolitan, private boys' college in Brisbane, Australia. Methods: Twenty-five boys participated in the three interventions, while six boys acted as a comparison group. A counterbalanced, multiple baseline design was implemented so that students participated in the three interventions in a different order. Results: The results showed that students in the intervention group experienced a reduction of internalising behaviours such as withdrawal and depressive symptoms following all three interventions. Collectively, the interventions were successful in reducing depressive symptoms; individually, they also significantly reduced depressive symptoms. Conclusions: The results showed that explanatory style, conflict resolution, and exercise interventions are effective in reducing depressive symptoms in adolescents.

Abstract:

In the dialogue that follows, proponents representing rational-emotive therapy (RET) and cognitive therapy discuss ways in which they would conceptualize and treat various case examples. The similarities and differences in approaches are then examined. It was found that RET takes biological factors heavily into account, whereas cognitive therapy sees learning as primary in the development of emotional disorders; that RET focuses mainly on absolutistic thought, whereas cognitive therapy emphasizes faulty perceptions and inferences as much as absolutistic thought as targets for intervention; and that RET’s style is forceful and directive, whereas cognitive therapy’s style is gentle and more collaborative. In addition, the two approaches were found to differ in their goals for treatment: RET advocates an effort to minimize or eliminate the client’s “musts” and “shoulds”; cognitive therapy aims at moderating such absolutistic thought. Possible factors explaining the origin of these differences are explored.

Abstract:

In the first part of the paper we describe the philosophical debate on the expansions of cognitive science into the brain and into the environment, take sides against the “revolutionary” positions on them and in favor of a “reformist” approach, and conclude that the most appropriate model for cognitive sciences is pluralistic. This is meant in a twofold sense. On the one hand, mental phenomena require a variety of explanatory levels, whose inter-relations are of two kinds: decomposition and contextualization. On the other hand, the arguably quasi-holistic character of some cognitive tasks suggests that the mechanistic style of explanation has to be integrated in these cases with a dynamical explanatory style. This theoretical picture, however, raises two classes of problems: (a) the compatibility between the mechanistic-computationalist explanation and the dynamical one and (b) the nature of theoretical entities and relations postulated at the different levels of a pluralistic model involving computational explanations. Each point will be discussed in the second part of the paper.

Abstract:

We designed a short-term training course in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) for use with busy people with little time. We examined whether or not MBCT training would affect people's cognition. We assigned 44 participants with no prior experience with mindfulness techniques randomly to either an MBCT group or a control group. These participants then completed the Trait Coping Style Questionnaire (TCSQ). After having undergone 7 days of training, we assessed participants again with the TCSQ and they also completed the Attention Network Test. Results showed that orienting and executive control differed between the MBCT and control groups, but there was no difference between the 2 groups in alerting. The score for positive coping style was significantly enhanced in the group who had undergone MBCT training. Our findings suggest that MBCT can be an effective approach to improve individuals' attentional subsystem and coping style in a short time.

Abstract:

Pessimistic explanatory style is a robust predictor of future depressive symptoms. There were 112 college students with a pessimistic explanatory style identified from a larger screening sample. Participants were randomly assigned to Self-Administered Optimism Training or a no-treatment control group. Participants assigned to SOT received 10 minutes of instruction regarding self-monitoring of how they assigned causes to events in their lives and “brainstorming” alternate causes, and then sent off to record daily diaries that captured this information every day for 28 days. The SOT participants demonstrated significant drops in pessimism in three separate but related assessments. Further, findings indicated a significant correlation between cognitive change and depression symptom change for the SOT group but not the control group. Although preliminary in nature, findings from the current study demonstrate the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of an inexpensive, prophylactic treatment for depression that utilizes a minimum of therapist contact.

