Schürmann-Vengels Jan, Victor Philipp Pascal, Odyniec Patrizia, Flückiger Christoph, Teismann Tobias, Willutzki Ulrike
Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Universität Witten/Herdecke, Witten, Germany.
Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Clin Psychol Eur. 2022 Jun 30;4(2):e7043. doi: 10.32872/cpe.7043. eCollection 2022 Jun.
Recent findings indicated that mental disorders are associated with both an up-regulation of negative affect and a down-regulation of positive affect (PA) as distinct processes. Established treatment approaches focus on the modification of problems and negative affect only. Experimental paradigms in healthy samples and research on strengths-based approaches showed that fostering PA may improve psychotherapy process and outcome. Specific and easily implementable interventions targeting PA in treatment sessions are scarce. Mental imagery was shown to be a promising strategy for boosting positive emotional experiences.
The PACIfIC-study is planned as a longitudinal randomized-controlled trial in the context of cognitive behavioral therapy, implemented at a German outpatient training and research center. In the process analysis, trajectories of PA over the first twelve treatment sessions will be examined with weekly questionnaires. In the intervention analysis, a six-minute positive mental imagery intervention to enhance PA will be developed and tested. The intervention is implemented with loudspeakers at the beginning of each session for a standardized induction of PA. The experimental group will be compared to an active control group (neutral mental imagery) and treatment as usual. Procedures in all treatment arms are parallelized. Main outcomes after twelve sessions of psychotherapy will be psychosocial resources, resilience and self-esteem (theory-driven), as well as psychopathology and working alliance (secondary outcome). Multilevel modeling will be conducted to address the nested data structure.
Study results may have implications on the consideration of positive constructs in mental disorders and the implementation of strengths-based interventions in psychotherapy.
最近的研究结果表明，精神障碍与消极情绪的上调和积极情绪（PA）的下调这两个不同的过程相关。既定的治疗方法仅侧重于解决问题和改变消极情绪。针对健康样本的实验范式以及基于优势的方法的研究表明，培养积极情绪可能会改善心理治疗的过程和效果。在治疗过程中针对积极情绪的具体且易于实施的干预措施很少。心理意象已被证明是增强积极情绪体验的一种有前景的策略。
PACIfIC研究计划在德国的一个门诊培训和研究中心进行，是一项在认知行为疗法背景下的纵向随机对照试验。在过程分析中，将通过每周的问卷调查来考察前十二个治疗疗程中积极情绪的变化轨迹。在干预分析中，将开发并测试一种为期六分钟的用于增强积极情绪的积极心理意象干预措施。该干预措施在每个疗程开始时通过扬声器实施，以标准化地诱导积极情绪。实验组将与积极对照组（中性心理意象）以及常规治疗进行比较。所有治疗组的程序都是并行的。十二个疗程的心理治疗后的主要结果将是心理社会资源（理论驱动）、心理韧性和自尊，以及精神病理学和工作联盟（次要结果）。将进行多层次建模以处理嵌套的数据结构。
研究结果可能会对精神障碍中积极构念的考量以及心理治疗中基于优势的干预措施的实施产生影响。
