J Gayle Beck

University of Memphis | U of M · Department of Psychology

This article describes the work of a task force, commissioned by the American Psychological Association’s Society of Clinical Psychology (SCP), to define “psychological treatment.” We discuss SCP’s rationale for needing such a definition, including the potential for nonpsychological interventions to be considered under the current model of empirica...

Sexual dysfunctions (SDs) have been noted to occur following exposure to sexual violence although how these conditions covary with other mental health conditions, particularly posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSS), is relatively understudied. The current study examined patterns of co-occurring SDs and PTSS in a sample of 328 college-aged, f...

This article describes the work of a task force, commissioned by the American Psychological Association’s Society of Clinical Psychology (SCP), to define “psychological treatment.” We discuss SCP’s rationale for needing such a definition, including the potential for non-psychological interventions to be considered under the current model of empiric...

Objective This study examined the contributions of shame and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms to two dimensions of social problem‐solving. Method A sample of 426 women who were seeking mental health assistance following experiences of intimate partner violence completed self‐report and clinician measures. Separate path analyses were c...

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic devasted health outcomes and economies globally. As a result, many suffered financial hardships, childcare challenges, and poor mental health due to the pandemic’s negative effects. Young people were particularly affected by the pandemic as it pertained to education, social isolation, and access to essential resources...

The content validity of the Measure of Psychologically Abusive Behaviors (MPAB) was examined via qualitative content analysis of interviews conducted with 262 women who experienced intimate partner violence. Data were coded using MPAB categories and items. Approximately 73.4% of the data were represented by the MPAB at both the category and severit...

This study examined the association of three specific COVID-19-related workplace stressors (percentage of nursing work with COVID-positive [COVID+] patients, number of COVID-19-related patient deaths witnessed, and living separately from family for safety) and their associations with posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and symptoms of major depres...

Group therapy is a frequently used therapy format for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, factors contributing to treatment completion remain understudied. The current study examined predictors of treatment completion, defined as having completed 10 out of 14 sessions within 16 weeks, in veterans with PTSD who engaged in a hybrid efficac...

Objective: Interpersonal factors have been linked with psychological adjustment to trauma, but how interpersonal factors influence trauma response is still unclear. Experimental paradigms such as the trauma film paradigm offer a valuable approach for studying this complex dynamic. However, few studies have used the trauma film paradigm to examine t...

Group treatment of trauma-related problems was popularized with the introduction of “rap groups” for combat veterans in the 1960s. Since this era, substantial advances have been made in individual psychosocial treatment approaches for trauma-related disorders, including the development and testing of several empirically supported treatments. Unfort...

The current paper reports a field study of 132 Argentinian individuals who experienced a road traffic crash (RTC), focusing on the role of physical injury in the early aftermath of the crash. Three groups of participants were studied: 1) individuals who were <1 month post-RTC who were not injured (<1 mo, Not Injured, n = 89), 2) individuals who wer...

Patterns of exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) and child abuse (CA) were explored in 467 women seeking psychological assistance following IPV. Using latent class analysis, three classes were obtained: women who had experienced physical, sexual, and psychological IPV, along with childhood physical and sexual abuse (IPV + CA; 38.5%); women w...

The present study explored rape acknowledgment among 131 college women survivors of rape utilizing three subgroups: acknowledged rape, unacknowledged rape, and ambivalent acknowledgment. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom clusters and parameters of victimization and were compared between the subgroups. Of the participants, 28.2% were clas...

To examine moderators of change during group-based intervention for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), multilevel models were used to assess trajectories of symptom clusters in male veterans receiving trauma focused Group Cognitive Behavioral Treatment (gCBT; N = 84) or non-trauma focused Group Present Centered Therapy (gPCT; N = 91; Sloan et al...

Objective: To examine negative cognitions underlying both posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression following trauma. Method: A mixed-gender motor vehicle accident (N = 297, Mage = 43.49 years) sample and a female intimate partner violence (N = 242, Mage = 36.95 years) sample was cross-sectionally studied at research clinics of two uni...

Decreased sexual functioning is prevalent among female survivors of sexual violence yet psychological factors that contribute to sexual impairments in this population are understudied. To extend research in this area, the current study examined two psychological factors as they relate to sexual functioning concerns among 148 female survivors of sex...

The relation of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to other forms of psychopathology is complex as diagnostic criteria include symptoms of both mood- and anxiety-related conditions. Drawing from Watson’s (2009) quadripartite model of comorbidity, the current study examined (a) the association of PTSD symptom dimensions with indices of generalized...

