Chronic pain is one of the major causes of disability in the general population. Even though there are effective treatment options available for reducing symptoms, these treatments often do not have consistent lasting effects. As the usage of mobile devices has increased enormously during the last few years, mobile application-based treatment options are widespread. Such app-based programs are not yet empirically proven but might enable patients to become more independent in their pain management in order to prevent relapse. The aim of this meta-analysis was to summarize the literature on mobile application-based interventions for chronic pain patients. Therefore, three electronic bibliographic databases, PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science, were searched for studies that investigated the effectiveness of mobile application-based intervention for chronic pain on pain intensity. The final sample comprised twenty-two studies, with a total of 4679 individuals. Twelve of these twenty-two studies used a randomized control trial (RCT) design, while ten studies only used an observational design. For all twenty-two studies, a small but significant effect (d = −0.40) was found when compared to baseline measures or control groups. The results suggest that apps-based treatment can be helpful in reducing pain, especially in the long-term.

This study examined the professional development of psychotherapy trainees over three years of training. The first objective was to investigate the long-term change of work involvement (Healing and Stressful Involvement) during psychotherapy training. The second objective was to investigate possible predictors of professional development from the areas of training context as well as professional and personal attributes of trainees. A total of 184 psychotherapy trainees with psychodynamic, psychoanalytic and cognitive behavioral orientation participated in the study. The development of work involvement was assessed over three years of training using the Work Involvement Scales. The set of possible predictors for work involvement included training context variables (training orientation, supervision), professional attributes of trainees (theoretical breadth, work satisfaction), and personal attributes of trainees (introject affiliation, attachment strategies, personality traits). Hierarchical Linear Modeling was conducted to investigate the change over time and the individual predictors of work involvement. Over three years of training Healing Involvement improved whereas Stressful Involvement did not change over time. Healing Involvement was mostly predicted by training context variables and professional attributes (therapeutic orientation, job satisfaction) as well as extraversion. Stressful Involvement was only predicted by personal attributes of trainees (age, neuroticism, conscientiousness, introject affiliation). The results imply two distinct sets of predictors for Healing and Stressful Involvement that will be discussed with regard to their implications for psychotherapy training and trainee selection.

Objective: Early regulatory disorders (ERD) in infancy are typically associated with high parenting stress (PS). Theoretical and empirical literature suggests a wide range of factors that may contribute to PS related to ERD. The aim of this study was to identify key predictors of maternal PS within a large predictor data set in a sample of N = 135 mothers of infants diagnosed with ERD.Methods: We used machine learning to identify relevant predictors. Maternal PS was assessed with the Parenting Stress Index. The multivariate dataset assessed cross-sectionally consisted of 464 self-reported and clinically rated variables covering mother-reported psychological distress, maternal self-efficacy, parental reflective functioning, socio-demographics, each parent's history of illness, recent significant life events, former miscarriage/abortion, pregnancy, obstetric history, infants' medical history, development, and social environment. Variables were drawn from behavioral diaries on regulatory symptoms and parental co-regulative behavior as well as a clinical interview which was utilized to diagnose ERD and to assess clinically rated regulatory symptoms, quality of parent–infant relationship, organic/biological and psychosocial risks, and social–emotional functioning.Results: The final prediction model identified 11 important variables summing up to the areas maternal self-efficacy, psychological distress (particularly depression and anger-hostility), infant regulatory symptoms (particularly duration of fussing/crying), and age-appropriate physical development. The RMSE (i.e., prediction accuracy) of the final model applied to the test set was 21.72 (R2 = 0.58).Conclusions: This study suggests that among behavioral, environmental, developmental, parent–infant relationship, and mental health variables, a mother's higher self-efficacy, psychological distress symptoms particularly depression and anger symptoms, symptoms in the child particularly fussing/crying symptoms, and age-inappropriate physical development are associated with higher maternal PS. With these factors identified, clinicians may more efficiently assess a mother's PS related to ERD in a low-risk help-seeking sample.