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Project 8: Maintaining (versus modifying) critical attitudes towards psychotherapy

Prof. Dr. Winfried Rief

PhD Students: Kristina Braun, Lena Sarter

In this subproject, the role of expectations towards psychotherapy will be analyzed as a major predictor of treatment success. For example patients with somatic complaints or alcohol/drug addiction often have a negative treatment expectation, even if psychotherapy was a "first-line treatment". Experimental studies shall therefore investigate the development, persistence as well as possibilities of change of critical attitudes towards psychotherapy, especially in high-risk groups.

Publications

Sarter, L., Heider, J., Kirchner, L., Schenkel, S., Witthöft, M., Rief, W., & Kleinstäuber, M. (2021). Cognitive and emotional variables predicting treatment outcome of cognitive behavior therapies for patients with medically unexplained symptoms: A meta-analysis. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 110486.

Kube, T., Rief, W., Vivell, M. B., Schäfer, N. L., Vermillion, T., Körfer, K., & Glombiewski, J. A. (2020). Deceptive and nondeceptive Placebos to reduce pain: An experimental study in healthy individuals. The Clinical Journal of Pain, 36(2), 68-79.

Kube, T., Schwarting, R., Rozenkrantz, L., Glombiewski, J. A., & Rief, W. (2020). Distorted Cognitive Processes in Major Depression: A Predictive Processing Perspective. Biological Psychiatry 87, 388-389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2019.07.017

Schemer, L., Rief, W., & Glombiewski, J. A. (2020). Treatment expectations towards different pain management approaches: Two perspectives. Journal of Pain Research, 13, 1725-1736.

Kube, T., Rief, W., Gollwitzer, M., Gärtner, T., & Glombiewski, J. A. (2019). Why dysfunctional expectations in depression persist – Results from two experimental studies investigating cognitive immunization. Psychological Medicine, 49, 1532-1544. 

Kube, T., Rief, W., Gollwitzer, M., & Glombiewski, J. A. (2018). Introducing an EXperimental Paradigm to investigate Expectation Change (EXPEC). Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 59, 92-99. 

Rief, W., & Glombiewski, J. A. (2017). The role of expectations in mental disorders and their treatment. World Psychiatry, 16(2), 210-211. doi: 10.1002/wps.20427

Kube, T., Rief, W., & Glombiewski, J.A. (2017). On the Maintenance of Expectations in Major Depression – Investigating a Neglected Phenomenon. Frontiers in Psychology 8(9), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00009 

Rief, W., Glombiewski, J. A., Gollwitzer, M., Schubö, A., Schwarting, R., & Thorwart, A. (2015). Expectancies as core features of mental disorders. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 28(5), 378-385.

More information on Prof. Dr. Winfried Rief

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