Brian Fisak

• University of Central Florida

Purpose Purpose of this study was to examine the applicability of the Mood-As-Input Hypothesis (MAIH) to post-event processing. Methods Following a speech task, participants completed a modified catastrophic interview procedure, referred to as the PEP-CIP, under one of two stop rule conditions (i.e., ‘as-many-as-can’ (AMAC) or ‘feel like’ (FL)). F...

Following a period of social isolation from the COVID-19 pandemic, social interactions may be particularly complicated for individuals with elevated levels of social anxiety. One potential implication relates to the use of face masks. Face masks have been used as an effective tool to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. However, for individuals wi...

El Inventario de Supresión del Oso Blanco (WBSI) se encuentra entre los instrumentos de autoinforme más utilizados para evaluar la supresión del pensamiento, la tendencia general a suprimir los pensamientos negativos no deseados y la incapacidad de ignorarlos. El propósito del presente estudio fue desarrollar una versión traducida del WBSI que sea...

Anxiety symptoms and disorders are prevalent and impairing in young children and these symptoms often persist and worsen over time, indicating the need for efficacious interventions for this age group. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions targeting anxiety in younger children and to assess the po...

The purpose of this study was to develop and provide a preliminary validation of a new measure of scrupulosity, the Scrupulous Thoughts and Behaviours Questionnaire (STBQ). More specifically, the STBQ was designed to assess a range of scrupulosity-related thoughts/obsessions and behaviours/compulsions. Following item development, a sample of non-re...

Scrupulosity is a presentation of obsessive-compulsive disorder in which an individual’s obsessions and compulsions are related to religiosity. The Penn Inventory of Scrupulosity (PIOS), including the more recent Pennsylvania Inventory of Scrupulosity-Revised, has been widely used to assess levels of scrupulosity. The psychometric properties for th...

Clark and Wells (1995) developed a cognitive model of social anxiety, in which a number of cognitive processes are proposed to be related to the development and maintenance of social anxiety. Previous studies have consistently found an association between two of the most extensively studied components of this model, self-focused attention and post-...

To facilitate research on the cognitive model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), leaders in the field of OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Cognitions Working Group [OCCWG]) developed and validated the Interpretation of Intrusions Inventory-31 (III-31). The current sought to adapt and validate this important measure for the Mexican population using a l...

Utilizing two measures of inflated responsibility, the current study provides an examination of the relation between responsibility and both obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms and worry/generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms. More specifically, the goals of the study were twofold. The first goal was to provide an elucidation of the c...

The purpose of this study was to examine the relevance of the mindfulness and thought suppression to scrupulosity, or religious obsessions. It was hypothesized that scrupulosity would be negatively associated trait mindfulness and positively associated with thought suppression. It was also hypothesized that thought suppression and mindfulness would...

This chapter focuses on up-to-date information related to the prevention of anxiety in preschool-aged children. Including the classification of prevention approaches, universal prevention studies for childhood anxiety, and selected and indicated studies for childhood anxiety. It provide a comprehensive review of how to assess outcome of preschool a...

The Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (DOCS) is a self-report instrument that addresses significant limitations of previous obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptom measures by separately assessing the severity of four OC symptom dimensions: contamination, responsibility for harm, unacceptable thoughts, and symmetry. Notably, no research has cultural...

Background and objectives: The mood-as-input hypothesis (MAIH), which emphasizes the role of mood and stop rules on perseverative thinking, has been extensively studied in relation to worry (Meeten & Davey, 2011). However, relatively few studies have focused on the applicability of the MAIH to depressive rumination. Consequently, two studies were...

Scrupulosity is one of the most common of the variations of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This includes obsessions and compulsions related to religiously and morality, and the Pennsylvania Inventory of Scrupulosity – Revised (PIOS-R) appears to be the only validated measure designed specifically to assess this construct. The purpose of the c...

The purpose of this study was to assess an open trial of the Fun FRIENDS program, as an early intervention for referred young children with internalizing symptoms, combined with the simultaneous administration of an adult resilience building program with parents. More specifically, 178 children, ranging in age from 5 to 7, and their parents partici...

Background: Although negative beliefs have been found to be associated with worry symptoms and depressive rumination, negative beliefs have yet to be examined in relation to post-event processing and social anxiety symptoms. Aims: The purpose of the current study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Negative Beliefs about Post-Event...

The purpose of this study was to examine the relative contribution of 3 components of the Clark and Wells (1995) model to social anxiety symptoms. In particular, based on theory and previous research, it was hypothesized that the association between post-event processing and social anxiety and between anticipatory anxiety and social anxiety would b...

The purpose of the current study was to examine the degree to which trait stop rules, as measured by the worry stop rules checklist (WSRC), predict worry, perseveration, and generalized anxiety disorder symptoms (GAD) in a nonclinical sample. Both 'as many as can' (AMAC) and 'feel like' (FL) stop rules were found to be significantly associated with...

