Background: Patients with anxiety disorder diagnoses commonly have more than one anxiety diagnosis. While cognitive-behavioural interventions have proven efficacy in treating single anxiety disorder diagnoses, there has been little investigation of their efficacy in treating co-occurring anxiety disorders. Aims: To evaluate the efficacy of a transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioural intervention for treating co-occurring anxiety disorders. Method: An A-B single case study design (N = 6) was used to evaluate the efficacy of a 12 to 13-session modular transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioural intervention for treating co-occurring anxiety disorders across patients with at least two of the following diagnoses: GAD, Social Phobia, Panic Disorder and/or OCD. Results: Five of the six participants completed treatment. At posttreatment assessment the five treatment completers achieved diagnostic and symptomatic change, with three participants being diagnosis free. All participants who completed treatment no longer met criteria for any DSM-IV-TR Axis-I diagnosis at the 3-month follow-up assessment, and demonstrated reliable and clinically-significant improvements in symptoms. Across the participants, statistically significant improvements from pre to postintervention were found on measures of anxiety, depression and general well-being, and all improvements were maintained at 3-month follow-up. Conclusions: Results suggest that transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural interventions can be of benefit to patients with co-occurring anxiety disorders.

Cognitive behavioural models suggest that individuals abandon their weight loss efforts because they fail to achieve their weight loss goal, their perceived benefits of weight loss (primary goals), or both. There are currently no published tools available to adequately measure primary goals. The purpose of the current study was to explore the factor structure and to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Primary Goals for Weight Loss Questionnaire (PGWLQ). One hundred and twenty-seven overweight and obese adult females actively trying to lose weight completed the PGWLQ. A four-factor solution (Comfort & Mobility; Fitness; Health & Illness; Participation & Activity) provided the best fit for the physical items, and a five-factor solution (Body Image & Self-esteem; Clothing Options & Fashion; Work Productivity & Opportunity; Social Life & Desirability; Sexual Confidence) provided the best fit for the psychosocial items. All PGWLQ factors demonstrated good convergent and discriminant validity. The PGWLQ demonstrated excellent internal consistency and weak to moderate test–retest reliability. Results of the present study suggest that the PGWLQ may be a promising research and clinical tool and further refinement of the PGWLQ and investigation of its factor structure is warranted.

The present study investigated whether MI is a mechanism for change in the treatment of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). The Magical Ideation scale (MI), the Obsessive–Compulsive Inventory — Short Version (OCI-SV) and the Padua Inventory were completed by 34 obsessive–compulsive patients pre- and post cognitive–behavioural treatment. Treatment did not target magical styles of thinking. Significant improvements on all three measures of obsessive–compulsive symptoms were demonstrated by t tests over the course of treatment. Improvement in magical thinking was also shown to be significant in t test results. In support of the hypothesis, correlations between MI improvement and improvement on the obsessive–compulsive symptom scales were significant (at a level of .05) suggesting that there is an association between improvement in magical thinking and improvement in obsessive–compulsive symptoms. Notably, a significant negative correlation was obtained between prescores on MI and change scores on the OCD measures. This suggests that high levels of MI are associated with high levels of treatment intractability. High MI appears to be a poor prognostic factor in OCD.

Aims – It used to be thought that the problems of psychosis were qualitatively difference from those of other disorders and therefore unamenable to psychological interventions. However more recent evidence will be summarised which suggests otherwise. Methods – A cognitive model of the positive symptoms of psychosis (Garety et al, 2001; Kuipers et al.,2006) is described which builds on work on the dimensions of symptoms of psychosis, the continuum between non-clinical and clinical populations, and the contribution of emotional processes, cognitive reasoning biases and social factors. Results – Evidence from both epidemiological and empirical studies from our research group and others, support some of the pathways of symptom formation and maintenance proposed by the model. Specifically there is evidence for the role of trauma, social adversity and stress. These may trigger emotional responses and unusual experiences and together with reasoning biases lead to appraisals that can be defined as positive symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations. Similar processes interact to maintain symptoms. Conclusions – Cognitive models of psychosis have led to the development of cognitive behavioural treatments for delusions and hallucinations, which show some evidence of efficacy. Such treatments need to be refined in the light of recent research.