Abstract:

Bowlby’s attachment theory contends that all individuals develop working models of self and significant others, based on early experiences, that have important implications for understanding adult psychopathology. From a social cognitive perspective these “working models” can be conceptualized in terms of relational schemas that have the same functions as other types of schemas (e.g., organizing information, guiding future behavior, etc.). Cognitive vulnerability models have proposed a pessimistic explanatory style that confers vulnerability to depression and a looming maladaptive style that confers vulnerability to anxiety. The present study examines the pattern of relationships between adult romantic attachment, cognitive vulnerabilities to anxiety and depression, self-reported anxious and depressive symptoms, and both general and specific relationship outcomes. Results suggest that higher levels of attachment insecurity were associated with increased psychological symptoms, higher levels of cognitive vulnerabilities, and greater general and relationship impairments. Moreover, cognitive vulnerabilities partially mediated the relationship between adult attachment and anxious and depressive symptoms, suggesting that insecure attachments may represent a developmental antecedent to cognitive vulnerabilities to anxiety and depression.

Abstract:

This study examined the relationship between explanatory style for positive and negative events in heavy- and moderate-drinking college students. Results indicate no difference between the two drinking groups in explanations for negative events; however, hearvier-drinking subjects did tend to have more global and stable explanations for positive events. In addition, those subjects attached more importance to positive events. Results are discussed in terms of the utility of such a style in avoiding depressed mood. Also discussed is the potential for changing such a belief pattern and the possible implications for the use of the Attributional Style Questionnaire with populations other than those who are depressed.

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Background. Little is known about how continuation and maintenance cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) influences important psychological constructs that may be associated with long-term outcome of major depressive disorder. The goal of this study was to examine whether CBT would help maintain attributional style changes experienced by patients during acute phase fluoxetine treatment.Method. Three hundred and ninety-one patients with major depressive disorder were enrolled in an open, fixed-dose 8 week fluoxetine trial. Remitters to this acute phase treatment (N=132) were randomized to receive either fixed-dose fluoxetine (meds only) or fixed-dose fluoxetine plus cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT+meds) during a 6-month continuation treatment phase. The Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) was completed by patients at three time points – acute phase baseline, continuation phase baseline and continuation phase endpoint. Analysis of covariance was used to compare continuation phase ASQ composite score changes between groups.Results. Patients in both treatment groups experienced significant gains in positive attributional style during the acute phase of treatment. Continuation phase ASQ composite change scores differed significantly between treatment groups, with the CBT+meds group maintaining acute phase positive attributional style changes, and the meds only group exhibiting a worsening of attributional style. The two treatment groups did not significantly differ in rates of relapse and final continuation phase visit HAMD-17 scores.Conclusions. In this sample, the addition of CBT to continuation psychopharmacological treatment was associated with maintenance of acute treatment phase attributional style gains. Further research is needed to evaluate the role of such gains in the long-term course of depressive illness.

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This paper seeks to examine the feasibility of targeting cognitive therapy during early relapse, using a single case design. Gumley, White and Power (1999) offer a theoretical conceptualization of psychotic relapse based on Teasdale and Barnard's (1993) ICS model of depression. This conceptualization aims to provide a means for clinicians and patients to formulate the key psychological factors, which may be responsible for the initiation, acceleration and maintenance of relapse, thereby enabling these factors to be targeted should a relapse be indicated. The intervention received by a case illustrated in this paper is derived from the ICS conceptualization of relapse. The intervention has two stages: an initial engagement and formulation phase and, if required, a targeted cognitive therapy phase. All of the characteristics of traditional cognitive therapy are adhered to, including the use of structure, problem focus, agenda, a socratic style, and collaboration. The paper concludes that there is a need for further research to provide further evidence of the feasibility and efficacy of this approach.

Abstract:

One of the primary goals of cognitive therapy for depression is to teach an individual a new, more adaptive way of thinking about stressful life experiences. We argue that this process of supplanting a deeply engrained way of negative thinking with a more adaptive style of thinking is similar to learning a second language. The purpose of this article was to use a second-language acquisition framework to evaluate the strategies typically used in cognitive therapy for changing depressogenic cognitive patterns and to propose new strategies that may make the therapy more effective.

