The Multi-Center Dilemma Project: an investigation on the role of cognitive conflicts in health.
The Multi-Center Dilemma Project is a collaborative research endeavour aimed at determining the role of dilemmas--a kind of cognitive conflict, detected by using an adaptation of Kelly's Repertory Grid Technique--in a variety of clinical conditions. Implicative dilemmas appear in one third of the non-clinical group (n = 321) and in about half of the clinical group (n = 286), the latter having a proportion of dilemmas that doubles that of the non-clinical sample. Within the clinical group, we studied 87 subjects, after completing a psychotherapy process, and found that therapy helps to dissolve those dilemmas. We also studied, independently, a group of subjects diagnosed with social phobia (n = 13) and a group diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (n = 13) in comparison to non-clinical groups. In both health related problems, dilemmas seem to be quite relevant. Altogether, these studies, though preliminary (and with a small group size in some cases), yield a promising perspective to the unexplored area of the role of cognitive conflicts as an issue to consider when trying to understand some clinical conditions, as well as a focus to be dealt with in psychotherapy when dilemmas are identified.
Feixas
Guillem
G
Departament de Personalitat, Avaluació i Tractament Psicològics, Universitat de Barcelona, Passeig vall d'Hebron, 171, 08035 Barcelona, Spain. gfeixas@ub.edu
Saúl
Luis Angel
LA
D003071:Cognition; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D043183:Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Q000523:psychology; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods; D012649:Self Concept