Purpose This study measures the experience of spontaneous speech in everyday speaking situations. Spontaneity of speech is a novel concept developed to account for the subjective experience of speaking. Spontaneous speech is characterized by little premeditation and effortless production, and it is enjoyable and meaningful. Attention is not directe...

The association between high levels of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and low levels of perceived social support is well-documented in the trauma literature; research on processes that may underlie this association is less common. The current study examined negative attitudes about using social support as a potential link between ne...

Although evidence-based practice is becoming more widely accepted, the issue of patient preference has been relatively ignored. As noted by Holmes and colleagues (2019), when delivered in a community setting, Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) can have a relatively high dropout rate (42 % in the Holmes et al. study). In this commentary, issues abou...

Understanding and addressing violence among intimate partners requires sound assessment of their communication patterns. In prior research, the 35-item, self-report Communication Patterns Questionnaire (CPQ) has been used to assess communication patterns in violent relationships. To date, psychometric analysis of the CPQ has been examined only amon...

Despite high levels of traffic-related mortality, injury, and impairment among former service members, measures validated to assess problematic driving in this population remain limited. The current study examined characteristics of the Driving Behavior Survey (DBS) in male veterans (76.3% White; age: M = 56.4, SD = 12.3) meeting criteria for PTSD....

The current study examined the effects of experimentally-induced shame on subsequent reactions to a trauma analog. Participants were 88 college-aged women randomly assigned to a shame prime condition or to a control (neutral) condition. Participants then were presented with an analog trauma audiotape depicting dating violence. Participants reported...

The challenge for this task force was to outline potential contributions of psychology to address the cancer problem, the second major cause of death and disability in the United States. The first section of this report provides general directions for behavioral and psychological research. These contributions span description, the study of mechanis...

Negative beliefs about the self, self-blame, guilt, and shame have been consistently linked to emotional problems, such as posttraumatic stress disorder and depression, following trauma exposure. To expand understanding of the potential role of negative self-conscious cognitions and emotions in other forms of posttrauma maladjustments, such as mala...

Objective This study examined whether a history of childhood abuse (CA) strengthened the association between borderline personality disorder (BPD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the aftermath of intimate partner violence (IPV). This hypothesis arises from clinical literature but has not been examined empirically. We predicted that a hi...

Survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) may experience mental health problems. Although some survivors access mental health resources to address these concerns, many discontinue prematurely. One model of health care utilization that has recently gained attention in the trauma literature is the behavioral model of health care utilization (BMHU)...

In light of revisions to the diagnostic classification and criteria of PTSD in the DSM-5 that underscore a range of negative self-related appraisals and emotions beyond fear/anxiety, the current study examined the relative associations of peritraumatic perceptions of fear/life threat and posttraumatic negative self-conscious appraisals and emotions...

Relative to advances in the literature that have examined individual treatment approaches for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), scientific knowledge about group treatment approaches has lagged, resulting in no currently available group treatment for PTSD despite the frequency with which this format is used. Our goal was to build upon the existi...

Although there is a strong and consistent association between social support and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the directionality of this association has been debated, with some research indicating that social support protects against PTSD symptoms, whereas other research suggests that PTSD symptoms erode social support. The majority of stu...

Following a serious motor vehicle crash (MVC), an individual may develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as chronic pain. To date, little work has been done that can empirically guide practitioners with an evidence-based approach for psychological interventions in this population. Issues related to the changing definitions of PTSD and...

The Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire–Short form (CERQ-Short; Garnefski & Kraaij, 2006) was developed to assess nine theoretically derived factors of emotion regulation. However, the psychometric properties of this measure have never been studied in a clinical sample. The present study examined the latent factor structure and construct val...

This handbook provides a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of the science of stress and mental health. Topics covered include assessment issues, the role of stress in various mental disorders, developmental influences and individual difference factors that predict reactivity to stress, and treatment of stress-related mental health problems. Decade...

Objective: Examine initial levels and pattern of change of alliance in group treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for veterans. Method: One hundred and seventy-eight male veterans with PTSD were recruited for this study. Participants were randomly assigned to either group cognitive behavioral therapy (GCBT) or to group present-cent...

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is associated with symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). To clarify the influence of a dyadic conflict pattern that has previously been shown to accompany violence in romantic relationships (partner demand/self withdraw) on these mental health outcomes, we examined t...

Several factors have been linked to the severity of posttraumatic distress, although retrospective designs in much of the literature limit conclusions regarding the temporal relation between risk factors and corresponding symptoms. To address these concerns, the current project employed an analog trauma paradigm to assess the impact of background c...

There are well-documented associations between PTSD symptoms and intimate relationship impairments, including dysfunctional communication at times of relationship conflict. To date, the extant research on the associations between PTSD symptom severity and conflict communication has been cross-sectional and focused on military and veteran couples. N...

