1,721,054 research outputs found
Open-label placebo rationale revisited: A thematic analysis of lay perspectives
No full textOriginal transcriptions of the conducted interviews for the qualitative study. All interviews are in Germa
Painfully Sensitive: How Sensory Processing Sensitivity Affects Healthy Adolescents’ Perception of Pain
No full textObjective: Sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) describes a common trait characterized by lower sensory threshold, depth of processing, and ease of overstimulation. Low sensory threshold is also potentially important in the context of pain. To date, the relationship between SPS and pain perception has not been investigated, particularly in adolescents. This randomized experimental study aimed to explore whether SPS was associated with pain threshold and tolerance in healthy adolescents. Further, we examined differences in pain perception following positive, negative, or neutral mood induction. Methods: A total of 100 healthy adolescents aged 16 to 19 years were recruited through schools and online advertisement. Participants completed psychosocial questionnaires and underwent a randomized mood induction (positive, negative, or neutral). Pain levels (in °C) and self-reported pain tolerance and threshold were assessed by an experimental heat pain paradigm. Regression models were applied to determine effects of mood induction on pain perception, while multiple analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were computed to compare sensitivity across groups. Results: The mood induction significantly influenced self-reported pain ratings, demonstrating a positive interaction coefficient for the positive mood condition (b = 1.140, p < 0.01). ANOVAs revealed significant differences between sensitivity groups for baseline scores of pain threshold (F(2,97) = 5.009, p < 0.01) and tolerance (F(2,97) = 3.193, p < 0.05) (F(2,97) = 7.431, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Our findings reveal that highly sensitive adolescents had the lowest ratings of measured pain tolerance and threshold measures at baseline, suggesting heightened sensitivity to pain. This highlights the importance of considering sensory processing sensitivity in pain research, particularly in adolescent populations
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Placebos and their consequences in clinical and basic research : effects and possible ways to harness them
Get PDFWhile for adults, a plurality of studies examines placebo responses and potential
moderators in antidepressant trials, comparable investigations in pediatric and geriatric patients
are scarce. This is especially problematic since the efficacy and safety of antidepressants is
controversial in these sensitive populations: effect sizes are small and severe side effects such
as an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior have been reported. Here, it has been
hypothesized that the lack of a consistent significant benefit of antidepressants over placebo
could be associated with an increased response to placebo. Therefore, it is worth considering
whether the potential of placebos can be harnessed without undermining patients’ autonomy
through deception.
The emphasis of the current dissertation was twofold: first, to investigate the efficacy
of placebos and potential moderators in pediatric and geriatric patients. Second, to
experimentally test the necessity of deception. For this reason, two different statistical
approaches were indicated. For the first aim, a meta-analytic approach was applied in order to
assess differences between antidepressant and placebo interventions in pediatric major
depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and
posttraumatic stress disorder (Locher, et al., 2017; Study I), as well as in geriatric MDD,
dysthymia and minor depression (Locher et al., 2015; Study II) along with variation in placebo
responses and moderators. For the second goal, a basic research approach was chosen in order
to compare the effects of openly prescribed placebos with a deceptive placebo administration
in a standardized heat pain experiment with healthy participants (Locher, Frey Nascimento,
Kossowsky, Meyer, & Gaab, 2017; Study III). Here, basic research represents an excellent way
to experimentally compare these treatments in accordance with ethical principles.
The meta-analyses revealed that antidepressants are more effective than placebo at
treating MDD in children and adolescents (Hedges’ g = 0.20; Study I), as well as in elderly
people (Hedges’ g = 0.37; Study II). However, the effects were only small and did not reach
the proposed cut-off for clinical significance. Also, placebo responses in depressed youth
(Hedges’ g = 1.57; Study I), as well as in depressed elderly (Hedges’ g = 0.96; Study II) were
significant and substantial. Findings of the heat pain experiment with healthy participants
revealed that open-label placebos do not differ in their effects from deceptive placebos in
subjective outcomes (i.e., heat pain intensity ratings: p = .136 and heat pain unpleasantness
ratings: p = .481; Study III).
Placebo responses are large and meaningful in children, adolescents and elderly people
with depression. Pediatric as well as geriatric patients seem to respond well to clinician contact
that promotes the therapeutic alliance and other common factors such as the patients’
expectations and hopes of improvement. Furthermore, the ubiquitously assumed necessity of
concealment in placebo administration is questioned and new ways in order to harness the
potential of placebos should be considered
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Psychotherapy integration as an ethical practice
No full textThis chapter aims to analyze which ethical challenges clinicians face when practicing different forms of psychotherapy integration. With this purpose, the authors first define psychotherapy integration and differentiate four types of integrative approaches. Drawing on Beauchamp and Childress's (2013) principles of biomedical ethics, the chapter highlights important common and particular ethical issues in the four types of integrationist psychotherapy practice. Finally, the authors frame questions for future research into integrative-psychotherapy ethics and consider possible clinical responses to ethics issues raised in integrative therapy.</p
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