| 41. |
- Hedman, Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Personality Change following Internet-Based Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Severe Health Anxiety
- 2014
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 9:12, s. e113871-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Personality traits have traditionally been viewed as stable, but recent studies suggest that they could be affected through psychological treatment. Internet-based cognitive behavior therapy (ICBT) for severe health anxiety (DSM-IV hypochondriasis) has been shown to be effective in reducing health anxiety, but its effect on measures of personality traits has not been investigated. The main aim of this study was to investigate the impact of ICBT on personality traits in the three broad dimensions -neuroticism, extraversion and aggression. We hypothesized that participants in ICBT would reduce their level of neuroticism compared to controls that did not receive the active treatment. No specific predictions were made regarding extraversion and aggression. Data from a randomized controlled trial were used in which participants were allocated to 12 weeks of ICBT (n=40) or to a basic attention control condition (n=41). Personality traits were assessed with the Swedish Universities Scales of Personality and the primary outcome of health anxiety was the Health Anxiety Inventory. There was a significant interaction effect of group and time on neuroticism-related scales, indicating larger pre-to post-treatment reductions in the Internet-based CBT group compared to the control condition. Analyses at 6-month follow-up showed that changes were stable. Traits relating to extraversion and aggression were largely unchanged. This study is the first to demonstrate that a brief ICBT intervention for severe health anxiety causes long-term changes in measures of personality traits related to neuroticism. The treatment thus has a broader impact than just reducing health anxiety.
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| 42. |
- Hedman, Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Predictors of outcome in Internet-based cognitive behavior therapy for severe health anxiety
- 2013
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Ingår i: Behaviour Research and Therapy. - : Elsevier. - 0005-7967 .- 1873-622X. ; 51:10, s. 711-717
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Internet-based cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for severe health anxiety can be effective, but not all patients achieve full remission. Under these circumstances, knowledge about predictors is essential for the clinician in order to make reliable treatment recommendations. The primary aim of this study was to investigate clinical, demographic, and therapy process-related predictors of Internet-based CBT for severe health anxiety. We performed three types of analyses on data from a sample comprising participants (N = 81) who had received Internet-based CBT in a randomized controlled trial. Outcomes were a) end state health anxiety, b) improvement in health anxiety (continuous change scores), and c) clinically significant improvement. Outcomes were assessed at six-month follow-up. The results showed that the most stable predictors of both end state health anxiety and improvement were baseline health anxiety and depressive symptoms. Treatment adherence, i.e. the number of completed treatment modules, also significantly predicted outcome. Notably, health anxiety at baseline was positively associated with symptom improvement while depressive symptoms was negatively related to improvement. Demographic factors were largely without significant impact on end state symptoms or improvement. We conclude that baseline symptom burden and adherence to treatment have strong predictive effects in Internet-based CBT for severe health anxiety.
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| 43. |
- Hedman, Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Psychometric properties of Internet-administered measures of health anxiety : an investigation of the Health Anxiety Inventory, the Illness Attitude Scales, and the Whiteley Index
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of Anxiety Disorders. - : Elsevier BV. - 0887-6185 .- 1873-7897. ; 31, s. 32-37
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI), the Illness Attitude Scales (IAS), and the Whiteley Index (WI) are three of the most widely used health anxiety measures, but their psychometric properties have not been investigated when administered via the Internet.METHODS: We investigated the three instruments' test-retest reliability, internal consistency, convergent, and discriminant validity and sensitivity to change using one sample (n=111) of participants with severe health anxiety and one sample of healthy controls (n=92).RESULTS: The HAI, IAS, and WI showed high test-retest reliability (rs≥.80), good convergent, and discriminant validity and were sensitive to detect change. The HAI and IAS (αs≥.85), but not the WI (αs≤.60) demonstrated high internal consistency.CONCLUSIONS: The HAI, IAS, and WI have good psychometric properties, except for the low internal consistency of WI, when used as Internet-administered measures of health anxiety. Using these measures over the Internet offers highly important advantages such as increased ease of administration, reduced attrition, and cost-efficient treatment evaluation.
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| 44. |
- Hedman, Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Sudden gains in internet-based cognitive behaviour therapy for severe health anxiety
- 2014
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Ingår i: Behaviour Research and Therapy. - : Elsevier. - 0005-7967 .- 1873-622X. ; 54, s. 22-29
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: A sudden gain is defined as a large and stable individual improvement occurring between two consecutive treatment sessions. Sudden gains have been shown to predict better long-term improvement in several treatment studies, including cognitive behavioural therapy for depression and anxiety disorders, but have not been studied in the treatment of health anxiety or any form of internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of sudden gains in internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy for severe health anxiety.METHOD: We examined the occurrence and significance of sudden gains in measures of health anxiety in 81 participants receiving internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy. We compared patients with sudden gains, patients without sudden gains, and patients with gradual gains.RESULTS: Thirteen participants (16%) experienced one sudden gain in health anxiety with individual sudden gains distributed across the treatment. As expected, patients with a sudden gain showed larger improvements than patients without a sudden gain at post-treatment (d = 1.04) and at one-year follow-up (d = 0.91) on measures of health anxiety.CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with previous studies, sudden gains in internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy are associated with significantly larger and stable treatment effects up to one-year follow-up.
