Attanasio, JS, Onslow, M & Packman, A 1998, 'Representativeness reasoning and the search for the origins of stuttering', Journal of Fluency Disorders, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 265-277.
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In this paper, we present our views on theories of the distal and proximal causes of stuttering. We suggest that the search for the etiology of stuttering has been hampered by the inappropriate use of the representativeness heuristic, a method of reasoning which proposes that the effects of a disorder reflect its causes. We encourage a return to the ideas of Froeschels and Bluemel so that the representativeness heuristic might properly be employed in investigations into the proximal, mechanical causes of stuttering and into the etiological implications of the repetitions of early stuttering.
Bensoussan, A, Talley, NJ, Hing, M, Menzies, R, Guo, A & Ngu, M 1998, 'Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome With Chinese Herbal Medicine', JAMA, vol. 280, no. 18, pp. 1585-1585.
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de Bie, RA, Verhagen, AP, Lenssen, AF, de Vet, HCW, van den Wildberg, FAJM, Kootstra, G & Knipschild, PG 1998, 'Efficacy of 904 nm laser therapy in the management of musculoskeletal disorders: a systematic review', Physical Therapy Reviews, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 59-72.
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This systematic review was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of 904nm low level laser therapy (LT) in musculoskeletal disorders. In order to retrieve randomized trials, computer-aided searches of databases and of bibliographic indexes were performed. Furthermore, congress reports, reviews and handbooks were all checked for relevant citations. Subsequently, all retrieved studies were scored on methodological quality. This review found 25 studies that investigated the effects of 904nm LT versus placebo or any other intervention, in subjects with a condition for which LT was thought a feasible intervention. Of these, 21 fulfilled the entry criteria for this review, and were assessed in a blinded manner on methodological criteria. Overall, study quality ranged from ‘poor’ to ‘reasonable’. In a classification of the material into diseases studied, no clear evidence was found for the effectiveness of LT, except perhaps for knee problems and myofascial pain. It is concluded that 904nm LTdoes not seem to be effective in the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders, but that further and improved research is needed to shed more light on its effectiveness.
Harris, LM & Menzies, RG 1998, 'Changing attentional bias: Can it effect self-reported anxiety?', Anxiety, Stress & Coping, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 167-179.
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Hodge, L, Salome, CM, Hughes, JM, Liu-Brennan, D, Rimmer, J, Allman, M, Pang, D, Armour, C & Woolcock, AJ 1998, 'Effect of dietary intake of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids on severity of asthma in children', European Respiratory Journal, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 361-365.
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We assessed the clinical and biochemical effects in asthmatic children of fish oil supplementation and a diet that increases omega-3 and reduces omega-6 fatty acids. Thirty nine asthmatic children aged 8-12 yrs participated in a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial for 6 months during which they received fish oil capsules plus canola oil and margarine (omega-3 group) or safflower oil capsules plus sunflower oil and margarine (omega-6 group). Plasma fatty acids, stimulated tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) production, circulating eosinophil numbers and lung function were measured at baseline and after 3 and 6 months of dietary modification. Day and night symptoms, peak flow rates and medication use were recorded for 1 week prior to laboratory visits. Plasma phospholipid omega-3 fatty acids were significantly greater in the omega-3 group at 3 and 6 months compared to the omega-6 group (p<0.001). In the omega-3 group TNFalpha production fell significantly compared with baseline (p=0.026), but the magnitude of change between groups did not reach significance (p=0.075). There were no significant changes in clinical outcome measures. Dietary enrichment of omega-3 fatty acids over 6 months increased plasma levels of these fatty acids, reduced stimulated tumour necrosis factor alpha production, but had no effect on the clinical severity of asthma in these children.
Jones, MK & Menzies, RG 1998, 'Danger ideation reduction therapy (DIRT) for obsessive–compulsive washers. A controlled trial', Behaviour Research and Therapy, vol. 36, no. 10, pp. 959-970.
