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We examined performance on the Multisource Interference Task (MSIT) as a moderator of the relationship between traumatic experience and posttraumatic stress symptom (PTSS) severity. A college sample (N= 108) completed the MSIT, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST), and self-report questionnaires. Both MSIT and WCST performance were examined in moderation models to demonstrate the specificity of MSIT performance as a moderator. Absolute processing speed during the MSIT significantly moderated the relationship between number of traumatic experiences and PTSS severity. Moderation was not demonstrated for WCST performance, relative processing speed during the MSIT, or absolute or relative MSIT error rates. Implications for research and practical applications are discussed.

Both cognitive and metacognitive theories implicate posttraumatic metacognition as an important factor in the maintenance of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) following stressful life events (SLEs). The Metacognitions Questionnaire-posttraumatic stress disorder (MCQ-PTSD; Wells, 2009) was previously developed to assess for metacognitions specific to SLEs and resulting PTSS. This study aimed to examine the construct validity of this measure in the context of childhood SLEs specifically. First, we confirmed the factor structure underlying the MCQ-PTSD in our sample. We then assessed whether the MCQ-PTSD would function as expected based on a theoretical model in which, controlling for posttraumatic cognitions, posttraumatic metacognitions were expected to mediate the relationship between childhood SLEs and PTSS. Using data from a racially diverse sample of undergraduate psychology students (N= 402; Agemean= 19.38 ± 1.81) at a large Midwestern university, the two-factor structure of the MCQ-PTSD was confirmed. Among participants who endorsed clinically significant experience of childhood SLEs (n= 203; Agemean= 19.49 ± 1.94), negative metacognitions mediated the relationships of emotional and sexual abuse with PTSS, when controlling for other posttraumatic cognitions. These relationships were not observed for positive metacognitions. These results are consistent with a metacognitive model for PTSD and suggest that the MCQ-PTSD may be a valid measure of posttraumatic metacognitions following childhood SLEs.

The ways in which Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms lead to impairments in functioning, including academic performance, are not well understood. The present study sought to examine the role of a common maladaptive coping strategy, experiential avoidance, as a moderator of the relationship between posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and academic achievement. Participants (N= 326) were undergraduate students enrolled in introductory psychology courses at a large university in the Midwestern United States who reported at least one event potentially meeting Criterion A for PTSD. The prospective association of PTSS with current and subsequent semester GPAs, and with experiential avoidance as the moderator, were examined. The interaction between PTSS and experiential avoidance significantly predicted both current semester GPA and subsequent semester GPA, with stronger associations between PTSS and GPA being observed at higher levels of experiential avoidance. These results were not fully explained by control variables of high school performance, standardized test scores, and general negative affect. This study found that experiential avoidance significantly moderates the relationship between PTSS and academic performance. These results suggest that interventions that target PTSS and/or experiential avoidance may increase GPA. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

At a general level of abstraction, thought–action fusion (TAF) concerns the idea that thoughts have a tangible impact on reality or one's sense of morality. Borne of the obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) literature, TAF shows empirical relations with symptoms of other psychological disorders, suggesting it is not confined to OCD and may be of broader importance. This study addressed three issues. First, it examined the structure of the thought–action fusion scale (TAFS) in clinical and nonclinical samples. A 3-factor solution consisting of likelihood-others, likelihood-self, and moralwas supported in both samples. Second, this study examined the range of TAF content assessed by the 44-item Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ). Regressions predicting OCD symptoms indicated that TAFS Moral content was accounted for by the OBQ; conversely, TAFS Likelihood-self and TAFS Likelihood-others accounted for significant additional variance. Third, this study examined the specificity of TAF to OCD symptoms versus symptoms of other disorders. TAFS Moral and TAFS Likelihood-others more strongly correlated with OCD symptoms compared to other symptoms; conversely, TAFS Likelihood-self did not demonstrate such specificity. These findings are discussed in terms of advancing our understanding of the construct of TAF and the instruments available for assessing it in both clinical and research contexts.

The present study investigated the applicability of Terror Management Theory (TMT) to scrupulosity using a sample of nonclinical college students (N=92). More specifically, we examined whether scrupulosity potentiated the relationship between exposure to conscious reminders of death (i.e., mortality salience) and four variables of interest (mistake-checking behavior, “not just right experience,” shame, and guilt). Results were that individuals engaged in significantly greater mistake-checking behavior, as well as experienced significantly heightened “not just right experience,” shame, and guilt in response to the mistake-checking task, following mortality salience at higher versus lower levels of scrupulosity. These patterns of relations were not found in a control condition. Finally, a “not just right experience,” but not shame or guilt, mediated the potentiating effect of scrupulosity in relation to the increased mistake-checking behavior following mortality salience. Implications of these results for improving our conceptualization and treatment of scrupulosity are discussed.

