Geert Vervaeke

The Penn State Worry Questionnaire and the Worry Domains Questionnaire: structure, reliability and validity

In this study the psychometric properties of the PSWQ and the WDQ were investigated in a community sample. The PSWQ proved to be unidimensional although the results indicated that the negatively keyed items contributed less to the general factor. Internal reliability of the PSWQ was satisfactory. Confirmatory analysis of the WDQ indicated that some alternations with regard to the content of the different domains had to be made. Furthermore, an additional health worry domain was included in the scale. This resulted in a revised revision of the WDQ. Internal reliability of the WDQ-R was satisfactory, as well as consistencies of the different domains, with the exception of the Work Incompetence domain. High to moderate correlations were found between the two worry scales and measures of trail anxiety, depression and obsessive compulsive behaviour. In studying the relative impact of these constructs on worry it was found that the predictors accounted for 62 and 61% of the variance in the PSWQ and the WDQ-R respectively, providing further evidence for the separate construct of worry. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Etiopathogenesis of Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy: A Review and Biopsychosocial Hypothesis

Reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) is an enigmatic condition. Many clinicians, however, believe that psychological factors could contribute to the onset and persistence of the syndrome. In this article we critically review the evidence from psychometric and psychodynamic/biographical studies that suggests a role for such factors. An etiopathogenetic hypothesis based on the authors clinical experience and the foregoing literature also encompasses elements of stress-coping theory, cognitive-behavioral views on chronic pain, and the psychobiological approach to sympathetic nervous system dysfunction. Implications of this model for future psychological research and the therapeutic treatment of RSD are discussed.

Assessment of worry and OCD: how are they related?

This study investigates the overlap and differences between measures of worry and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). It was expected that: (1) worry and obsessive compulsive symptoms are distinct concepts, yet that (2) worry and the cognitive components of OCD are more strongly related compared to the behaviour components of OCD. By means of confirmatory analysis it was found that all six components, i.e. worry, obsessive rumination, impulses, washing, checking and precision proved distinct components. Of the obsessive compulsive components, rumination was found to be most closely associated with worry. In further investigating the relative impact of obsessive compulsive symptoms on worry, it was found that obsessive rumination offered the largest unique contribution to the prediction of worry. When controlled for depressive mood, the overlap between rumination and worry dropped substantially. The results of this study clearly underline the differentiation between worry and obsessive compulsive symptoms.

Between interviewer and suspect: the role of the working alliance in investigative interviewing

The importance of building rapport when interviewing witnesses and suspects is emphasized in many interview models developed in Europe as well as in the United States. The construct of rapport shows a number of similarities with the construct of the working alliance, which is already extensively examined in therapeutic settings. Despite the important predictive role found in therapy, the role of the working alliance in investigative interviewing was not addressed in police research. The present study aims at looking into possible benefits of using the theoretical framework and the operationalisation of the working alliance in order to gain insights into the dynamics of investigative interviewing. It is examined to what extent the working alliance contributes to satisfaction with the interview from both investigators and interviewees in actual interviews. It also considers which factors are important to the working alliance. Besides therapeutic factors the study also explores significant factors from investigative interviewing literature on building rapport. Self-report questionnaires completed by investigators and interviewees show the mediating role of the working alliance between empathy, interview style, clarity of the interview and interview satisfaction. The research findings will also be discussed in the light of interview training and follow-up. More in particular, experiences with building rapport from interview training will be presented as well as experiences from a supervision project on suspect interviewing. Finally, in light of the recent Salduz case law and the subsequent introduction of legal advice in Europe, police officers’ views on building rapport with suspects and lawyers are touched upon.

In criminal justice we trust? A decade of public opinion research in Belgium

Like other modern-day democracies, Belgium has in the last quarter century introduced many changes in its system for justice administration, by undertaking judicial reforms and commissioning empirical research on public confidence. Following long years of fierce criticism of the police and the criminal justice system since the late 1980s, the turn of the century witnessed three quantitative surveys (the Justice Barometers) in 2002, 2007 and 2010. These were complemented by several qualitative studies in specific districts or with specific groups. Although many variables appear to exert some influence on public confidence, the one that emerges time and again is the degree of contact with the justice system and the ensuing negative perceptions that result from it. This contribution describes the most salient findings of this decade of public opinion research on the criminal justice system in Belgium and reflects on the implications for judicial policy-making.

Treatment Selection: What Do We Know?

