Clinical Psychology in Europe (E-Journal)
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Title of “Ambassador of Clinical Psychology and Psychological Treatment” Awarded to Danutė Gailienė
No full textThe paper presents professional activities and the major works of an ambassador of the European Association of Clinical Psychology and Psychological Treatment (EACLIPT), Prof. Danutė Gailienė. Prof. Gailienė is among the most influential European clinical psychologists who contributed to clinical psychology training, research, and practice in former post-communist East European countries. Her entire career was dedicated to the development of clinical psychology, and through her work, Prof. Gailienė demonstrated how even in an oppressive and politically difficult environment, it is possible to keep the integrity and work up to higher standards
Alcohol and Substance Use Disorders Diagnostic Criteria Changes and Innovations in ICD-11: An Overview
No full textBackground: The new revision of the ICD came into effect on January 1st, 2022, and significant changes have been introduced in the section related to substance use disorders. Method: In the present work we describe the new ICD-11 section “Disorders due to Substance Use and Addictive Behaviors” and outline the innovations in classification and diagnosis introduced, with a view to addressing the most important issues in terms of new opportunities for identifying and caring for people in need of treatment. Results: The main innovations introduced in the ICD-11 chapter of interest are the expanded classes of psychoactive substances, the introduction of single episodes of substance use, the introduction of harmful patterns of substance use and severity qualifiers for substance intoxication. Furthermore, the new category “Disorders due to addictive behaviors” has been added, including “Gambling disorder” and the new diagnostic category “Gaming disorder”. Conclusions: ICD-11 calls for renewed public health response and policies fostering the multi-professional and multidisciplinary management of alcohol and substance abuse treatment, giving to these forms of addiction new chances also towards the reaching of the UN 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals
Functional Somatic Symptoms and Emotion Regulation in Children and Adolescents
No full textBackground: Functional Somatic Symptoms (FSS; i.e. symptoms without sufficient organic explanation) often begin in childhood and adolescence and are common to this developmental period. Emotion regulation and parental factors seem to play a relevant role in the development and maintenance of FSS. So far, little systematic research has been conducted in childhood and adolescence on the importance of specific emotion regulation strategies and their links with parental factors.
Method: In two studies, children and adolescents (Study 1/Study 2: N = 46/68; 65%/60% female, Age M = 10.0/13.1) and their parents completed questionnaires on children's FSS and adaptive and maladaptive emotional regulation (in Study 2, additionally parental somatization and child/parental alexithymia).
Results: In both studies, child-reported FSS were negatively associated with children's adaptive emotion regulation (r = -.34/-.31, p < .03; especially acceptance) and positively with children's maladaptive emotion regulation and alexithymia (r = .53/.46, p < .001). Moreover, children’s maladaptive emotion regulation (β = .34, p = .02) explained incremental variance in child-reported FSS beyond children’s age/sex, parental somatization and emotion regulation. In contrast, parental somatization was the only significant predictor (β = .44, p < .001) of parent-reported FSS in children/adolescents.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that particularly rumination and alexithymia and parental somatization are important predictors of FSS in children/adolescents. Overall, the results showed a dependence on the person reporting children's FSS (i.e., method-variance). So, for future studies it is relevant to continue using the multi-informant approach
Social Media Use and Mental Health in Young Adults of Greece: A Cross-Sectional Study
No full textBackground: Social media use has vastly increased during the past few years, especially among young adults. Studies examining the relationship of social media use with mental health have yielded mixed findings. Additionally, such studies are extremely limited in Greece. The present study aimed to investigate the association between social media use, depressive symptoms and self-esteem among Greek young adults.
Method: A total of 654 individuals (50.5% male) aged 18-30 years (Μ = 23.62, SD = 2.71) completed self-reported questionnaires regarding social media use, depressive symptoms and self-esteem.
Results: Increased daily use of YouTube (more than five hours) showed a significant association with higher depressive symptomatology, b = 2.99, 95% CI [.78, 5.20], p = .008, while daily use of Facebook between two and five hours was related to significantly higher self-esteem, b = 1.61, 95% CI [.78, 2.44], p < .001, after adjusting for participants’ gender, age, educational level and employment status. The association of increased daily use of YouTube with depressive symptoms was more pronounced in males than in females. Moreover, self-reported active use of Facebook and Instagram were linked with significantly lower depressive symptoms and higher self-esteem compared to passive involvement.
