The current evidence base does not justify the marketing and utilization of ERT for mental disorders. Such services should not be offered to the public unless and until well-designed studies provide evidence that justify different conclusions.

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Individuals with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) endorse greater negative affect, including anxiety psychopathology. To examine the role anxiety plays in the maintenance and exacerbation of IBS the links between IBS and two anxiety related constructs, body vigilance and discomfort intolerance, were examined. A non-treatment seeking college sample (N = 476) completed measures that assessed IBS symptomatology, vigilance to bodily sensations and ability to tolerate physical discomfort. A total of 4.2 percent of the sample met Rome II criteria for IBS. Consistent with the hypotheses, IBS symptoms were associated with increased vigilance to bodily sensations and increased desire to avoid these sensations.

Health literacy has repeatedly been shown to be associated with a multitude of negative health outcomes. Previous research has shown that patient health literacy levels are hard to predict by physicians and that assessment tools used to measure health literacy may be outdated or lacking. The purpose of this study is to replicate and extend the findings of previous research by examining residents’ ability to predict health literacy levels in patients and to use a newer validated measure of health literacy. A total of 38 patient encounters were included in this study. Patients were administered the Health Literacy Skills Instrument-Short Form to assess health literacy levels. Twenty resident physicians conducted visits with study participants and were asked to predict the health literacy of their patients. Results indicated that, consistent with previous research, residents’ predictions of patient health literacy were not consistent with patient health literacy levels as measured by the Health Literacy Skills Instrument-Short Form. Implications of these findings and future directions are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to compare the relative effects of a single bout of aerobic exercise versus resistance training on cognitive vulnerabilities for anxiety disorders. Seventy-seven participants (60% female; 84% Caucasian) were randomized to complete 20 min of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, resistance training, or rest, followed by a 35% CO2/65% O2 inhalation challenge task. Results indicated that aerobic exercise and resistance training were significantly and equally effective in reducing anxiety sensitivity (AS) compared with rest ((η(2)(p ) = 52), though only aerobic exercise significantly attenuated reactivity to the CO2 challenge task. Neither form of exercise generated observable effects on distress tolerance, discomfort intolerance, or state anxiety (all ps >.10). The results of this study are discussed with regard to their implications for the use of exercise interventions for anxiety and related forms of psychopathology, and potential directions for future research are discussed.

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Information-processing models of anxiety posit that anxiety pathology is associated with processing biases that consume cognitive resources and may detract from one's ability to process environmental stimuli. Previous research has consistently indicated that high anxiety has a negative impact on cognitive and psychomotor performance. Anxiety sensitivity, or the fear of anxiety and anxiety-related arousal sensations, is an anxiety vulnerability factor that has been shown to play a role in the development and maintenance of panic attacks and panic disorder. However, relatively little is known regarding the potential impact of anxiety sensitivity on performance. In the present study, 105 college students who scored either high (≥ 24) or low (≤ 14) on the Anxiety Sensitivity Index were randomly assigned to complete a series of arousal-induction tasks or no activity, followed immediately by three cognitive and psychomotor performance tasks: digit span - backward, math fluency, and grooved pegboard. Results indicated that participants with high anxiety sensitivity performed comparably to individuals with low anxiety sensitivity on each task, regardless of arousal level.

No abstract