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| 45. |
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| 46. |
- Johansson, Robert, et al.
(författare)
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Tailored vs. Standardized Internet-Based Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Depression and Comorbid Symptoms: A Randomized Controlled Trial
- 2012
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - San Francisco : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 7:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background and Aims: Major depression can be treated by means of cognitive behavior therapy, delivered via the Internet as guided self-help. Individually tailored guided self-help treatments have shown promising results in the treatment of anxiety disorders. This randomized controlled trial tested the efficacy of an Internet-based individually tailored guided self-help treatment which specifically targeted depression with comorbid symptoms. The treatment was compared both to standardized (non-tailored) Internet-based treatment and to an active control group in the form of a monitored online discussion group. Both guided self-help treatments were based on cognitive behavior therapy and lasted for 10 weeks. The discussion group consisted of weekly discussion themes related to depression and the treatment of depression. Methods: A total of 121 participants with diagnosed major depressive disorder and with a range of comorbid symptoms were randomized to three groups. The tailored treatment consisted of a prescribed set of modules targeting depression as well as comorbid problems. The standardized treatment was a previously tested guided self-help program for depression. Results: From pre-treatment to post-treatment, both treatment groups improved on measures of depression, anxiety and quality of life. The results were maintained at a 6-month follow-up. Subgroup analyses showed that the tailored treatment was more effective than the standardized treatment among participants with higher levels of depression at baseline and more comorbidity, both in terms of reduction of depressive symptoms and on recovery rates. In the subgroup with lower baseline scores of depression, few differences were seen between treatments and the discussion group. Conclusions: This study shows that tailored Internet-based treatment for depression is effective and that addressing comorbidity by tailoring may be one way of making guided self-help treatments more effective than standardized approaches in the treatment of more severe depression.
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| 47. |
- Käll, Anton, et al.
(författare)
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Internet-Based Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Loneliness : A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
- 2020
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Ingår i: Behavior Therapy. - : Elsevier. - 0005-7894 .- 1878-1888. ; 51:1, s. 54-68
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Loneliness has been described as a common source of discomfort based on a subjective discrepancy between the actual and desired social situation. For some people this feeling may become a sustained state that is associated with a wide range of psychiatric and psychosocial problems. While there are few existing treatment protocols, interventions based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) have shown positive effects. The current study investigated the efficacy of an 8-week internet-based treatment containing CBT components aimed at reducing feelings of loneliness. Seventy-three participants were recruited from the general public and randomly allocated to treatment or a wait-list control condition. Participants were assessed with standardized self-report measures of loneliness, depression, social anxiety, worry, and quality of life at pretreatment and posttreatment. Robust linear regression analysis of all randomized participants showed significant treatment effects on the primary outcome measure of loneliness (between group Cohen’s d = 0.77), and on secondary outcomes measuring quality of life and social anxiety relative to control at postassessment. The results suggest the potential utility of internet-based CBT in alleviating loneliness but more research on the long-term effects and the mechanisms underlying the effects is needed.
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| 48. |
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| 49. |
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| 50. |
- Lindner, Philip, et al.
(författare)
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The Brunnsviken Brief Quality of Life Scale (BBQ) : Development and Psychometric Evaluation
- 2016
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Ingår i: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1650-6073 .- 1651-2316. ; 45:3, s. 182-195
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Measurements of subjective quality of life (QoL) are an important complement to symptom ratings in clinical research and practice. Despite there being several established QoL self-rating scales, we identified a need for a freely accessible, easy-to-use inventory, validated for use with both clinical and non-clinical samples, based on the overall life satisfaction conceptualization of QoL. The Brunnsviken Brief Quality of life scale (BBQ) was designed to meet these requirements. Items were selected by performing a factor analysis on a large data-set of QoL ratings collected previously. Six life areas (Leisure time, View on life, Creativity, Learning, Friends and Friendship, and View of self) were identified as important for overall QoL and were included in the BBQ. A psychometric evaluation was performed using two independent samples: healthy undergraduate students (n = 163), and a sample seeking treatment for social anxiety disorder (n = 568). Results suggested a unifactorial structure, with good concurrent and convergent validity, high internal and test-retest reliability, and accurate classification ability. We conclude that the BBQ is a valid and reliable measure of subjective QoL for use in clinical and research settings. The BBQ is presently available in 31 languages and can be freely downloaded from www.bbqscale.com.
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