Abstract
Researchers have shown neuroticism decreases with treatment (Roberts et al., 2017), although it is unclear if this reflects fleeting state-level changes (state-artifact position) or trait-level change (cause-correction hypothesis). These theories further propose that changes in neuroticism predict symptom change (cause-correction hypothesis) or are predicted by symptom change (state-artifact position). We compared these theories in a clinical trial of the Unified Protocol (UP). Participants (N = 38; Mage = 34.55, 71.1% female, 78.9% Caucasian) meeting DSM-5 criteria for a primary emotional disorder completed up to 12 weekly sessions of the UP. Neuroticism exhibited state-level changes by Session 6 but trait-level changes by Session 12. Within-person reductions in neuroticism exhibited bidirectional relations with anxiety symptom change but predicted unidirectional session-to-session reductions in depression. These findings provide relatively more nuanced support for the cause-correction hypothesis that the UP leads to trait changes in neuroticism that tend to precede symptom change.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 93-105 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Behavior Therapy |
Volume | 55 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2023 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies
Keywords
- Unified Protocol
- anxiety
- change mechanisms
- depression
- neuroticism
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Psychology