| 1. |
- Andersson, Christina, et al.
(författare)
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Cultivating Compassion and Reducing Stress and Mental Ill-Health in Employees : A Randomized Controlled Study
- 2022
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Psychology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-1078. ; 12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Stress and mental ill-health carry considerable costs for both individuals and organizations. Although interventions targeting compassion and self-compassion have been shown to reduce stress and benefit mental health, related research in organizational settings is limited. We investigated the effects of a 6-week psychological intervention utilizing compassion training on stress, mental health, and self-compassion. Forty-nine employees of two organizations were randomly assigned to either the intervention (n = 25) or a physical exercise control condition (n = 24). Multilevel growth models showed that stress (p = 0.04) and mental ill-health (p = 0.02) decreased over 3 months in both groups (pre-intervention to follow-up: Cohen’s d = −0.46 and d = 0.33, respectively), while self-compassion only increased in the intervention group (p = 0.03, between group d = 0.53). There were no significant effects on life satisfaction in any of the groups (p > 0.53). The findings show promising results regarding the ability of compassion training within organizations to decrease stress and mental ill-health and increase self-compassion.
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| 2. |
- Andersson, Christina, et al.
(författare)
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The effectiveness of smartphone compassion training on stress among Swedish university students : A pilot randomized trial
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Clinical Psychology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0021-9762 .- 1097-4679. ; 77:4, s. 927-945
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: To investigate the effects of a 6-week smartphone compassion training intervention on mental health.Method: Fifty-seven Swedish university students (mean age = 25, SD = 5) reporting high levels of stress were randomized to compassion training (n = 23), mindfulness (n = 19), or waitlist (n = 15).Result: Multilevel models indicated that both compassion and mindfulness training increased self-compassion compared to the waitlist, while only compassion significantly reduced stress. Between-group effect sizes for compassion compared to waitlist were large for both self-compassion (d = 1.61) and stress (d = 0.94). Compassion and mindfulness did not differ significantly, but effect sizes were in favor of compassion. Secondary outcomes indicated positive effects on emotional awareness, while no effect was found for global psychological distress.Conclusions: Our results suggest that compassion training via a smartphone application can improve self-compassion and reduce stress among university students. Future studies in larger clinical samples are warranted.
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| 3. |
- Aafjes-van Doorn, Katie, et al.
(författare)
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Patients’ Affective Processes Within Initial Experiential Dynamic Therapy Sessions
- 2017
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Ingår i: Psychotherapy. - : American Psychological Association (APA). - 0033-3204 .- 1939-1536. ; 54:2, s. 175-183
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Research has indicated that patients’ in-session experience of previously avoided affects may be important for effective psychotherapy. The aim of this study was to investigate patients’ in-session levels of affect experiencing in relation to their corresponding levels of insight, motivation, and inhibitory affects in initial Experiential Dynamic Therapy (EDT) sessions. Four hundred sixty-six 10-min video segments from 31 initial sessions were rated using the Achievement of Therapeutic Objectives Scale. A series of multilevel growth models, controlling for between-therapist variability, were estimated to predict patients’ adaptive affect experiencing (Activating Affects) across session segments. In line with our expectations, higher within-person levels of Insight and Motivation related to higher levels of Activating Affects per segment. Contrary to expectations, however, lower levels of Inhibition were not associated with higher levels of Activating Affects. Further, using a time-lagged model, we did not find that the levels of Insight, Motivation, or Inhibition during one session segment predicted Activating Affects in the next, possibly indicating that 10-min segments may be suboptimal for testing temporal relationships in affective processes. Our results suggest that, to intensify patients’ immediate affect experiencing in initial EDT sessions, therapists should focus on increasing insight into defensive patterns and, in particular, motivation to give them up. Future research should examine the impact of specific inhibitory affects more closely, as well as between-therapist variability in patients’ in-session adaptive affect experiencing.
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| 4. |
- Abbass, Allan, et al.
(författare)
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Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy Trial Therapy Effectiveness and Role of Unlocking the Unconscious
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. - 0022-3018 .- 1539-736X. ; 205:6, s. 453-457
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study examined the effects of trial therapy interviews using intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy with 500 mixed sample, tertiary center patients. Furthermore, we investigated whether the effect of trial therapy was larger for patients who had a major unlocking of the unconscious during the interview compared with those who did not. Outcome measures were the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP), measured at baseline and at 1-month follow-up. Significant outcome effects were observed for both the BSI and the IIP with small to moderate preeffect/posteffect sizes, Cohen's d = 0.52 and 0.23, respectively. Treatment effects were greater in patientswho had a major unlocking of the unconscious comparedwith thosewho did not. The trial therapy interview appears to be beneficial, and its effects may relate to certain therapeutic processes. Further controlled research is warranted.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Johansson, Robert, et al.