Considerable research has examined the association between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and social support. One facet of this relationship that deserves greater attention concerns trauma survivors’ negative expectations towards social support, termed negative network orientation. To expand our understanding of negative network orie...

Objective: The present study sought to examine ways in which social support might influence trauma symptoms using a variation of the trauma film paradigm. Method: Sixty-seven undergraduate female students in romantic relationships were randomized to watch a stressful film clip depicting a sexual assault, either in the presence (PP) or absence (P...

Qualitative responses that 187 service providers gave to a question assessing whether agencies designed to help intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors should screen for mental health-related problems were analyzed using a version of the concept mapping approach. Nine central clusters emerged from the data analysis, which can be linked to three u...

Objective: To replicate and extend findings from a previous controlled trial of Cognitive Trauma Therapy for Battered Women (CTT-BW; Kubany et al., 2004), the current study presents data on the treatment of 8 women with PTSD related to intimate partner violence (IPV). Method: CTT-BW was administered weekly, using the manual provided by Kubany and a...

We investigate needs, challenges, and opportunities in visualizing time-series sensor data on stress to inform the design of just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs). We identify seven key challenges: massive volume and variety of data, complexity in identifying stressors, scalability of space, multifaceted relationship between stress and time,...

Mobile sensor data-to-knowledge (MD2K) was chosen as one of 11 Big Data Centers of Excellence by the National Institutes of Health, as part of its Big Data-to-Knowledge initiative. MD2K is developing innovative tools to streamline the collection, integration, management, visualization, analysis, and interpretation of health data generated by mobile...

We investigate needs, challenges, and opportunities in visualizing time-series sensor data on stress to inform the design of just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs). We identify seven key challenges: massive volume and variety of data, complexity in identifying stressors, scalability of space, multifaceted relationship between stress and time,...

The current review examines work-related traumatic events, with particular focus on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a potential mental health outcome. Despite considerable empirical knowledge about trauma and PTSD, a gap exists with respect to laws undergirding Workers Compensation (WC) insurance coverage for work-related mental health inju...

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has potentially severe and long-lasting mental health consequences for survivors, including elevated symptoms and diagnoses of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The current study examined the relationship between three self-report measures of psychological distr...

The Family Justice Center (FJC) model is an approach to assisting survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) that focuses on integration of services under one roof and co-location of staff members from a range of multidisciplinary agencies. Even though the FJC model is touted as a best practice strategy to help IPV survivors, empirical support fo...

This report focuses on the co-occurrence of PTSD-GAD and examines a factor that could operate to maintain both conditions, specifically negative post-trauma cognitions about the self, the world, and self-blame. Two separate help-seeking samples were examined: (a) a mixed gender sample of 301 individuals who had experienced a serious motor vehicle a...

The technique of organized group therapy began around 1905 with J. H. Pratt. Pratt led instructional groups with tuberculosis patients designed to provide information about their illness, when he realized the emotional support that patients were experiencing in the group format (Barlow et al. 2000). Other early pioneers included the social worker J...

Expressive inhibition - the willful restriction of expressed emotion - is documented in individuals reporting trauma-related distress, but its impact on global affective functioning remains unclear. Theoretical models propose that chronic activation of negative emotion and deliberate restriction of affect operate synergistically to produce trauma-r...

We argue that the evidence-based practice (EBP) model represents an evolution in integrating science and practice and synchronizes well with broader trends in health care. Because the curriculum for EBP training involves explicit emphasis on the best empirical evidence within Clinical Psychology, it can be utilized by all programs, irrespective of...

Mobile sensing technologies can now be used to obtain continuous measures of health, behavior, and the environment in naturalistic settings. These technologies have the potential to revolutionize healthcare by introducing novel delivery channels for behavioral assessment and intervention. This chapter reviews recent advancements in converting weara...

Barriers to assessing and treating mental health problems with intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors were identified with qualitative responses from 62 IPV helping professionals who participated in an online survey question. Data were analyzed using a concept mapping approach, which resulted in following eight distinct clusters: (a) unsure, (b)...

This study explored the associations of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and depressive symptoms with employment, social support, and subjective functioning in 100 women who were seeking mental health assistance after intimate partner violence. Depressive disorders showed significant associations with low le...

Stress can lead to headaches and fatigue, precipitate addictive be-haviors (e.g., smoking, alcohol and drug use), and lead to cardio-vascular diseases and cancer. Continuous assessment of stress from sensors can be used for timely delivery of a variety of interven-tions to reduce or avoid stress. We investigate the feasibility of continuous stress...