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Twenty-one OCD sufferers with washing/contamination concerns took part in a controlled treatment trial at the Anxiety Disorders Clinic, University of Sydney. Eleven of the subjects received danger ideation reduction therapy (DIRT) over eight, 1 h weekly group sessions conducted by the second author. Ten subjects were placed on a wait list and did not receive DIRT or any other treatment. DIRT procedures were solely directed at decreasing danger-related expectancies concerning contamination and did not include exposure, response prevention or behavioural experiments. Components of DIRT include attentional focusing, filmed interviews, corrective information, cognitive restructuring, expert testimony, microbiological experiments and a probability of catastrophe assessment task. All subjects were assessed at pre-treatment, post-treatment and three-month follow-up using the Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory, Leyton Obsessionality Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory and a Self Rating of Severity Scale. Changes from pre-treatment to after treatment (post-treatment and follow-up scores averaged) were significantly greater in the DIRT condition than in the control condition for all measures. No significant differences were obtained between groups on post-treatment to follow-up change on any measure. The implications of these findings for theoretical models of OCD and its management are discussed.
Jones, MK & Menzies, RG 1998, 'Role of perceived danger in the mediation of obsessive-compulsive washing', Depression and Anxiety, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 121-125.
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The role of danger expectancies in sub-clinical Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) was examined in 18 undergraduate students who had displayed washing/contamination concerns. The perceived level of danger in a Behavioural Avoidance Test (BAT) involving a compound stimulus of potting soil, animal hair, food scraps, and raw meat was manipulated by varying the instructions participants were given at the commencement of the BAT. Participants were randomly allocated into a high-danger instruction condition or a low-danger instruction condition. Participants in the higher-danger instruction condition had higher mean ratings for anxiety and urge to wash, showed greater avoidance, and spent longer washing their hands at the completion of the task than participants in the low-danger instruction condition. However, only the differences in avoidance scores and post-BAT washing were statistically significant. These findings are discussed in relation to danger-based models of OCD.
Jones, MK & Menzies, RG 1998, 'Role of perceived danger in the mediation of obsessive‐compulsive washing', Depression and Anxiety, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 121-125.
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Jones, MK & Menzies, RG 1998, 'The relevance of associative learning pathways in the development of obsessive–compulsive washing', Behaviour Research and Therapy, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 273-283.
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The relevance of associative learning in the development of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) was investigated in a group of 23 OCD patients whose main concern was washing and 23 age and sex matched control subjects who did not have OCD. OC washers completed an origins instrument based on Menzies and Clarke's Origins Questionnaire (OQ) for the phobic disorders. Control subjects completed a modified version of this measure designed to give a comprehensive picture of their experiences with relevant contamination-related stimuli. In general, the results question the relevance of associative-learning per se in the development of OC washing. Direct and indirect conditioning events were very rare in the OCD group, accounting for less than 13% of cases. No significant differences between groups were found in the proportion of subjects who knew other OC washers, or had experienced direct associative-learning events prior to onset. Contrary to expectation, significantly more non-OCD subjects had experienced vicarious learning events related to dirt and washing than OCD subjects. However, of note, associative-learning events that took place during episodes of depression were significantly more frequently reported in the OCD group than in the control group. Depression appeared to play a facilitating role in the associative-learning of OC washing. The implications of these findings for theoretical accounts of OCD are discussed.
Menzies, RG 1998, 'Cognitive-behavior therapy by any other name still smells as sweet.', Arch Gen Psychiatry, vol. 55, no. 7, pp. 664-666.
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Menzies, RG, Harris, LM & Jones, MK 1998, 'Evidence from three fearful samples for a poor insight type in specific phobia', Depression and Anxiety, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 29-32.
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Menzies, RG, Kirkby, K & Harris, LM 1998, 'The convergent validity of the Phobia Origins Questionnaire (POQ): a review of the evidence', Behaviour Research and Therapy, vol. 36, no. 11, pp. 1081-1089.
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The Phobic Origins Questionnaire (POQ) is the most commonly cited instrument for determining the origins of phobic anxiety and data obtained using this instrument strongly support the role of conditioning in the acquisition of fear reactions. The construct validity of the POQ in assessing episodes of conditioning has been questioned. This paper examined the convergent validity of the POQ by comparing origins' classifications based on the POQ to classifications based on alternative instruments. The convergent validity of the POQ was found to be extremely poor. The POQ was consistently associated with a much greater likelihood of classifying the origin of fear reactions as due to direct conditioning episodes than was found using alternative instruments. The findings question the usefulness of the POQ in examining the origins of phobic anxiety.
Onslow, M & O'Brian, S 1998, 'Reliability of Clinicians' Judgments About Prolonged-Speech Targets', Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, vol. 41, no. 5, pp. 969-975.
