http://www.researchonline.mq.edu.au/vital/access/services/Feed ${session.getAttribute("locale")} 5 http://www.researchonline.mq.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/mq:22715 Objective: To investigate whether climate change has impacted on the nature of the obsessions or compulsions experienced by patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Methods: The sample comprised 50 patients with OCD checking subtype who had presented at the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at The University of Sydney seeking treatment during the period March 2008 to November 2009. Details of the type of obsessions and compulsions directly related to climate change phenomena were identified. Results: Fourteen of the 50 participants (28%) were identified as having OCD concerns directly related to climate change. The most frequent concerns involved electricity, water and gas wastage. Less frequent concerns included pets dying of thirst and one participant was concerned about house damage due to floors cracking, pipes leaking; roof problems and white ant activity. Compulsions included checking and rechecking pet water bowls, light switches, taps, stoves, skirting boards, pipes, roofs and wooden structures. While these behaviours are not particularly unusual for people with this condition, it was the rationale they provided for carrying them out that was surprising. Instead of checking and rechecking so as to prevent fire or flood, the rituals were specifically performed so as to reduce their global footprint, or respond to climate change-induced negative events. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that the types of obsessions and compulsions experienced by 28% of our sample were directly aligned with the current issue of climate change and the perceived dangers associated with this phenomenon. To our knowledge this represents the first documentation of the significant impact of climate change on the nature of the concerns experienced by people with OCD checking subtype. We suggest that mental health professionals need to be aware of, and assess for the presence of such concerns. 2012-11-06T20:00:25.898Z ]]> http://www.researchonline.mq.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/mq:22326 A unique relationship between obsessive-compulsive symptoms and magical thinking has previously been discovered in both Australian undergraduate samples and a clinical sample. The aim of this paper is to explore the cultural dependency of this relationship. Icelandic culture was selected due to evidence of an elevated belief in telepathy and the paranormal. An Icelandic undergraduate sample was gender and age matched to an Australian sample from the Einstein and Menzies study (2004b). Results indicate that the Icelandic sample had significantly higher magical thinking, superstitious thinking, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, but was not significantly different for superstitious behaviour and the TAF-Likelihood questionnaires. In a forced simultaneous regression with obsessive-compulsive symptoms as the dependent variable, only two subscales of the DASS, stress and anxiety, as well as magical thinking continued to be correlated with obsessive-compulsive symptoms. In conclusion, magical thinking is a core construct in obsessive-compulsive symptomatology, and this relationship appears to cross cultural boundaries. In particular, a sample of Icelanders with higher levels of magical thinking also demonstrated higher levels of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. 2012-10-25T23:52:38.526Z ]]> http://www.researchonline.mq.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/mq:17099 The present study evaluates efficacy of a new Internet-administered cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) protocol, The OCD Program, designed to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) remotely. This protocol comprises 8 online lessons delivered over 8 weeks and incorporates cognitive and behavioral techniques. Twenty-two individuals with a principal diagnosis of OCD received CBT-based online lessons, homework assignments, twice weekly contact from a clinical psychologist, and automated emails. Eighty-one percent of participants completed the lessons within the 8-week program. Post-treatment and 3-month follow-up data were collected from 21/21 (100%) and 19/21 (91%) participants, respectively. Participants improved significantly on the primary outcome measures, the Yale-B rown Obsessive Compulsive Scale and Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Revised, with within-groups effect sizes (Cohen's d) at follow-up of 1.28 and 0.60, respectively. Participants rated the procedure as highly acceptable despite receiving an average of only 86 min (SD= 54.4. min) telephone contact with the therapist over the 8 weeks. These results provide preliminary support for efficacy of Internet-administered treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder. 2012-01-20T14:30:32.278Z ]]> http://www.researchonline.mq.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/mq:15315 Cognitive-behavioural therapies have shown to be generally effective in treating anxious young people. Yet there is considerable room for improvement, as many clients do not achieve complete remission. This article examines the potential use of D-cycloserine (DCS) to augment exposure-based therapies for anxious young people. DCS is a "cognitive-enhancing" medication believed to consolidate fear-extinction learning into memory. This consolidation may "immunise" against the return of their fear and speed remission. This article describes what DCS is and how it is believed to work. It describes the "translational research" in animals that led to its development for consolidating fear extinction. It reviews the current state of evidence for DCS augmentation and examines the applicability of DCS to enhance psychological treatments for paediatric anxiety disorders. Studies currently under way at Macquarie University and Griffith University in Australia are reviewed. Future directions for this promising research area are briefly considered. 2011-10-09T23:11:19.338Z ]]>