As I am sure you cannot have failed to notice, the Journal has taken onquite a different look, thanks to Cambridge University Press. In addition,there have been changes in the Editorial Advisory Board. We welcome some newmembers, and say farewell and thanks to some old friends. Members of the newEditorial Board are going to be very directly involved in advising theeditors and assistant editors in matters relevant to particular issues andgeographical regions.

A recent cognitive model of social phobia (Clark & Wells, 1995)suggested that negative self-images may play an important role inmaintaining the disorder. To investigate this suggestion, 30 social phobicsand 30 non-patient controls were given a semi-structured interview whichfocused on spontaneously occurring images. Social phobics were significantly more likely than controls to report experiencing images when anxious insocial situations. In addition, social phobics’ images weresignificantly more negative and significantly more likely to involve seeingoneself from an observer’s perspective. Implications of these findings forthe understanding and cognitive treatment of social phobia are discussed.

Recent discussion has emphasized the importance of assessments of clinicalsignificance of outcome in treatment outcome studies. Several methods existto assess clinical significance, one of which is the use of global ratingsof outcome. This study reports the use of such measures in a treatmentoutcome study investigating pharmacological and psychologicaltreatments for panic disorder and agoraphobia in primary care. Outcome isreported in terms of global ratings of symptom severity and of change insymptoms following treatment, completed by the psychologist, referringGeneral Practitioners (GPs) and patients. Treatments involving cognitivebehaviour therapy showed greater efficacy than those employingpharmacological treatments alone. Considerable agreement was demonstratedbetween psychologist and patient ratings. Such agreement was much lessobvious for ratings completed by referring GPs. Possible reasons for thisare advanced.

Research aimed at identifying genes contributing to the aetiology ofpsychological disorders is in progress. This raises the possibility thatgenetic testing for such genes might become available. In this paper thepossible psychological consequences of genetic testing for psychologicaldisorders are examined. It is proposed that genetic testing may causepsychological and behavioural reactions that actually increase theperson’s risk of developing a psychological disorder or may maintainexisting problems. It is also suggested that cognitive-behavioural modelsmay be able to aid prediction of some of the likely consequences of testingand identify people who are likely to react in particularly negative ways tonews of their genetic risk. If genetic tests for psychological disorders are developed, it isimportant that research is carried out into the psychological and behaviouraleffects of testing and ways of minimizing adverse effects, before such testsbecome widely available.

Social psychological models of reasoned action, and behavioural models ofverbal behaviour, predict that caregiver beliefs and attributions partiallydetermine their responses to challenging behaviours. The present studyexamined the relationship between special educators’ causal attributions andthe underlying function of challenging behaviours in children with learningdisabilities. Sixty special school staff were presented with two questionnairevignettes describing attention seeking and task avoidance behaviour. Theywere then asked to identify the likely causes of the behaviours. Onlya small proportion of participants made accurate causal attributions aboutthe two examples of challenging behaviour. In addition, staff experience hadlittle effect on the accuracy of attributions. Implications for futureresearch, for staff training, and analysis of challenging behaviours arediscussed.

The colour-naming performance of a group of hospitalized anorexic women(N=12) was tested on initial admission, after 1 week of treatment and againafter 12 weeks of treatment. Compared to a control population of non-clinicalfemales (N=18), the anorexics colour-named both food and body shape words moreslowly than their neutral matched words; although colour-naming times, ingeneral, were slower for anorexics. The size of this colour-naming impairmentdecreased as a function of weight gain and improvement in psychopathology,although colour-naming times for food words improved more quickly than for bodyshape words for both clinical and non-clinical subjects. The results ofcorrelational analysis between colour-naming times and Eating DisorderInventory (EDI-2) responses lead to the conclusion that colour-namingperformance for body shape, rather than food words, provides a clearerindex of improvement in psychopathological status in anorexia nervosa.

Individual cognitive behavioural interventions for psychosis are rapidlydeveloping and are being shown to be effective. This paper examines theapplication of these interventions on a group basis. The nature of the group,treatment outcome and potential benefits of using this format aredescribed. After the group intervention, all patients were less depressed,most had higher self-esteem and greater knowledge of schizophrenia, and halfthe group felt better able to cope with their symptoms. Patients reportedfeeling less isolated and two of the four group members stated a preferencefor group over individual treatment.

Hospitalized older adults with dementia often have few opportunities forsocial interaction and psychological stimulation. Their psychologicalfunctioning is affected by the dementing illness, sensory impairment and theeffects of living in an institutional environment. The adverse effects ofsensory deprivation may be particularly relevant for this clientgroup. Using a multiple single case design, we evaluated the effects ofindividual sensory stimulation sessions on four elderly patientswith dementia. All were living on a hospital continuing care psychiatricward. Detailed behavioural observations were made before, during and aftersessions to assess patients’ responses. Adaptive functioning andwellbeing were also investigated. Results indicated that the interventionled to observable changes in levels of interaction, active looking andinterest. The effects were transitory with the exception of activelooking, which endured following the session. Adaptive behaviours alsoimproved, though there was no change in wellbeing. The study indicates thatsensory stimulation is a valuable therapeutic intervention with this clientgroup.

The present study examined whether trait anxiety as indexed by the SpielbergerState-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) can be employed as a predictor ofbehaviour therapy outcome. Thirty-six female spider phobic patients completedthe STAI trait anxiety scale, and then received one 2.5 hours session ofexposure in vivo treatment. Therapy outcome was evaluated by means ofstandardized self-report measures and a behavioural approach test. Resultsshowed that STAI trait anxiety substantially contributed to therapy success onall outcome measures: the higher the trait anxiety scores, the less patientsprofited from behaviour therapy.