Declaration of Interest: none

To evaluate the efficacy of adding cognitive behavioural treatment (CBT) to either a low-carbohydrate (LC) diet or a low-fat (LF) diet in the treatment of weight loss of obese women, a randomised clinical intervention study was performed. A total of 105 healthy non-pregnant obese women (average age and BMI of 45·4 (sd 10·4) years and 36 (sd 4·3) kg/m2) were randomly allocated to the CBT or control (C) groups; within each group, women were randomly selected to receive either the LC or LF diet during 6 months. The pre-planned primary trial end-point was the weight loss. Differences between the groups were assessed using one-way ANOVA. There were three women (2·8 %) who dropped out, all of them in the CBT group. No differences in the anthropometric and laboratory characteristics at baseline were noted between women in the CBT (n 52) and control groups (n 50). Intention-to-treat analysis showed that weight loss in the CBT-LC (90 (sd 12·3) to 82·1 (sd 12·1) kg) and C-LC (89·4 (sd 10·0) to 85·8 (sd 9·8) kg) groups reached 8·7 and 4·0 %, respectively (P < 0·0001), and in the CBT-LF (87·9 (sd 11·4) to 79·4 (sd 11·8) kg) and C-LF (88·8 (sd 14·5) to 85·3 (sd 14·3) kg) groups it was 9·7 and 3·9 %, respectively (P < 0·05). Weight loss was higher in the CBT-LF group than in the CBT-LC groups (P = 0·049). The present results showed that adding CBT to either the LF or LC diet produced significantly greater short-term weight loss in obese women compared with diet alone. These finding support the efficacy of CBT in breaking previous dietary patterns and in developing healthier attitudes that reinforce a healthier lifestyle.

The eating disorders provide one of the strongest indications for cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). This bold claim arises from two sources: first, the fact that eating disorders are essentially cognitive disorders and second, the demonstrated effectiveness of CBT in the treatment of bulimia nervosa, which has led to the widespread acceptance that CBT is the treatment of choice. In this paper the cognitive behavioural approach to the understanding and treatment of eating disorders will be described. A brief summary of the evidence for this account and of the data supporting the efficacy and effectiveness of this form of treatment will be provided. Challenges for the future development and dissemination of the treatment will be identified.

The aim of this study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural treatment (CBT) with a focus on academic skills and conduct problems and to increase parents' educational skills in managing aggressive and oppositional behaviour in a subsequent parent training (PMT). For this purpose 18 children with a diagnosis of ADHD combined type participated in the study. In an A-B study design the effects of a 12-week treatment phase (6 weeks CBT; 6 weeks PMT) were compared with a preceding 4-week baseline. Core symptoms of ADHD, conduct problems and individual problem behaviour were assessed by weekly administration of parent and teacher questionnaires. The results indicate a significant and generalized reduction of ADHD core symptoms, conduct problems and homework problems during CBT at home and at school. PMT resulted in a further amelioration of the cited symptoms. We conclude that CBT may be a promising component in the treatment of ADHD provided that aspects of generalization are considered during the treatment. PMT may be a useful adjunct in most cases as it is effective in situations where the ADHD child still has problems of self-guidance.

Dizziness is a distressing symptom that is often associated with fear and anxiety, as well as organic balance system dysfunction. We report here on the successful treatment of a 68-year-old woman with dizziness and balance problems. Treatment was given within a cognitive behavioural framework, but also included physiotherapy in the form of head movement exercises. Results were evaluated by a balance platform test, a behavioural provocation test and questionnaire data. Positive results were found in each of these three assessment domains.