In this article we review the main findings in psychotherapy research that can contribute to the two goals of the treatment-selection process: (1) facilitating the first phase of therapy and (2) enhancement of final outcome of therapy. Psychotherapy research that contributes directly to treatment selection is scarce since treatment selection as such is seldom the topic of study. Further, guidelines for the practitioner concerning treatment selection have rarely been formulated. In this review we make the explicit attempt to reformulate research findings into suggestions for the clinician for treatment selection.

De werkalliantie: visies op een bruikbaar concept en de meting ervan

samenvattingIn dit artikel wordt het begrip werkalliantie besproken vanuit het perspectief dat weinig maten beschikbaar zijn voor de evaluatie van indicatiestellingsprocedures. Het belang van het begrip wordt vervolgens geïllustreerd aan de hand van 1 een overzicht van factoren die een bijdrage leveren aan het tot stand komen van een werkalliantie en 2 een bespreking van het verband tussen metingen van de werkalliantie en de psychotherapie-outcome. Dit leidt uiteindelijk tot een verantwoorde keuze voor een begripsomschrijving en een kritische bespreking van de Working Alliance Inventory (Horvath & Greenberg, 1989) die zowel voor de clinicus als voor de onderzoeker bruikbaar is.SummaryA conceptual review related to working alliance is followed by an overview of the research concerning the factors that contribute to the formation of a workable alliance. Furthermore, the relationship frequently observed between the working alliance and the outcome is commented on. This leads to the critical description of the Working Alliance Inventory (Horvath & Greenberg, 1989).

De invloed van voorkeuren op de beginfase van psychotherapie

In dit onderzoek wordt het verband nagegaan tussen enerzijds initiële extreme voorkeursverschillen, de zogenaamde voorkeursincongruentie tussen cliënt en hulpverlener en anderzijds drop–out, tevredenheid en werkalliantie. De resultaten tonen aan dat cliënten die de behandeling vroegtijdig afbreken significant meer voorkeursincongruentie vertonen dan cliënten die de behandeling voortzetten. Ook blijkt de mate van voorkeursincongruentie significant negatief te correleren met de tevredenheid zoals beoordeeld door de hulpverleners. Dat wil zeggen: hoe groter de initiële voorkeursincongruentie, hoe ontevredener de therapeut is. De uitkomsten van dit onderzoek onderstrepen het belang van voorkeuren van cliënt en hulpverlener. De suggestie die eruit spreekt is dat bij de indicatiestelling voor psychotherapie rekening gehouden dient te worden met extreme voorkeursverschillen.

Social Desirability in Intimate Partner Violence and Relationship Satisfaction Reports: An Exploratory Analysis:

The social desirability bias can be considered a two-dimensional construct, consisting of impression management and self-deception. Although social desirability is often considered a threat to the validity of intimate partner violence (IPV) reports, little is known about which dimension is most responsible for this distortion. Furthermore, it is unclear whether social desirability distorts the report of relationship satisfaction. In this study, two instruments that claim to measure social desirability are investigated on their ability to measure impression management and self-deception. Afterward, which dimension (if any) is responsible for a distortion in IPV and relationship satisfaction reports is examined. The survey consisted of the following measures: the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales for IPV, the Couples Satisfaction Index for relationship satisfaction and the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding, the Limited Disclosure Scale, and the Idealistic Distortion Scale for social desirability. The Limited Disclosure Scale was found to predominantly measure impression management. The Idealistic Distortion Scale did not measure social desirability well and appeared to be a bad measure for relationship satisfaction. Both the reports of IPV and relationship satisfaction were influenced by impression management, but not by self-deception. However, impression management and self-deception only accounted for a small portion of the variance in IPV and relationship satisfaction reports. These results indicate that the social desirability bias, when reporting IPV and relationship satisfaction, is a conscious process, but that its influence on IPV and relationship satisfaction reports might be overrated.

SCAN as an investigative tool

Scientific content analysis (SCAN) is a technique that claims to enable the detection of deception in written statements. The underlying assumption is that statements of self-experienced events differ in several ways – such as liveliness and concreteness – from imaginary statements. It is used in many countries as an investigative tool. Nevertheless, little research on the reliability and validity of the SCAN technique is available. In this paper, two studies are presented. The first study focuses on the accuracy of SCAN to detect deception by three groups of raters with a different level of experience. This study shows a lack of validity of SCAN. Study 2 investigated the inter-rater reliability as a possible explanation for the poor validity results, and found little agreement between raters in identifying SCAN criteria. Overall, results indicate that the psychometric qualities of SCAN as an investigative tool is insufficient for use in police practice.