Assessing Psychological Inflexibility Pertaining to Self in Patients With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Using an Indirect Measure of (Nonassociative) Propositions

Petrus G J Janssen; Ciara McEnteggart; Dermot Barnes-Holmes; Elisa van Ee; Jos Egger

doi:10.1016/j.beth.2022.05.002

Assessing Psychological Inflexibility Pertaining to Self in Patients With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Using an Indirect Measure of (Nonassociative) Propositions

Behav Ther. 2022 Nov;53(6):1122-1132. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2022.05.002. Epub 2022 May 21.

Authors

Petrus G J Janssen¹, Ciara McEnteggart², Dermot Barnes-Holmes³, Elisa van Ee⁴, Jos Egger⁵

Affiliations

¹ Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University; Psychotraumacentrum Zuid Nederland. Electronic address: peter.janssen2@bsi.ru.nl.
² Perspectives Ireland.
³ Ulster University.
⁴ Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University; Psychotraumacentrum Zuid Nederland.
⁵ Centre of Excellence for Neuropsychiatry, Vincent van Gogh Institute for Psychiatry; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University; Stevig Specialized and Forensic Care for People with Intellectual Disabilities, Dichterbij.

PMID: 36229111
DOI: 10.1016/j.beth.2022.05.002

Abstract

Relational frame theory (RFT) is a modern behavioral account of human language and cognition, which focuses on relations or propositions, rather than associations, as core explanatory constructs. In an attempt to measure such propositions, RFT researchers have developed the implicit relational assessment procedure (IRAP). It has been argued that the size of an IRAP effect may provide a metric for psychological inflexibility. The current study aimed to determine whether psychological inflexibility, as measured by the self-focused Natural Language-IRAP (NL-IRAP), would be higher in a clinical sample of individuals with a diagnosis of PTSD (N = 29) when compared to a nonclinical sample. Subsequently, the study investigated whether the self-focused NL-IRAP could be used to predict the presence of a clinical diagnosis, using a ROC analysis. As predicted, higher levels of psychological inflexibility were observed for the clinical group. The self-focused NL-IRAP also correctly classified the presence of PTSD (AUC = 76%) with a sensitivity level of 79.3% and a specificity level of 59.2%. Overall, the use of the IRAP as a nonassociative clinical measure appears promising.

Keywords: PTSD; propositional models; psychological inflexibility; relational frame theory; self.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cognition
Humans
Language
Self-Assessment
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic* / diagnosis
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic* / psychology