This article reviews studies of the generalized (CSP) and specific (SSP) subtypes of social phobia, including their onset, course, etiology, comorbid conditions, types of situations feared, reactions (i.e., cognitive, physiological, and behavioral) to feared situations, and response to treatment. Because the differences between CSP and SSP seem difficult to reconcile with a strictly quantitative perspective, we propose a qualitative distinction. The characteristics of SSP are seen as similar to those of specific phobias, but those of CSP are not. We offer a speculative interpersonal model of CSP that emphasizes beliefs about the self being unlovable, behaviors that elicit negative self‐evaluations in others, and a pattern of mutual social‐distancing behaviors. We discuss the implications of a qualitative distinction between CSP and SSP and offer avenues for future inquiry.

The goal of the present study was to examine the factor structure of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI; S. Reiss, R. A. Peterson, D M. Gursky, & R. J. McNally, 1986) and the replicability, reliability, and validity of its dimensions in a nonclinical sample. One-thousand-and-seventy-one undergraduate volunteers completed the ASI and a modified version of the Panic Attack Questionnaire (PAQ; G. R. Norton, J. Dorward, & B. J. Cox, 1986). A principal components analysis, using oblique rotation and parallel analysis, yielded three ASI dimensions that were highly consistent with those reported in previously published studies. Individuals classified as nonclinical panickers scored higher than nonpanickers on the Physical Concerns and Cognitive Concerns subscales of the ASI. Although spontaneous panic attacks were not significantly related to scores on any ASI scale, the occurrence of panic attacks in the past month was related to higher scores on the Cognitive Concerns subscale. The results are discussed in terms of cognitive theories of panic, and limitations of the present study and directions for future research are addressed.

This study examines panic attacks and substance use in a non-clinical, young adult sample. Two hundred seventy-nine college students completed questionnaires that assessed non-clinical panic attacks, alcohol and drug use behavior, and anxiety and depression symptoms. Non-clinical panickers (n=25) were significantly more likely than non-panickers (N=222) to report using sedatives, but not alcohol, cocaine, stimulants, or other drugs. Among non-clinical panickers, sedative use was not associated with distress about panic attacks, panic attack frequency, the occurrence of unexpected attacks, or general anxiety or depression symptoms. Coping-motivated alcohol use, though not associated with non-clinical panic, was significantly associated with anxiety and depression symptoms. These results are discussed in terms of theories of the co-morbidity between substance use and panic disorder.

BACKGROUND: This study tested whether alcohol consumption reduces anxiety and panic associated with a panic-challenge procedure. METHODS: Subjects with panic disorder were randomly assigned to consume either a moderate dose of alcohol or a nonalcoholic placebo. All subjects were told that they were drinking alcohol to control beverage expectancies. Following the beverage administration, subjects underwent a panic challenge (35% carbon dioxide) and a series of anxiety symptom assessments. RESULTS: Subjects who consumed alcohol reported significantly less state anxiety both before and after the challenge. In response to the challenge, subjects who consumed alcohol experienced significantly fewer panic attacks when applying liberal panic criteria; however, this effect only approached significance when applying conservative panic criteria. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that alcohol acts acutely to reduce both panic and the anxiety surrounding panic, and they lend support to the view that drinking behavior among those with panic disorder is reinforced by this effect. We suggest that this process may contribute to the high rate at which alcohol-use disorders co-occur with panic disorder.

Obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms are more common among survivors of abuse and family disruption. Abuse and family disruption may result in intrusions, which may lead to OC symptom development if followed by obsessive cognitions, metacognitions, or posttraumatic cognitions. This study examined these relationships and tested a model in which the relationship between abuse and family disruption and OC symptoms is statistically mediated by (1) posttraumatic cognitions and metacognitions (both directly, and indirectly through posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS)) and (2) obsessive cognitions. A diverse sample of undergraduate students (N = 402) completed measures of each construct. A principal components analysis of measures of cognition and metacognition yielded two well-defined components: Obsessive Cognitions and Posttraumatic Cognitions. Surprisingly, "positive" posttraumatic metacognitions loaded onto Obsessive Cognitions, suggesting a possible shared cognitive pathway from stressful life events to both OC symptoms and PTSS. Abuse and family disruption appeared to have specific relationships with two OC symptom dimensions, i.e., unacceptable thoughts and symmetry/completeness, but not with two other OC symptom dimensions, i.e., contamination and responsibility for harm. Mediation analyses suggested the relationship between abuse and family disruption and OC symptoms was fully mediated by Posttraumatic Cognitions, Obsessive Cognitions, and PTSS. Results, implications, and limitations are discussed.