Elias Tsakanikos | University of Crete (original) (raw)
Uploads
Papers by Elias Tsakanikos
Personality and Individual Differences, 2019
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2021
Individual differences in behaviors are seen across many species, and investigations have focused... more Individual differences in behaviors are seen across many species, and investigations have focused on traits linked to aggression, risk taking, emotionality, coping styles, and differences in cognitive systems. The current study investigated whether there were individual differences in proactive interference tasks in rats (Rattus Norvegicus), and tested hypotheses suggesting that these tasks should load onto a single factor and there should be clusters of rats who perform well or poorly on these tasks. The performance of 39 rats was tested across three learning tasks that all involved disengagement from an irrelevant previously learned stimulus to a relevant stimulus: latent inhibition (LI), partial reinforcement extinction effect (PREE), and reversal learning (RL). An exploratory factor analysis revealed the existence of one factor underlying performance. A cluster analysis revealed the existence of sets of rats displaying either weak LI and strong PREE and RL effects, or vice versa...
JMIR Formative Research, 2021
Background Mental health digital apps hold promise for providing scalable solutions to individual... more Background Mental health digital apps hold promise for providing scalable solutions to individual self-care, education, and illness prevention. However, a problem with these apps is that they lack engaging user interfaces and experiences and thus potentially result in high attrition. Although guidelines for new digital interventions for adults have begun to examine engagement, there is a paucity of evidence on how to best address digital interventions for adolescents. As adolescence is a period of transition, during which the onset of many potentially lifelong mental health conditions frequently occurs, understanding how best to engage this population is crucial. Objective The study aims to detect potential barriers to engagement and to gather feedback on the current elements of app design regarding user experience, user interface, and content. Methods This study used a qualitative design. A sample of 14 adolescents was asked to use the app for 1 week and was interviewed using a sem...
Learning & Behavior, 2018
Journal of medical Internet research, Jan 24, 2017
Despite the large body of literature demonstrating the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral trea... more Despite the large body of literature demonstrating the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral treatments for agoraphobia, many patients remain untreated because of various barriers to treatment. Web-based and mobile-based interventions targeting agoraphobia may provide a solution to this problem, but there is a lack of research investigating the efficacy of such interventions. The objective of our study was to evaluate for the first time the effectiveness of a self-guided mobile-based intervention primarily targeting agoraphobic symptoms, with respect to a generic mobile app targeting anxiety. A Web-based randomized controlled trial (RCT) compared a novel mobile app designed to target agoraphobia (called Agoraphobia Free) with a mobile app designed to help with symptoms of anxiety in general (called Stress Free). Both interventions were based on established cognitive behavioral principles. We recruited participants (N=170) who self-identified as having agoraphobia and assessed them o...
BJPsych open, 2018
We report on the first open-label, parallel group randomised controlled trial of automated appoin... more We report on the first open-label, parallel group randomised controlled trial of automated appointment reminders in a psychosis community service in the UK. Ninety-five patients were randomly allocated to receiving/not receiving automated messaging reminders 7 days and 1 day before appointments. All 'Attended' and 'Missed' appointment outcomes over 6 months were analysed using cluster regression analysis. Reminded appointments were significantly more frequently attended than non-reminded appointments (unadjusted odds ratio (OR) = 3.54, 95% CI 1.36-9.22, P = 0.01; adjusted OR = 2.95, 95% CI 1.05-8.85, P < 0.05). Automated messaging reminders can provide a robust strategy for promoting engagement with psychosis services. Declaration of interest The authors have no competing financial interests to declare in relation to the current work. Sarah McAllister was supported by a King's Undergraduate Research Fellowship.
Personality and Individual Differences, 2013
Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 2012
Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 2013
ABSTRACT This study investigated the main psychometric properties of the Self Assessment and Inte... more ABSTRACT This study investigated the main psychometric properties of the Self Assessment and Intervention (SAINT), a unique and recently developed Guided Self-Help tool for people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Fifty-four adults with ID identified with symptoms of anxiety and/or depression completed the study. They were between 18 and 77 years old with a mean of 39.4 years of age (SD = 13.57). Participants were recruited from both community (n = 31, 57.4%) and inpatient settings (n = 23, 42.6%). The Glasgow Depression Scale-Learning Disabilities (GDS-LD) and Glasgow Anxiety Scale-Intellectual Disabilities (GAS-ID) were used as expert measures. Convergent validity, concurrent validity, test-retest, and internal consistency were all tested on the SAINT in comparison with the GDS-LD and GAS-ID as appropriate. There were no missing data from the questionnaires. Cronbach's alpha suggested high internal consistency for the SAINT questionnaire at 0.827 and interitem correlation for internal consistency of the SAINT for any item deleted ranged from 0.788 to 0.826. In terms of convergent validity using the Spearman's Rho correlation coefficient the SAINT showed significant correlation at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) with the GDS-LD (r = 0.707), GAS-ID worries subscale (r = 0.578). The correlation for test-retest (n = 20, 37%) between Time 1 and Time 2 was r = 0.897, p < .01. The SAINT has demonstrated potential as a measure for investigating mental distress for people with ID. One of the unique benefits of the SAINT is that it has a different utility from other measures used in this study that focus on psychopathology. The SAINT has not been designed as a diagnostic tool and aims to get the person to recognize and report a set of symptoms that indicates mental distress and to employ coping strategies once identified.
Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities
Oxford Handbooks Online, 2013
Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, 2013
Personality and Individual Differences, 2006
The present study examined whether the formation of associations is affected by individual differ... more The present study examined whether the formation of associations is affected by individual differences in perceptual style (analytic vs. holistic). Ninety undergraduate students were tested on their ability to associate concurrent events (i.e. word—colour) and were assessed on measures of field dependence and intelligence. The analysis revealed that analytic perceptual style (field independence) was associated with better performance on associative
Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 2009
European Psychiatry, 2014
Personality and Individual Differences, 2014
Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, 2014
Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, 2011
Purpose – This pilot study aimed to investigate whether adults with mild/moderate intellectual di... more Purpose – This pilot study aimed to investigate whether adults with mild/moderate intellectual disabilities could accurately self-report their attachment style. It explored whether there is a relationship between attachment style and challenging behaviour and/or mental health problems. Additionally, the paper examines the distribution of attachment styles in people with intellectual disabilities, based on the hypothesis that it might be different to that of the general population. Design/methodology/approach – Adults with intellectual disabilities (n=60) and people who supported them (n=39) completed questionnaires based on Hazan and Shaver's attachment categories and mental health diagnoses. Supporters also provided information about challenging behaviour. Findings – People with mild/moderate intellectual disabilities show the same range of attachment styles as the general population. Links between challenging behaviour and insecure attachment were found, and there was an association between depression and insecure-avoidant attachment. Originality/value – Applications of attachment theory in individual therapy and at a policy level are explored in light of the findings, as well as directions for future research. There appears to be a relationship between insecure attachment and depression in people with intellectual disabilities. This has implications for the psychological treatment of people with intellectual disabilities and interventions should be developed that focus on attachment relationships. Attachment behaviour may not be linked to challenging behaviour as directly as has been previously suggested, certainly for people with mild moderate intellectual disabilities.
Personality and Individual Differences, 2019
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2021
Individual differences in behaviors are seen across many species, and investigations have focused... more Individual differences in behaviors are seen across many species, and investigations have focused on traits linked to aggression, risk taking, emotionality, coping styles, and differences in cognitive systems. The current study investigated whether there were individual differences in proactive interference tasks in rats (Rattus Norvegicus), and tested hypotheses suggesting that these tasks should load onto a single factor and there should be clusters of rats who perform well or poorly on these tasks. The performance of 39 rats was tested across three learning tasks that all involved disengagement from an irrelevant previously learned stimulus to a relevant stimulus: latent inhibition (LI), partial reinforcement extinction effect (PREE), and reversal learning (RL). An exploratory factor analysis revealed the existence of one factor underlying performance. A cluster analysis revealed the existence of sets of rats displaying either weak LI and strong PREE and RL effects, or vice versa...
JMIR Formative Research, 2021
Background Mental health digital apps hold promise for providing scalable solutions to individual... more Background Mental health digital apps hold promise for providing scalable solutions to individual self-care, education, and illness prevention. However, a problem with these apps is that they lack engaging user interfaces and experiences and thus potentially result in high attrition. Although guidelines for new digital interventions for adults have begun to examine engagement, there is a paucity of evidence on how to best address digital interventions for adolescents. As adolescence is a period of transition, during which the onset of many potentially lifelong mental health conditions frequently occurs, understanding how best to engage this population is crucial. Objective The study aims to detect potential barriers to engagement and to gather feedback on the current elements of app design regarding user experience, user interface, and content. Methods This study used a qualitative design. A sample of 14 adolescents was asked to use the app for 1 week and was interviewed using a sem...
Learning & Behavior, 2018
Journal of medical Internet research, Jan 24, 2017
Despite the large body of literature demonstrating the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral trea... more Despite the large body of literature demonstrating the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral treatments for agoraphobia, many patients remain untreated because of various barriers to treatment. Web-based and mobile-based interventions targeting agoraphobia may provide a solution to this problem, but there is a lack of research investigating the efficacy of such interventions. The objective of our study was to evaluate for the first time the effectiveness of a self-guided mobile-based intervention primarily targeting agoraphobic symptoms, with respect to a generic mobile app targeting anxiety. A Web-based randomized controlled trial (RCT) compared a novel mobile app designed to target agoraphobia (called Agoraphobia Free) with a mobile app designed to help with symptoms of anxiety in general (called Stress Free). Both interventions were based on established cognitive behavioral principles. We recruited participants (N=170) who self-identified as having agoraphobia and assessed them o...