Preschool-aged children exhibit a relatively high prevalence rate of anxiety disorders, and the course of these disorders is often chronic. However, surprisingly few studies have focused on the treatment of anxiety in this age group. In response to this limitation, the purpose of the current study was to examine the effectiveness of an open trial o...

The purpose of this study was the development and pilot testing of a program designed to prevent anxiety in shy-inhibited preschool-aged children. In particular, twenty parents of shy-inhibited children completed an 8 session parent training program, and a preliminary assessment of the program was conducted through the use of a one-group pretest-po...

Parental rearing behaviours, including modelling of anxiety, have been associated with corresponding anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents. However, there is a paucity of research investigating the relationship between worry-related learning experiences from parents and general worry or generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms in children...

Background: Meta-worry is considered a central component of the Metacognitive Model of Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Although initial research provides support for the applicability of this model to adolescent samples, the construct of meta-worry has yet to be examined in adolescents. Aims: The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometr...

Although positive metacognitive beliefs have been found to be associated with symptoms of depression and generalised anxiety disorder, surprisingly few studies have focused on the degree to which positive metacognitive beliefs are associated to social phobia symptoms. In response to this limitation, the primary goal of the current study was the dev...

Background: Previous research has indicated that parent cognition, including anxious beliefs and expectations, are associated with both parent and child anxiety symptoms and may be transferred from parent to child. However, the content and frequency of parent worry in relation to their children has yet to be examined as a potential form of anxious...

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between parent rearing practices and adolescent social fears in a community sample (n = 348). Results of an exploratory factor analysis yielded a 3 factor measure of rearing practices, comprised of parental modeling, shame induction, and sociability. Significant differences were found between...

The purpose of the current study is to create a comprehensive composite measure of parental influence based on previously developed measures to clarify the underlying dimensions of parental influence and to determine the degree to which parental influence relates to body image and dysfunctional weight concerns. Previously published literature was r...

Recent studies have provided initial support for the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Although this line of research is promising, surprisingly few studies have examined the underlying theoretical assumptions of these interventions, including the degree to which mindfulness is...

The purpose of this study was to provide a comprehensive examination of the potential factors associated with health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in a paediatric sickle cell disease sample. Caregivers of 78 paediatric sickle cell disease patients completed surveys, which included measures of HRQOL, treatment adherence and barriers to treatment a...

The purpose of this study was to provide a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of child and adolescent anxiety prevention programs. Mean weighted effect sizes were calculated, and studies were encoded for potential moderator variables. A statistically significant effect size of .18 was obtained at post-intervention, which is consistent with e...

The book is divided into five sections. The first focuses on culture, health, and med- icine, the second on personality and health outcome determinants of the medical and healthcare profession. The third section addresses cultural and individual aspects of patient care. A fourth domain centers on cognitive psychology and medical/therapeutic treatme...

The Food Thought Suppression Inventory (FTSI) was designed as a domain-specific measure of food-related thought suppression, and the FTSI has been found to be associated with eating pathology, including binge eating. Although initial research in this area is promising, as it may provide understanding of the cognitive processes related to the develo...

Anxiety problems in youth are common, suggesting the need for developmentally appropriate and psychometrically sound measures in this area. The Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC) was created with this goal in mind, but has yet to be examined with samples representative of youth typically seen in clinical settings. Two hundred and si...

The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive review and a conceptual integration of research examining the potential role of learning from parents in the development of child anxiety. Specifically, research in this area is discussed within the framework of three specific mechanisms: parental modeling, information transfer, and parental...

In the present study, the influence of personality information on attractiveness ratings of different body sizes was examined. Specifically, participants were presented with either no personality information, negative information, or positive information about a hypothetical female target and asked to rate the smallest and largest figure that they...

The purpose of this study was to replicate and expand upon previous research that has examined the potential association between vegetarianism and disordered eating. Limitations of previous research studies are addressed, including possible low reliability of measures of eating pathology within vegetarian samples, use of only a few dietary restrain...

Children with selective mutism present with a complicated set of symptoms, as they not only refuse to speak in particular social situations but are often shy, socially isolative, anxious, and may present as oppositional and negativistic in their behavior. Limited research on treatments for selective mutism suggests a need for additional research ex...

Studies have explored the motivations behind the decision to become vegetarian, and have explored the well being of vegetarians. However, little research has focused on the social psychological and interpersonal aspects of vegetarianism. The focus of this study was to develop a scale designed to measure attitudes toward vegetarians (ATVS). This sca...

The high prevalence rate, significant distress and impairment, and persistence of childhood anxiety disorders highlight the need for continued theoretical conceptualization and research into the developmental pathways associated these disorders. In response to this need, one goal this project was to examination and identify variables associated wit...