This study explored whether self-blame moderates the relationship between exposure to specific types of abuse and both poor general psychological adjustment (i.e., self-esteem) and specific symptomatology (i.e., posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) among women who had experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). Eighty female IPV survivors were in...

THE PUBLISHER REGRETS THAT the printed version of the above article contained a number of errors. The correct and final version follows. The publisher would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Music performance anxiety (MPA) is a prevalent problem for musicians. MPA has been conceptualized as a type of social anxiety and also as a discrete focal anxiety with normal functioning outside of specific music performance situations. In an effort to examine unique and overlapping components of MPA and social anxiety, 130 professional musicians w...

Numerous treatments are available that address the core symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there are a number of related behavioral stress responses that are not assessed with PTSD measures, yet these behavioral stress responses affect quality of life. The goal of the current study was to investigate whether a recently devel...

Physical injury is prevalent across many types of trauma experiences and can be associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and physical health effects, including increased medication use. Recent studies suggest that PTSD symptoms may mediate the effects of traumatic injury on health outcomes, but it is unknown whether this findin...

Background: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is the actual or threatened physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological abuse by an intimate (romantic) partner. Often occurring within the larger context of other lifetime trauma and stress (e.g., childhood abuse, community violence, etc.), it should be no surprise that women who suffer abuse are at an...

When screening women intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors for mental health concerns, helping professionals must balance the very real concerns that arise with diagnostic labels with the equally real difficulties related to mental health problems. To better understand whether and how mental health screening tools can be more useful in this pro...

To examine the associations of trait anxiety (STAI), social anxiety (SIAS), depression (BDI-II), and personality features (ADP-IV) with three measures of stuttering severity: %SS, Stuttering Severity, Instrument, and the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering. Fifty adults with a history of stuttering served as participants. P...

Data suggest anxious drivers may engage in problematic behaviors that place themselves and others at increased risk of negative traffic events. Three domains of problematic behavior - exaggerated safety/caution, performance deficits, and hostile/aggressive behaviors - previously were identified during development of the Driving Behavior Survey (DBS...

The Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) has a long history within the literature, with conflicting reports concerning its underlying components and stability across different samples. This study examined the DES factor structure using advanced analytic procedures. Additionally, the impact of sexual victimization on the underlying components of the...

In order to broaden theoretical models of adaptation following trauma and inform current diagnostic practices, the goal of the current study was to examine associations between negative emotions and dysfunctional trauma-related cognitions. In a sample of 109 women who were seeking mental health assistance after intimate partner violence (IPV), anxi...

Given reports of the frequent occurrence of personality disorders (PD) among individuals who stutter, this investigation was designed to determine the presence of personality disorders (PD) for individuals seeking treatment for stuttering, using a different self-report measure. The sample included 50 adults who were undergoing treatment for stutter...

Existing research indicates veterans with PTSD may deliberately inhibit the expression of emotion. However, the degree to which inhibition generalizes to other trauma populations and the specific reasons survivors with PTSD inhibit expression remains unclear. The present study looked to evaluate expressive inhibition among survivors of intimate par...

The experience of traumatic events is a near-universal, albeit unfortunate, part of the human experience. Given how many individuals are exposed to trauma, it is interesting to question why some individuals are resilient in the face of trauma while others go on to develop chronic post-traumatic stress. Throughout the relatively brief history of the...

This chapter highlights some of the advances in traumatic stress disorders that have been described by contributors of this volume. The chapter also describes areas that will be important for the field to address in the years to come. These areas include advances in the classification of traumatic stress disorders, advances in biological and geneti...

The experience of traumatic events is a near-universal, albeit unfortunate, part of the human experience. Given how many individuals are exposed to trauma, it is interesting to question why some individuals are resilient in the face of trauma while others go on to develop chronic post-traumatic stress. Throughout the relatively brief history of the...

The literature examining trauma among older adults is growing, but little is known about the efficacy of empirically supported interventions for PTSD within this population. Clinical writing on this topic often implies that cognitive-behavioral treatments may be ineffective or inappropriate for older adults with PTSD given physical and/or cognitive...

After 5 years of conceptualizing, investigating, and writing about corrective experiences (CEs), we (the authors of this chapter) met to talk about what we learned. In this chapter, we summarize our joint understanding of (a) the definition of CEs; (b) the contexts in which CEs occur; (c) client, therapist, and external factors that facilitate CEs;...

This study explored the association of shame and guilt with PTSD among women who had experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). Sixty-three women were assessed by a research clinic serving the mental health needs of women IPV survivors. Results indicated that shame, guilt-related distress, and guilt-related cognitions showed significant associati...