BJPsych open, 2018
We report on the first open-label, parallel group randomised controlled trial of automated appoin... more We report on the first open-label, parallel group randomised controlled trial of automated appointment reminders in a psychosis community service in the UK. Ninety-five patients were randomly allocated to receiving/not receiving automated messaging reminders 7 days and 1 day before appointments. All 'Attended' and 'Missed' appointment outcomes over 6 months were analysed using cluster regression analysis. Reminded appointments were significantly more frequently attended than non-reminded appointments (unadjusted odds ratio (OR) = 3.54, 95% CI 1.36-9.22, P = 0.01; adjusted OR = 2.95, 95% CI 1.05-8.85, P < 0.05). Automated messaging reminders can provide a robust strategy for promoting engagement with psychosis services. Declaration of interest The authors have no competing financial interests to declare in relation to the current work. Sarah McAllister was supported by a King's Undergraduate Research Fellowship.
Personality and Individual Differences, 2013
Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 2012
Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 2013
ABSTRACT This study investigated the main psychometric properties of the Self Assessment and Inte... more ABSTRACT This study investigated the main psychometric properties of the Self Assessment and Intervention (SAINT), a unique and recently developed Guided Self-Help tool for people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Fifty-four adults with ID identified with symptoms of anxiety and/or depression completed the study. They were between 18 and 77 years old with a mean of 39.4 years of age (SD = 13.57). Participants were recruited from both community (n = 31, 57.4%) and inpatient settings (n = 23, 42.6%). The Glasgow Depression Scale-Learning Disabilities (GDS-LD) and Glasgow Anxiety Scale-Intellectual Disabilities (GAS-ID) were used as expert measures. Convergent validity, concurrent validity, test-retest, and internal consistency were all tested on the SAINT in comparison with the GDS-LD and GAS-ID as appropriate. There were no missing data from the questionnaires. Cronbach's alpha suggested high internal consistency for the SAINT questionnaire at 0.827 and interitem correlation for internal consistency of the SAINT for any item deleted ranged from 0.788 to 0.826. In terms of convergent validity using the Spearman's Rho correlation coefficient the SAINT showed significant correlation at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) with the GDS-LD (r = 0.707), GAS-ID worries subscale (r = 0.578). The correlation for test-retest (n = 20, 37%) between Time 1 and Time 2 was r = 0.897, p < .01. The SAINT has demonstrated potential as a measure for investigating mental distress for people with ID. One of the unique benefits of the SAINT is that it has a different utility from other measures used in this study that focus on psychopathology. The SAINT has not been designed as a diagnostic tool and aims to get the person to recognize and report a set of symptoms that indicates mental distress and to employ coping strategies once identified.
Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities
Oxford Handbooks Online, 2013
Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, 2013
Personality and Individual Differences, 2006
The present study examined whether the formation of associations is affected by individual differ... more The present study examined whether the formation of associations is affected by individual differences in perceptual style (analytic vs. holistic). Ninety undergraduate students were tested on their ability to associate concurrent events (i.e. word—colour) and were assessed on measures of field dependence and intelligence. The analysis revealed that analytic perceptual style (field independence) was associated with better performance on associative
Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 2009
European Psychiatry, 2014
Personality and Individual Differences, 2014
Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, 2014
Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, 2011
Purpose – This pilot study aimed to investigate whether adults with mild/moderate intellectual di... more Purpose – This pilot study aimed to investigate whether adults with mild/moderate intellectual disabilities could accurately self-report their attachment style. It explored whether there is a relationship between attachment style and challenging behaviour and/or mental health problems. Additionally, the paper examines the distribution of attachment styles in people with intellectual disabilities, based on the hypothesis that it might be different to that of the general population. Design/methodology/approach – Adults with intellectual disabilities (n=60) and people who supported them (n=39) completed questionnaires based on Hazan and Shaver's attachment categories and mental health diagnoses. Supporters also provided information about challenging behaviour. Findings – People with mild/moderate intellectual disabilities show the same range of attachment styles as the general population. Links between challenging behaviour and insecure attachment were found, and there was an association between depression and insecure-avoidant attachment. Originality/value – Applications of attachment theory in individual therapy and at a policy level are explored in light of the findings, as well as directions for future research. There appears to be a relationship between insecure attachment and depression in people with intellectual disabilities. This has implications for the psychological treatment of people with intellectual disabilities and interventions should be developed that focus on attachment relationships. Attachment behaviour may not be linked to challenging behaviour as directly as has been previously suggested, certainly for people with mild moderate intellectual disabilities.