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Treatments for stuttering based on variants of Goldiamond's prolonged-speech procedure involve teaching clients to speak with novel speech patterns. Those speech patterns consist of specific skills, described with such terms as soft contacts, gentle onsets, and continuous vocalization . It might be expected that effective client learning of such speech skills would be dependent on clinicians' ability to reliably identify any departures from the correct production of such speech targets. The present study investigated clinicians' reliability in detecting such errors during a prolonged-speech treatment program. Results showed questionable intraclinician agreement and poor interclinician agreement. Nonetheless, the prolonged-speech program in question is known to be effective in controlling stuttered speech. The clinical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.
Packman, A & Onslow, M 1998, 'What Is the Take-Home Message From Curlee and Yairi?', American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 5-9.
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Pate, JW 1998, 'Modern management of traumatic rupture of the aortic isthmus', ANNALS OF THORACIC SURGERY, vol. 66, no. 2, pp. 611-612.
Poulton, R, Davies, S, Menzies, RG, Langley, JD & Silva, PA 1998, 'Evidence for a non-associative model of the acquisition of a fear of heights', Behaviour Research and Therapy, vol. 36, no. 5, pp. 537-544.
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Theories that fear results from previous traumatic experience (i.e. conditioning theories) have enjoyed widespread support for over half a century. Recent research, however, has cast doubt on the validity of these models in some specific phobias. Two studies on the etiology of height phobia have obtained findings consistent with a non-associative, evolutionary explanation of fear acquisition. Unfortunately, the retrospective nature of these studies limits the conclusions that can be drawn from these data. Like all retrospective research, these studies depend on adult subjects imperfect ability to recall conditioning events that may have occurred many years earlier. The present investigation overcomes these methodological shortcomings by examining the relationship between putative conditioning events before the age of 9 yr and the presence of height fear at ages 11 and 18 yr in a large birth cohort studied longitudinally. To our knowledge this is the first study that has prospectively examined the relationship between relevant traumatic events early in life and the onset of height fear in late adolescence. No positive relationship was found between a history of falls resulting in injury (i.e. fracture, dislocation, intracranial injury or laceration) before the age of 9 and fear of heights at age 11 or 18. Interestingly, falls resulting in injury between the ages of 5 and 9 occurred more frequently in those without a fear of heights at 18 (P < 0.01) - a finding in the opposite direction to that predicted by conditioning theory but consistent with non-associative theories of fear acquisition. In general, the results provide strong support for non-associative models of fear and are difficult to reconcile with conditioning theories.
Shires, A & Miller, D 1998, 'A preliminary study comparing psychological factors associated with erectile dysfunction in heterosexual and homosexual men', Sexual and Marital Therapy, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 37-49.
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This study examined whether a group of homosexual men experiencing erectile difficulties showed differences from heterosexual men with the same clinical presentations in a number of affective and cognitive variables associated with erectile difficulties. In particular it was hypothesized that homosexual participants would present with a different set of cognitions surrounding the erectile dysfunction (and would be less affected by performance anxiety, a construct shown to be a significant variable in the aetiology of erectile dysfunction in heterosexual couples). Results drawn from standarized and purpose-designed questionnaires indicated that heterosexual men in the participant group were significantly more likely to be affected by performance anxiety, and showed higher levels of general anxiety, depression and lower levels of self-esteem than their homosexual counterparts. The homosexual group was found to be more affected by a number of cognitive variables including HIV anxiety, internalized homophobia, and intimacy issues. Findings fit with the model of erectile dysfunction proposed by Barlow, in which cognitive interference in the form of specific cognitive beliefs and schemata have an impact on sexual arousal when combined with anxiety about the consequences of erectile loss.
Verhagen, AP, de Vet, HCW, de Bie, RA, Kessels, AGH, Boers, M & Knipschild, PG 1998, 'Balneotherapy and Quality Assessment: Interobserver Reliability of the Maastricht Criteria List and the Need for Blinded Quality Assessment', Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, vol. 51, no. 4, pp. 335-341.
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Verhagen, AP, de Vet, HCW, de Bie, RA, Kessels, AGH, Boers, M, Bouter, LM & Knipschild, PG 1998, 'The Delphi List', Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, vol. 51, no. 12, pp. 1235-1241.
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