Conclusion: The results suggest that social media use is closely related to self-esteem and depressive symptomatology in young adults. These findings may contribute to a deeper clinical understanding of the association between electronic social networking and mental health
Disorders Specifically Associated With Stress in ICD-11
No full textBackground: After almost three decades of ICD-10 use for diagnostic purposes, the World Health Organization has conducted a systematic and elaborate evaluation to revise the classification of mental disorders in this system. This revision resulted in the 11th version (ICD-11), introduced in 2022. As one new feature, the ICD-11 forms a new grouping of mental disorders specifically associated with stress. Method: The current review presents an overview of the diagnostic features and cultural specifications of disorders specifically associated with stress. This grouping includes posttraumatic stress disorder and complex posttraumatic stress disorder, prolonged grief disorder, adjustment disorder, as well as two diagnoses for children, reactive attachment disorder and disinhibited social engagement disorder. Results: Overall, there is evidence for the improved clinical utility and applicability of these disorders. The disorders have been defined in a parsimonious way by few features, but they suffice for scientific purposes as well. Conclusion: However, more research is needed to evaluate assessments for the diagnoses and diagnostic features in the ICD-11
Chronic Pain in the ICD-11: New Diagnoses That Clinical Psychologists Should Know About
No full textBackground: In the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10), chronic pain was not represented adequately. Pain was left undefined and not recognized as a biopsychosocial phenomenon. Instead, a flawed dualism between psychological and somatic factors was implied. Individual diagnoses were ill-defined and scattered randomly through different chapters. Many patients received diagnoses in remainder categories devoid of meaningful clinical information. Method: The International Association for the Study of Pain launched a Task Force to improve the diagnoses for the 11th revision of the ICD and this international expert team worked from 2013-2019 in cooperation with the WHO to develop a consensus based on available evidence and to improve the diagnoses. Results: A new chapter on chronic pain was created with a biopsychosocial definition of pain. Chronic pain was operationalized as pain that persists or recurs longer than three months and subdivided into seven categories: Chronic primary pain and six types of chronic secondary pain. All diagnoses were based on explicit operationalized criteria. Optional extension codes allow coding pain-related parameters and the presence of psychosocial aspects together with each pain diagnosis. Conclusion: First empirical studies demonstrated the integrity of the categories, the reliability, clinical utility, international applicability and superiority over the ICD-10. To improve reliability and ease of diagnosis, a classification algorithm is available. Clinical psychologists and other clinicians working with people with chronic pain should watch the national implementation strategies and advocate for multimodal and interdisciplinary treatments and adequate reimbursement for all providers involved
Blended Delivery of Imagery Rescripting for Childhood PTSD: A Case Study During the COVID-19 Pandemic
No full textBackground: Despite the growing evidence that trauma-focused treatments can be applied as first-line approaches for individuals with childhood trauma-related PTSD (Ch-PTSD), many therapists are still reluctant to provide trauma-focused treatments as a first-choice intervention for individuals with Ch-PTSD, especially by telehealth. The current manuscript will therefore give an overview of the evidence for the effectiveness of trauma-focused therapies for individuals with Ch-PTSD, the delivery of trauma-focused treatments via telehealth, and a case example on how a specific form of trauma focused therapy: Imagery Rescripting (ImRs) can be applied by telehealth. Method: This article presents a clinical illustration of a blended telehealth trajectory of imagery rescripting (ImRs) Ch-PTSD delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: The presented case shows that ImRs can be safely and effectively performed by telehealth for ch-PTSD, no stabilization phase was needed and only seven sessions were needed to drastically reduce Ch-PTSD and depressive symptoms, and to increase quality of life. Conclusion: This case report shows the effectiveness of ImRs by telehealth for Ch-PTSD, which gives hope and additional possibilities to reach out to patients with ch-PTDS. Telehealth treatment might have some of advantages for specific patients, especially, but certainly not only, during the pandemic
Competency-Based Training and Assessment of Listening Skills: A Waitlist-Controlled Study in European Telephone Emergency Services
No full textBackground: Telephone emergency services (TES) provide an essential part of suicide prevention and emotional support services across different health care settings. TES are usually provided by paraprofessional counselors, who need specific training in listening skills to meet the demands of callers. Method: This project developed a competency-based training for listening skills which was then evaluated in a randomized controlled waitlist study across four EU countries (Germany, Hungary, Italy, and the Netherlands). Each country provided one training group and one waitlist group. Across countries, a total of 71 (trained: n = 36, waiting: n = 35) counselor trainees were assessed in a standardized, simulated emergency call with an actor client either before or after training participation. Calls were audiotaped and competencies in listening skills were evaluated by external raters using a standardized rating form. Results: Trained counselors showed significantly better listening skills than participants from the waitlist condition. Conclusion: Results provide support for the efficacy of a competency-based training for listening skills in the field of TES across Europe. Furthermore, results demonstrated that a standardized competency-based assessment with an actor client is suitable to assess listening skills
Acute Effect of Physical Exercise on Negative Affect in Borderline Personality Disorder: A Pilot Study
No full textBackground: Physical exercise is an evidence-based treatment to reduce symptoms and negative affect in several psychiatric disorders, including depressive, anxiety, and psychotic disorders. However, the effect of physical exercise on negative affect in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) has not yet been investigated. In this pilot study, we tested the safety, acceptability, and potential acute effects on negative affect of a single session of aerobic physical exercise in adults with BPD.
Method: After completing a negative mood induction procedure, 28 adults with BPD were randomly assigned to a 20-minute single session of stationary bicycle or a control condition (emotionally neutral video).
Results: No adverse effects attributed to the physical exercise were reported and it was considered acceptable to patients. Following the negative mood induction, both conditions decreased the level of negative affect with a medium effect size but there was no significant difference between them.
Conclusion: The results suggest that a single 20-minute session of physical exercise does not produce a reduction of negative affect in BPD. Future research should consider the duration and intensities of physical exercise with the greatest potential to reduce negative affect both acutely and in a more prolonged manner in this patient group
The ICD-11 Diagnoses in the Mental Health Field – An Innovative Mixture
No full textNo abstract available