Volume 23, Issue 3, September 2021

Editoral in Hungarian

Faludi Gábor

Abstract

Research on schizotypy dates back to the 1960s, and their association with mentalization also dates back at least 15 years. However, unfortunately, the results are mainly contradictory. This review aims to clarify why the results are so different and fi nd a correlation between the tests and the results. Publications for the review were selected from PubMed by searching for the following keywords: “schizotypy + theory of mind, mentalization, empathy”. We also used the reference lists of published reports for additional studies. Criteria for the studies were: investigated the relationship between schizotypy and mentalization or schizotypy and empathy in a non-clinical sample. We grouped the results according to correlations, tests, theory of mind, and mentalization. Studies with relatives of schizophrenic patients were excluded from the research. The comparison included 39 articles covering a total of 42 studies. The total number of participants was 10139, with an average age of 20.4 years. Schizotypy was measured with eight different tests, mentalization was measured with 12 tests, and empathy was measured with two types of tests. Studies have found an association between schizotypal traits and mentalization or schizotypal traits and empathy in 28 cases. Research that found a correlation between mentalization and schizotypy used different tests to measure mentalization. Overall, the inconsistent results are due to the diversity of mentalization and the multidimensional characteristic of the schizotypy. 

Keywords: mentalization, empathy, schizotypy, theory of mind

Can you get off the rollercoaster? Psychotherapeutic interventions in bipolar disorder

Berta Erdelyi-Hamza, Livia Priyanka Elek  and Xenia Gonda

Abstract

Bipolar affective disorder is a chronic illness that usually causes significant psychosocial deficits and functional impairment and is also associated with excess mortality. It is underlied by an endogenous pathology with pharmacotherapy as primary treatment. However, in many cases, medication treatment alone is associated with limited adherence, low remission rates, increased potential for relapse and residual symptoms, which is why bipolarity-specific psychotherapeutic interventions are increasingly gaining ground as an integral part of the management of the disease. An increasing amount of research and evidence suggest that complementary psychotherapeutic interventions improve patients’ long-term functioning, and argue for the involvement of psychologists and other helping professionals in the long-term care of patients with bipolar disorder. In this article we overview the major therapeutic methods specifically targeted at this group of patients, including individual and group psychoeducation, cognitive behavioural therapy, family therapy, Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy (IPSRT), Integrated Care Management, Think Effectively About Mood Swings (TEAMS), Imagery Based Emotion Regulation (IBER), and other individual and group techniques and psychotherapeutic interventions, also mentioning efficacy studies and effects experienced by patients. 

Keywords: bipolar disorder, psychotherapy, Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy IPSRT), Think Effectively About Mood Swings (TEAMS), Imagery Based Emotion Regulation (IBER), Integrated Care Management, cognitive behavior therapy

What is the dominant treatment attitude of psychiatric patients?

Laszlo Pogany, Carlos De las Cuevas and Judit Lazary

Abstract

Background: Patients’ attitude towards drug treatment is of prognostic value regarding adherence. However, few detailed analyses have been performed regarding the influencing factors of the treatment attitude of psychiatric patients. Methods: We enrolled in the study 295 psychiatric inpatients and analyzed the data obtained using the recently developed Patient’s Health Belief Questionnaire on Psychiatric Treatment (PHBQPT), the Behavioural Inhibition/ Activation System (BIS/BAS) Scale, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. We created a ’dominant treatment attitude’ (DTA) variable from the 5 subscales of the PHBQPT. Results: The most common DTA was the Doctor HLOC and the rarest proved to be the Psychological Reactance. The double DTA carriers were the most frequently occurring multiple DTAs. We found that the Doctor-HLOC coupled most frequently with the Positive Aspect and the DoctorHLOC with the Internal-HLOC. The Doctor-HLOC score was higher while the BAS Fun seeking score lower in the case of patients treated for affective disorders compared to patients who belonged to the psychosis and personality disorder subgroups. Conclusions: Screening of DTAs in psychiatric patients can provide useful information for the planning of a more effective therapeutic strategy.

(Neuropsychopharmacol Hung 2021; 23(2): 308-318) 

Keywords: treatment attitude, health control beliefs, psychological reactance, adherence, drug attitude

Interaction between emotional context-guided shifting and cognitive shifting: Introduction of a novel task

Brigitte Biro, Gyongyi Kokonyei , Raissa De Oliveira Negrao, Adel Dancsik , Szilvia Karsai , H.N. Alexander Logemann and Renata Cserjesi

Abstract

Aim: Task shifting is considered as a critical component of cognitive flexibility that underlies the ability to flexibly switch between tasks. It is measured by performance-based tasks, where participants have to select/ignore simple target stimuli such as letters, numbers, or words according to certain rules. However, in everyday life individuals need to manage and shift between more complex, often emotionally charged stimuli. Previous paradigms developed to measure affective flexibility are based on the task where the focus is to shift between emotional and non-emotional stimuli, instead of the flexible shift between emotional valences. In view of this, the aim of the present study was to develop the Emotional Shifting Task, a novel paradigm that is created with the purpose of assessing emotional flexibility abilities by means of a novel valence-specific shifting design. Furthermore, scientific discussion regarding the relationship between cognitive and emotional flexibility abilities, a connection that is rarely addressed in the literature would be addressed. Method: In the present paper, task shifting was assessed by means of the Task Switching Task while the Emotional Shifting Task method evaluated emotional flexibility abilities in an online setting. Results: The results revealed a significant, positive relationship between task shifting and emotional shifting from positive to negative images only. Furthermore, when fast and slow performers on TST were distinguished results showed that fast performers on TST were also faster on EST shift conditions in general, but not on EST non-shift condition. Conclusion: These findings indicate that cognitive and emotional flexibility abilities may be interrelated. Our results seem to indicate a connection between the two shifting abilities.

(Neuropsychopharmacol Hung 2021; 23(2): 319-330) 

Keywords: emotional valence; task-switching, flexibility, Emotional Shifting Task, psychological distress