A crucial step in assessing the scientific basis of a psychotherapeutic intervention is examining the individual components of the treatment to determine if they are additive or important to treatment outcomes. The construct of self-as-context (S-A-C), a central process in the acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) approach, has not yet been studied in a component analysis. A previous dismantling trial, however, has shown this process has an additive effect as part of an ACT package (Williams, 2006). The current study is a preliminary trial of feasibility and efficacy to determine a) the practicality of assessing S-A-C in isolation in a laboratory setting, and b) the impact of manipulating S-A-C on theoretically related variables, including theorized mechanisms of change in various clinical approaches. 68 participants (55 female, 13 male) were randomly assigned to receive either a brief S-A-C intervention employing a common therapeutic metaphor (the chessboard metaphor), or the control condition, which involved discussing a mildly positive topic with the researcher. Results from the main analyses showed that there was no group-by-time interaction on measures to assess immediate impact on the construct, previously validated therapeutic mediation measures, or symptom measures. Several possible explanations for the failure to identify significant findings are discussed, including limitations of construct measurement. When analyses were repeated using only those participants whose scores were in the mild range or higher for stress, anxiety, or depression, time by condition interactions were significant for stress and approached significance for depression, with participants in the S-A-C group doing better than those in the control group, offering tentative support for the utility of this process among individuals with clinical difficulties. Implications for future studies are reported. / Ph. D.

MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Ruth Anne Rehfeldt The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a defusion exercise in combination with perspective- taking interactions as a brief protocol based on the Relational Frame Theory (RFT). The protocol was designed to alter verbal statements about the self through the implementation of training on deictic frames (I-YOU, HERE-THERE, AND NOW-THEN) in conjunction with an exercise of defusion. A pre-post design with a control group was implemented to evaluate the effects of the protocol on the frequency rate of self-as-context and self-as-content statements. Adolescents with disabilities were selected and assigned to each group based on the frequency rate of self-as-content statements. After the assignment of the participants to each group, each participant was interviewed individually through a structured interview aimed at identifying deictic frames and negative statements. Then, participants in the treatment group received the protocol of defusion and deictic frames individually, and participants in the control group received a social skills session on an individual basis. Finally, participants were interviewed individually through an interview based on the identification of deictic relationships and negative statements about the self. Results showed a significant effect in reducing the number of self-as-content statements and increasing the number of self-as-context statements for participants in the treatment group; however, changes did not reach the statistical significance when comparing the post-tests scores between the treatment and control group. Limitations of this study are discussed and future research is recommended.

While current research indicates that traumas high in social betrayal are more closely associated with symptoms of posttraumatic stress and identity disturbances than are traumas low in betrayal, the psychological mechanisms by which identity problems occur are less understood. The current project explored the relationships between traumas high and low in betrayal and their influence on self-complexity, through the RFT and ACT conceptualization of three types of self-experiencing: self-as-content, self-as-process, and self-as-context. The roles of experiential avoidance, dissociation, and severity of PTSD symptoms were also considered within this framework. A sample of 548 undergraduate students at the University of North Texas completed online self-report questionnaires, and results suggested that self-as-context more strongly predicted PTSD symptoms than trauma exposure, dissociation, and experiential avoidance. Moreover, high betrayal trauma was found to be a stronger negative predictor of self-as-context than low betrayal trauma. Exposure to trauma was found to significantly predict self-complexity, and self-as-context more strongly predicted self-complexity than did self-as-process. Interestingly, self-as-context did not moderate the relationship between trauma exposure and PTSD symptoms, nor between trauma exposure and self-complexity. Implications of the current study’s findings, as well as suggestions for further research related to the impact of interpersonal betrayal on the self and psychological health, are discussed.

Abstract Perspective-taking is a part of different clinical interventions, with the purpose of promoting for example self-compassion or increasing tolerance to distress. The aim of the present experiment with healthy volunteers (N=40) was to investigate the effect of perspective-taking, specifically self-as-context, on self-compassion during a tolerance task. It was hypothesized that participants with higher levels of self-as-context would have higher levels of (1) self-compassion and (2) tolerance during a simple weight lifting task. Participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (n=20) or a control group (n=20). All participants completed four lifts, alternating using their dominant and non-dominant arm. During the latter two lifts, participants in the experimental condition were instructed to apply a self-as-context exercise while the participants in the control condition were instructed to apply a visualization exercise that was not related to the self. There was a positive correlation between self-as-context and self-compassion, but the results showed no significant group difference in self-compassion during the lifting task. The results showed no significant group difference in tolerance. Furthermore, there was no correlation between self-as-context and tolerance. The present study is the first to empirically show a relationship between self-as-context and self-compassion. The current results are promising and call for further controlled research on the relation between perspective taking and self-compassion and for the development and refinement of state measures of self-compassion and self-as-context. / Sammanfattning Perspektivtagande är en del av olika kliniska interventioner, med syfte att främja exempelvis självmedkänsla eller öka tolerans för obehag. Syftet med förevarande experiment som genomfördes med friska frivilliga deltagare (N=40), var att undersöka effekten av perspektivtagande, specifikt själv-som-kontext, på självmedkänsla under ett toleranstest. Det hypotiserades att deltagare med högre nivåer av själv-som-kontext skulle ha högre nivåer av (1) självmedkänsla och (2) tolerans under ett enkelt hantellyft. Deltagarna randomiserades till antingen en experimentgrupp (n=20) eller en kontrollgrupp (n=20). Alla deltagare genomförde fyra hantellyft, växelvis med sin dominanta respektive icke-dominanta arm. Under de senare två lyften instruerades deltagarna i experimentgruppen att tillämpa en själv-som-kontext-övning medan deltagarna i kontrollgruppen instruerades att tillämpa en visualiseringsövning som inte var själv-relaterad. Det fanns en positiv korrelation mellan själv-som-kontext och självmedkänsla, dock visade resultaten ingen signifikant gruppskillnad i självmedkänsla under lyften. Resultaten visade ingen signifikant gruppskillnad i tolerans. Vidare fanns det ingen korrelation mellan själv-som-kontext och tolerans. Förevarande studie är den första att empiriskt påvisa ett samband mellan själv-som-kontext och självmedkänsla. Förevarande resultat är lovande och uppmanar till ytterligare kontrollerad forskning kring sambandet mellan perspektivtagande och självmedkänsla och till utveckling och raffinering av state-mått för självmedkänsla och själv-som-kontext.