Abstract:

Right and left cerebral hemisphere and limbic scores derived from the Herrmann Brain Dominance Profile were correlated with left, right, and integrated scores from the Torrance-Reynolds Your Style of Learning and Thinking and four cognitive style scores from the Kolb Learning Style Inventory. Coefficients from 40 students in occupational therapy indicated (a) low moderate positive relationships between like-named hemisphere scores, (b) lack of significant relationships between cognitive style and two independent measures of hemispheric preference, and (c) relative independence of preferred hemisphere mode as well as relative independence between cerebral and limbic systems. The data are interpreted as requiring cautious concern about the validity of these measures by potential users.

Abstract:

Cognitive styles affect the learning process positively if tasks are matched to the cognitive style of learners. This effect becomes more pronounced in complex education, such as in engineering. We attempted to critically assess the effect of cognitive styles and gender on students’ academic performance in eight engineering majors to understand whether a cognitive style preference is associated with certain majors. We used the Cognitive Style Indicator (CoSI) with a sample of n = 584 engineering students. Multiple standard statistical tests, regression tree analysis, and cluster analysis showed that none of the three cognitive styles was exclusively associated with better performance. However, students who had a stronger preference for a cognitive style were more likely to perform better. Gender, the major, and students’ clarity about their cognitive style were shown to be the best predictors of academic performance. Female students performed better and were clearer about their preferred cognitive style, whereas male students were more capable of adapting to different learning tasks. Furthermore, certain engineering majors were shown to be associated with certain cognitive styles. We concluded the study with theoretical and practical implications for engineering education and suggestions for further research.

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AbstractThe objective of this study was to investigate the relative contributions of university education, exposure specific training, and beliefs about exposure therapy (ET) in relation to the frequency, duration, and intense delivery of ET by Australian psychologists. Associations between clinicians’ use of and theoretical conceptualisation of ET, and attachment style were also evaluated. A total of 115 Australian psychologists (N = 94 females) completed an online survey. Findings revealed that a majority of participants used cognitive behaviour therapy (93%) and ET (88%) to treat anxiety disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder. The majority who used ET (90%) reported using therapist-assisted in vivo exposure with clients. Findings also showed that therapists spend 42% of session time on exposure. Moreover, therapists who reported more comprehensive training had more positive beliefs about ET. Positive beliefs about ET, and clearer conceptualisation of treatment, were related to greater use and more intense implementation of ET. Psychologists with a more preoccupied or dismissive attachment style were less likely to deliver intense ET. The findings suggest that ET-specific training may be a powerful medium to improving the adoption and application of ET. Clinician's theoretical conceptualisation of ET and interpersonal attachment style are also worthy targets for future research and training in ET.

Abstract:

The present study provides support for the hypothesis that similarities and differences in cognitive style could mediate the success of a marital relationship. Forty-five married couples, whose scores on the Marital Views Survey indicated they were satisfied in their marriage, independently completed the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory (KAI; Kirton, 1976) to determine their cognitive style (adaptor or innovator). Both members of 45 divorced couples also completed the KAI. Significantly more adaptor/adaptor dyads (32/45, i.e., 71%) were found among married couples than in the divorced sample, suggesting that the preference for structure characteristic of spouses in adaptor/adaptor pairings enables them to produce mutually beneficial approaches to change and solutions to problems in their marriages. The KAI may be valuable in the prospective determination of marital compatibility, and in therapy protocols for couples with marital difficulties.

Abstract:

ABSTRACTThe present study analysed formerly unexamined indirect routes for relationships between time 1 maternal speech and later child language development. Ten normally developing children in Brown's early stage 1 and their mothers were the subjects. For each dyad, two free-play sessions occurring five months apart were videotaped in the subjects' homes. Mothers' pragmatic language use was coded from time 1 sessions. Child language level was coded at both sessions. Even though time 1 scores of the outcome were controlled, seven of the ten relationships involving mother speech and child language development were indirectly related through one of two time 1 child language measures. The results indicate that a mother-driven, direct influence model may be inappropriate for many mother speech–child language development relationships. We argue that child-driven and mother-driven explanatory models for the indirect relationships are equally feasible.