(författare)
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Internet-based affect-focused psychodynamic therapy for social anxiety disorder : A randomized controlled trial with 2-year follow-up
- 2017
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Ingår i: Psychotherapy. - : American Psychological Association (APA). - 0033-3204 .- 1939-1536. ; 54:4, s. 351-360
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is associated with considerable individual suffering and societal costs. Although there is ample evidence for the efficacy of cognitive behavior therapy, recent studies suggest psychodynamic therapy may also be effective in treating SAD. Furthermore, Internet-based psychodynamic therapy (IPDT) has shown promising results for addressing mixed depression and anxiety disorders. However, no study has yet investigated the effects of IPDT specifically for SAD. This paper describes a randomized controlled trial testing the efficacy of a 10-week, affect-focused IPDT protocol for SAD, compared with a wait-list control group. Long-term effects were also estimated by collecting follow-up data, 6, 12, and 24 months after the end of therapy. A total of 72 individuals meeting diagnostic criteria for DSM–IV social anxiety disorder were included. The primary outcome was the self-report version of Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale. Mixed model analyses using the full intention-to-treat sample revealed a significant interaction effect of group and time, suggesting a larger effect in the treatment group than in the wait-list control. A between-group effect size Cohen’s d = 1.05 (95% [CI]: [0.62, 1.53]) was observed at termination. Treatment gains were maintained at the 2-year follow-up, as symptom levels in the treated group continued to decrease significantly. The findings suggest that Internet-based affect-focused psychodynamic therapy is a promising treatment for social anxiety disorder.
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| 8. |
- Joleby, Malin, 1988, et al.
(författare)
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Offender strategies for engaging children in online sexual activity
- 2021
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Ingår i: Child Abuse and Neglect. - : Elsevier BV. - 0145-2134 .- 1873-7757. ; 120
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Following technological developments, there has been increasing interest in online offenders' use of digital communication technology to sexually groom and abuse children. However, research has thus far primarily explored offenders' interactions with decoys instead of actual children, and initial evidence indicates that conversations with actual children may include more overt persuasion and extortion than conversations with decoys. Objective: This study aims to describe online offenders' interactions with actual children when inciting them to engage in online sexual activity. Participants and setting: Swedish court judgements including 50 offenders (aged 16–69, median = 28.9) and 122 child victims (aged 7–17, median = 13.0) were analyzed. Methods: By using an explorative mixed-methods approach, we thematically analyzed what strategies the children were exposed to, and looked for patterns between the strategy used and the characteristics of the abuse, victim, or offender. Results: We identified two types of strategies that the children were exposed to: pressure (threats, bribes, or nagging, N = 56), and sweet-talk (flattery, acting as a friend, or expressing love, N = 25). Overall, the offenders who used pressure were younger and targeted older children than the offenders who used sweet-talk. Conclusions: This study expands the existing knowledge about the variety of manipulative strategies used by online offenders and adds support to the initial literature showing substantially more pressure and coercion in online offenders' interactions with actual children. The study also identifies some patterns between the strategy used and the age of the offender and victim that warrant further investigation in future studies.
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| 9. |
- Lilliengren, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Comparing the Treatment Process in Successful and Unsuccessful Cases in Two Forms of Psychotherapy for Cluster C Personality Disorders
- 2019
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Ingår i: Psychotherapy. - : American Psychological Association (APA). - 0033-3204 .- 1939-1536. ; 56:2, s. 285-296
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Different forms of psychotherapy are effective for cluster C personality disorders, but we know less about what in-session processes promote change. Contrasting successful and unsuccessful cases may elucidate processes that facilitate or impede outcome and offer suggestions for clinical practice and future research. In this exploratory outcome-process study, 10 successful and 10 unsuccessful cases were selected from a randomized trial comparing cognitive therapy and short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy for cluster C personality disorders. Videotaped sessions were rated with the Psychotherapy Process Q-Set (PQS). The treatments were compared in terms of which PQS items differentiated successful and unsuccessful cases, as well as their resemblance with PQS prototypes of ideal treatments. Therapists' behavior in early sessions was also explored. Results indicate that successful cases in our sample were characterized by a more active and engaged patient. In contrast, unsuccessful cases were characterized by a more directive or controlling therapist stance. Correlations with PQS prototypes were moderate to strong in both successful and unsuccessful cases, suggesting that optimal and suboptimal interpersonal processes may be independent of adherence to particular treatments. Exploration of therapist behaviors in early sessions indicated that therapists were more likely to adjust their way of working in the successful cases. Our result suggests that patient engagement and therapists' early efforts to improve the therapy relationship may be pivotal for successful outcome, whereas therapist controlling behavior may obstruct the treatment process, regardless of therapy model used. The impact of these in-session processes should be examined more closely in larger samples in future studies.
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| 10. |
- Lilliengren, Peter, 1972-, et al.
(författare)
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Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy for generalized anxiety disorder : A pilot effectiveness and process-outcome study
- 2017
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Ingår i: Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy. - : Wiley. - 1063-3995 .- 1099-0879. ; 24:6, s. 1313-1321
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical- and cost-effectiveness of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). We further aimed to examine if a key clinical process within the ISTDP framework, termed the level of mobilization of unprocessed complex emotions (MUCE), was related to outcome. The sample consisted of 215 adult patients (60.9% female) with GAD and comorbid conditions treated in a tertiary mental health outpatient setting. The patients were provided an average of 8.3 sessions of ISTDP delivered by 38 therapists. The level of MUCE in treatment was assessed from videotaped sessions by a rater blind to treatment outcome. Year-by-year healthcare costs were derived independently from government databases. Multilevel growth models indicated significant decreases in psychiatric symptoms and interpersonal problems during treatment. These gains were corroborated by reductions in healthcare costs that continued for 4years post-treatment reaching normal population means. Further, we found that the in-treatment level of MUCE was associated with larger treatment effects, underlining the significance of emotional experiencing and processing in the treatment of GAD. We conclude that ISTDP appears to reduce symptoms and costs associated with GAD and that the ISTDP framework may be useful for understanding key therapeutic processes in this challenging clinical population. Controlled studies of ISTDP for GAD are warranted.
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