Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for anxiety disorders is a type of cognitive behavioral therapy that focuses on decreasing the behavior regulatory function of anxiety and related cognitions, and has a strong focus on behavior change that is consistent with client values. In this case series, 3 consecutive referrals seeking treatment for anxiety disorders at a private practice were treated with 9-13 sessions of ACT. In-session exposure therapy was not included to determine the effects of ACT without the compounding effects of already proven treatment procedures. The treatment procedure was identical across disorders to test the use of a unified treatment protocol for anxiety disorders: panic disorder with agoraphobia, comorbid social phobia and generalized anxiety disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder. All participants showed clinical improvement in their specific anxiety disorders as rated on multiple standardized assessments after treatment, with gains maintained at follow-up (8 months or more). Time series assessments, taken throughout treatment, of anxiety and avoidance behaviors showed large decreases in avoidance but not in anxiety, suggesting ACT was effective by changing the way participants responded to anxiety rather than anxiety itself.

The problem solving conversations of 92 adolescent romantic couples were analyzed using two innovative techniques for capturing the meaning-making processes in couples' interactions. Couples were coded using the narrative coding system developed by the Family Narrative Consortium (Fiese & Sameroff, 1999), yielding measures of narrative coherence for each couple member and an assessment of couples' capacity to engage in the interaction in a coordinated and mutually respectful manner. In addition, a video-recall procedure captured couple members' own subjective understanding of their own and their partners' behaviors during the interaction. Moderate associations were observed between trained coders', boyfriends', and girlfriends' perspectives, with more consistent links in some domains between girlfriends' ratings and observers' codes. In addition, indices of the quality of the interaction were linked to couple member global self reports of both positive and negative relationship quality, with many associations between observed interaction and global self reports of relationships quality achieving moderate effect sizes.Researchers from varying methodological traditions have devoted much effort over the past decade to improving understanding of developmental processes, significance, and functioning in adolescent romantic relationships (e.g., Florsheim, 2003;. Many prominent adolescent romantic relationship researchers have roots in the study of family and peer relationships (Laursen & Collins, 2004;Powers & Welsh, 1999;Rosén, Furman, & Hartup, 1988;Shulman, & Ben-Artzi, 2003;Welsh, Galliher, & Powers, 1998), and have adapted both theory and methods for the purpose of understanding the development and salience of romantic relationships during adolescence. A rich history of the use of observational methodologies to understand relationship processes in the family, peer, and marital literatures has served as a foundation for much of the developing body of knowledge regarding adolescent romance (e.g., Aspland & Gardner, 2003;Gottman, Swanson, & Swanson, 2002;Goudena & Vermande, 2002;Noller & Feeney, 2002;Patterson, Dishion, & Bank, 1984). Observational procedures have generated a wealth of information about behaviors, and patterns of behavior, associated with optimal individual and relationship functioning, both concurrently and over time.Address correspondence to Renee V. Galliher, Ph.D., Dept. of Psychology, Utah State University, 2810 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. NIH Public Access NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author...

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