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to analyze the contribution of linguistic and psychological variables in the explanation of the variance associated with reading comprehension in English (L2). Two hundred and eighty Mexican university students participated in the study. The variables analyzed within the linguistic dimension were: reading strategies in Spanish, linguistic competence in English, and ability to perceive lexical transparency between L1 and L2. The psychological dimension evaluated the influence of the reader’s cognitive style, locus of control, and action control orientation on reading comprehension in L2. Subjects were administered a battery of seven evaluation instruments. Multiple regression analyses suggested a two-stage explanatory model of reading in L2. Firstly, psychological variables accounted for 10.0% of the variance in reading comprehension in the first language. Secondly, reading comprehension in Spanish, linguistic competence in L2, and perception of lexical transparency, accounted for 35.5% of the variance in reading comprehension in English.

Abstract:

In recent years there has been a growing interest in the application of cognitive therapy procedures to clients with personality disorders. In this article it is suggested that the interest in personality disorders is consistent with a renewed interest in the basic concept of personality, and that there is a need for systematic theory regarding the fashion in which consistencies in construal style and interpersonal patterns develop. A number of relevant theoretical developments are briefly summarized and their implications for treatment are explored.

Abstract:

12 clients suffering from chronic tics participated in one of two treatment programs, either a behavioral group using competing response therapy or a group using Beck-style cognitive restructuring. A repertory grid based upon the personal construct psychology of George Kelly was administered to all clients before and after treatment. The grid comprised a set of elements made up of situations with high, medium, and low risk of eliciting tics, and constructs were derived from comparisons between them. Clients' ratings of the elements on the constructs were subjected to a principal components analysis using an INGRID program. Following treatment the total variation around construct means decreased in both groups but significantly more in the cognitive group, indicating a narrowing of the difference in their perceptions of situations which formerly indicated high and low risk of inducing tics.

Abstract:

Treatment non-adherence is a common problem in mental health services but little is known about non-adherence to psychological therapy for psychosis. The main aim of the present study was to investigate the role of patients' recovery style and the therapeutic alliance in provoking or forestalling patient drop-out from cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for psychosis. Ratings were made by two independent observers on 29 recordings of sessions from a controlled trial of CBT for psychosis. Sessions of 10 patients who dropped out of treatment prematurely were matched with sessions of 10 patients who stayed in. Another nine sessions were selected at random from the middle and late stages of treatment so that the sample was representative of all sessions in the trial. Patients who dropped out of treatment, compared with those who stayed in, were less engaged in treatment, showed less agreement with their therapists, and had a sealing-over recovery style before they dropped out but did not differ in their therapeutic bonds. The results suggest that the premature termination of the drop-outs was not provoked by the therapists but was due to the patients' lack of curiosity about their psychotic episodes and minimization of the impact of their illness.

Abstract:

The cognitive model of gambling argues that irrational beliefs and erroneous perceptions including illusions of control, superstitious beliefs, expectancies of winning, attributional biases, selective memory, and entrapment play a pivotal role in the development and maintenance of impaired control over patterns of gambling behaviours. Assessment strategies using self-report, behavioural inferences, and verbalizations produced by ‘thinking aloud’ techniques, and the effectiveness of treatment interventions designed to correct cognitive distortions have provided substantive empirical evidence supporting this model. However, research has yet to measure such differences between the quality, intensity, or conviction of specific dysfunctional beliefs held by problem in contrast to social gamblers. At the theoretical level, the absence of such demonstrable differences would undermine the validity of the cognitive explanatory model. Based on a review of the available literature, a preliminary measure to assess differences in irrational gambling beliefs was constructed and administered to a convenience sample of 56 problem gamblers and 52 social gamblers. In support of the cognitive model, analysis indicated that, compared to social gamblers, problem gamblers endorsed more irrational beliefs across all domains except for the variable of ‘denial’. Implications for research issues relevant to the identification of irrational beliefs that may be subjected to challenge within a cognitive therapy paradigm are mentioned.

