Michael J. Ross

Effects of Stress Inoculation Training on Athletes' Postsurgical Pain and Rehabilitation after Orthopedic Injury.

The efficacy of a cognitive-behavioral intervention (stress inoculation training; SIT) for postsurgical anxiety, pain, and physical rehabilitation in injured athletes was tested. Sixty male athletes who underwent arthroscopic surgery for miniscus injury in 1 knee were randomly assigned to either treatment (SIT and physical therapy) or control (physical therapy only) conditions. Results showed that participants in the treatment group demonstrated significantly less postsurgical pain and anxiety during the rehabilitation process, compared with controls. Additionally, treated participants required fewer days to return to criterion physical functioning, compared with nontreated participants.

The changing workforce: The role of health psychology.

Because the federal government is the largest payer of all health costs, unbridled increases in the health workforce have profound fiscal implications. Recent efforts to control health spending through modifications of health delivery systems are related to the consequences of the unlimited production of health professionals. However, the federal government has established processes to review physician workforce changes, and these mechanisms have become important in accessing federal training monies. Psychologists have no concerted workforce policy and receive little federal training money. Moreover, other health professionals have attained statutory authority to perform and provide the same services as psychologists. This diffusion of professional functions impedes the ability to assess the status of the workforce and the development of psychology as a health profession.

Contributions of the Cognitive Style Questionnaire and the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale to Measuring Cognitive Vulnerability to Depression

The first objective of this study was to separate the contributions of the Cognitive Style Questionnaire (CSQ) and the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) to maladaptive cognitive patterns in their relations to symptoms of depression and their potential developmental origins: emotional maltreatment, parents’ typical feedback styles, and parents’ dysfunctional attitudes regarding their offspring. Other objectives were to examine these relations in the context of symptoms of anxiety and to learn whether selected aspects of the Cognitive Vulnerability to Depression Project (CVD Project; Alloy, & Abramson, 1999) would generalize to a distinctive sample (nxa0=xa098). The same relations between the DAS and the CSQ and depression and developmental origins emerged as in the CVD Project,xa0 but relations with the DAS were somewhat more robust.

Likability of targets and distractors in facial recognition

Target and distractor likability were examined in two studies of face memory. Subjects studied faces that had been rated by others as likable or unlikable . The test required subjects to identify the previously studied face in an array of four faces, where the distractor faces were either likable or unlikable . Overall, unlikable targets were more readily recognized than likable targets. In Experiment 2, distractor likability appeared to have little effect on correct recognition when response bias was ruled out. However, in Experiment 2, arrays involving all new faces showed that likable faces were more apt to be falsely identified as targets. In general, these results seem more in accord with an interpretation based on distinctiveness instead of affective responses.

College Students' Preferences for Psychotherapy Across Depression, Anxiety, Relationship, and Academic Problems

The present study examined differences in college students preferences for processes of change across four kinds of problems: academic, relationship, depression, and anxiety. Two hundred eighteen undergraduates were randomly assigned to complete either an academic problems, relationship problems, depression, or anxiety Processes of Change Questionnaire along with the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Services Scale. Results revealed significant differences for preferred processes of change as a function of problem type. Generally, processes of change were more preferred for depression, anxiety, and relationship problems than for academic problems. Results may assist clinicians in selecting psychotherapeutic interventions to which college students will be most receptive.

Ethical Beliefs of Psychotherapists: Scientific Findings

Psychotherapists from the four primary mental health professions (counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers) were surveyed regarding the ethicality of 83 psychotherapy-related behaviors. Results indicated a relatively high degree of consensus among psychotherapists of various disciplines regarding their ethical beliefs about the practice of psychotherapy. However, a significant effect for professional group was obtained on ethicality ratings of five psychotherapy behaviors (i.e., unintentionally disclosing confidential information, having clients take tests home, utilizing involuntary hospitalization, addressing a client by his or her first name, and having clients address the therapist by first name) with psychiatrists differing significantly from the other three mental health practitioner groups. The findings from the present study provide a descriptive database to assist practicing psychotherapists, state licensing and ethics boards, and professional organizations in determining what constitutes the ethical practice of psychotherapy.

An exploration of relationships among measures of social cognition, decision making, and emotional intelligence

The present study examined the relationships among measures that purportedly assess emotional intelligence (EI), social cognition, and emotional decision making within a sample of nonclinical undergraduate participants. Forty participants, both male and female, who scored in either the highest or the lowest quartiles of an EI measure (the Trait Meta-Mood Scale) completed the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test and the Iowa Gambling Task. As expected, main effects for gender and EI level occurred, as women outperformed men on the Eyes Test, and participants in the higher EI group outperformed those in the lower EI group on the Eyes Test. Additionally, men classified in the higher EI group performed significantly better on the Eyes Test than men in the lower EI group. However, no group or gender differences were found on the Iowa Gambling Task.

The effects of therapist-client age similarity on pretherapy expectations

The present study investigated the effects of similarity between psychotherapist age and client age on clients preference for a therapist, willingness to disclose, expected therapeutic climate, and perceptions of therapist competence. Similarity theory provided a rationale for the hypothesis that prospective clients would perceive a psychotherapist similar in age more favorably than a therapist dissimilar in age. Support for the hypothesis was obtained on the dimensions of client preference, willingness to disclose, and therapist competence. Also, consistent with previous research, high experienced therapists were viewed more favorably than low experienced therapists.

AFFECT INTENSITY AND SELF- VERSUS OTHER-REFERENT INFORMATION PROCESSING

High and low affectively intense subjects were compared on endorsement ratings and incidental recall of positive, negative, and neutral trait adjectives rated for self-descriptiveness or other-descriptiveness. The effects of affect intensity were limited to endorsement patterns of positively valenced sell-referenced words; no significant findings were obtained for recall data. These findings suggest that intensity of affect does not appear to be a confounding factor in studies of mood and self-schematic information processing.

The Use of Stimulant Medication to Treat Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Elite Athletes: A Performance and Health Perspective

The use of stimulants as a treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among elite athletes is a controversial area with some arguing that stimulant use should not be permitted because it offers an advantage to athletes (fair play perspective). Guided by an integrated model of athletic performance, we address common concerns raised about stimulant use in sports from our perspective, which we coined the “performance and health perspective,” highlighting relevant research and pointing to gaps in empirical research that should be addressed before bans on use of stimulants for athletes with ADHD are considered. The current article posits that a stimulant ban for athletes with ADHD does not necessarily facilitate fair play, ensure safety, or align with existing policies of large governing bodies. Instead, we recommend that stimulant medication be allowed in high-level sport, following proper diagnosis by a trained professional and a cardiac assessment to confirm no underlying heart conditions. Athletes with ADHD approved to use stimulant medication should be monitored by a health care professional, physically reevaluated and reassessed for ADHD as clinically appropriate and as indicated by relevant sports governing bodies. This performance and health perspective is consistent with that of multiple sport governing bodies who offer therapeutic use.