Abstract:

Background: Research has clearly established the efficacy of pharmacotherapy and cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for depression. There is less literature addressing cessation of treatment, such as relapse during withdrawal from antidepressant medication. Aims: The current study examines the role of psychological constructs that may influence relapse or fear of relapse and lead to resumption of medication. This hypothesizes that during withdrawal individuals may misinterpret normal variations in mood and dysphoric or other symptoms as reduced levels of medication in their bodies in keeping with a simplistic rationale for antidepressants. Method: The study uses an intensive single case AB style design in three cases during the withdrawal process. All participants had been treated with CBT plus antidepressants and had previously attempted to withdraw from antidepressants. The first part of the study naturalistically tracks belief changes as medication decreases; the second examines changes in these if/when a CBT intervention is introduced due to relapse or potential near-relapse. Daily self-monitoring diaries were used to measure target variables, together with standardized questionnaires up to 6 months follow-up. Results: Changes in symptoms, appraisal of symptoms, and beliefs about medication changed throughout the study. All participants remained medication free at 6 months follow-up. Two cases received CBT intervention due to possible relapse; the third underwent an unproblematic withdrawal. Conclusions: Patterns of change are discussed in terms of current approaches to medication cessation and the role of CBT during withdrawal.

Abstract:

Meta-analyses have raised doubts concerning the effectiveness of cognitive methods for treating children’s disorders. This article contends that these doubts stem predominantly from the lack of a basic theoretical model for treating children with cognitive therapy, in contrast with the paradigm existing for adults. In view of the variety of different cognitive techniques used to solve children’s problems, this article presents an adaptation to children of Rosenbaum’s (1993) three types of self-control as a model for reference and comparison: redressive, reformative, and experiential. It is suggested that most children can benefit from cognitive therapy in general and from self-control training in particular. This can occur if treatments are designed in terms of developmental stage, socioeconomic background, and the nature of children’s problems regarding etiology and overcontrolled versus undercontrolled disturbances. This report aims to facilitate the therapist in adapting the appropriate cognitive techniques to the child’s specific behavioral problem, needs, and cognitive style.

Abstract:

Paranoid delusions are associated with an abnormal attributional style that serves the function of preventing the activation of latent discrepancies between self-perceptions and self-ideals at the expense of contributing to the paranoid patient's negative perceptions of the intentions of others. In this case study we describe a therapeutic strategy designed to allow a patient suffering from persecutory delusions to re-attribute negative life experiences to situational causes rather than to a conspiracy directed towards himself. It was hypothesized that no resistance was encountered from the patiet because no attempt was made to re-attribute negative events to internal causes. A reduction in paranoid ideation, which was maintained at follow-up, was accompanied by changes on formal measures of attributions. The implications of these findings for cognitive models of paranoid ideation, and for the development of interventions for deluded patients are discussed.

Abstract:

AbstractObjective:Looming cognitive styles (LCS) bias the velocity of potential threats and have been implicated in anxiety and depression vulnerability. This study aims to explore their contribution to impaired quality of life (QOL), beyond that of depression and anxiety, in a cancer cohort.Method:In a cross-sectional design, an ambulatory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cohort completed a psychological battery that included the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories, the SF-36 Health Survey, the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACT), the Looming Cognitive Style Questionnaire (LCSQ), and the Looming Cancer measure.Results:The Looming Cancer measure correlated significtly with overall QOL (FACT-G, p = 0.005). This effect was largely due to the contribution of emotional QOL (Mental Component Score: SF-36, p = 0.001; FACT-emotional, p = 0.001) and functional QOL (FACT-functional, p = 0.001). Looming, unlike anxiety and depression, did not correlate with a worse physical QOL (Physical Component Score: SF-36, FACT-physical). Looming did not impact on social QOL. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that looming predicted 5.4% of the varience on the FACT-emotional, 5.1% on the Mental Component Score (SF-36), and 9.3% on the mental health subscale (SF-36), above and beyond the varience predicted by a constellation of psychosocial factors (including age, marital status, education, income) and the combined effect of depression and anxietySignificance of results:LCS predicts worse emotional and functional QOL, above and beyond the contribution of anxiety, depression, and other psycho-social variables. This suggests that it makes a unique contribution to a worse QOL. Nevertheless, the looming construct still remains primarily a research tool in psycho-oncology at this time.