Alexander L Gerlach
Biographic Data
| ID | 4603656 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alexander L Gerlach |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alexander L |
| FAMILY NAME | Gerlach |
| SIGNATURE | GERLACH A L |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Cologne |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6794-5349 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2001 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
The Effect of Intolerance of Uncertainty on Indecisiveness in Anxiety and Obsessive‐Compulsive Disorders
OBJECTIVES: Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) describes a dispositional aversion to uncertainty. Recent research has identified IU as a causal contributor to pervasive decision difficulties (indecisiveness). Given that IU and indecisiveness occur across mental disorders, understanding whether IU's causal role in indecisiveness extends to clinical populations is critical. This study therefore tested the effect of IU on indecisiveness in a clinical s…
The Cardiac Orthostatic Stress Response as a Function of Internalizing Psychopathology and Sex in Typically Developing Youth—An Observational Study
Stress‐induced physiological changes offer insights into autonomic nervous system (ANS) function beyond resting cardiac activity, relevant to both physical and mental illnesses. Limited research exists on heart rate (HR) reactivity in children and adolescents, particularly in the context of internalizing psychopathology. In a study of n = 48 typically developing adolescents (mean age 16.31 years, SD = 0.51), HR and vagal‐mediated heart rate varia…
Therapeutic and legal aspects of psilocybin in cancer-related depression
Depression prevalence is markedly elevated in oncological patients, particularly among head and neck cancer (HNC) cohorts, who face twice the prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) compared to other cancer populations. MDD in this context independently predicts poorer clinical outcomes and increased morbidity. HNC management often involves acute surgical interventions with disfiguring effects, creating a narrow therapeutic window for conve…
Elevated accuracy in recognition of subliminal happy facial expressions in patients with panic disorder after psychotherapy
These data suggest that patients with PD exhibited a "happy-face recognition advantage" after psychotherapy. Less symptoms after treatment were related to a reduced fear bias. Thus, a differential facial emotion detection task could be a suitable tool to monitor response patterns and biases in individuals with ADs in the context of psychotherapy
Intolerance of uncertainty predicts indecisiveness and safety behavior in real-life decision making: Results from an experience sampling study
In decision making, intolerance of uncertainty (IU) may be linked to safety behavior, which could ironically maintain IU and, thus, foster indecisiveness. In a smartphone-based experience sampling study, 247 participants described their real-life decisions six times per day and rated (a) their situational indecisiveness, (b) decision characteristics, (c) situational IU, and (d) problematic safety behaviors. Participants higher in dispositional IU…
Depression, Contraception, and Ambivalence Concerning Fertility
Individuals suffering from depression exhibit a higher rate of unintended pregnancies, which are associated with negative outcomes for both parents and children. Often, unintended pregnancies result from contraceptive mistakes. Here, we examine the relationship between depression and the consistency of contraceptive behavior, testing ambivalence as a possible mediator. The analyses were based on cross-sectional data from the second and third wave…
Symptom Perception in Pathological Illness Anxiety: Tactile Sensitivity and Bias
OBJECTIVE: Symptom perception in pathological illness anxiety (PIA) might be biased so that somatic signals are overreported. In the somatic signal detection task (SSDT), performance in detecting weak tactile stimuli gives information on overreporting or underreporting of stimuli. This task has not yet been applied in PIA. METHODS: Participants with PIA (n = 44) and healthy controls (n = 40) underwent two versions of the SSDT in randomized order.…
Respiratory Interoception and Pathological Illness Anxiety: Disentangling Bias
OBJECTIVE: Biased interoception decoupled from physiology might be relevant in the etiology of pathological illness anxiety (PIA). Empirical evidence for interoceptive deviations in illness anxiety is scarce but potentially informative to optimize treatments. We hypothesized that persons with PIA differ fundamentally in the classification of bodily sensations from those without PIA. METHODS: In a respiratory categorization task, participants brea…
Linking Depression with Negative Alcohol-Related Consequences: A Structural Equation Model Among a Clinically Depressed Population
Background and Objectives: Previous research suggests that rumination acts as a mediating mechanism in the association between depression and drinking motives, particularly drinking to cope, as well as negative alcohol-related consequences. In this study, we tested the connections between depressive symptoms, rumination, drinking motives, alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related problems in a clinically depressed population (N = 209). Methods: St…
Somatosensory Illusions Elicited by Sham Electromagnetic Field Exposure: Experimental Evidence for a Predictive Processing Account of Somatic Symptom Perception
OBJECTIVE: According to the predictive processing theory of somatic symptom generation, body sensations are determined by somatosensory input and central nervous predictions about this input. We examined how expectations shape predictions and consequently bodily perceptions in a task eliciting illusory sensations as laboratory analogue of medically unexplained symptoms. METHODS: Using the framework of signal detection theory, the influence of sha…
An item analysis according to the Rasch model of the German 12-item WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0)
Overall, the analysis results according to the Rasch model support the use of the WHODAS 2.0 12-item version as a measure of disability in cancer patients
Support Vector Machine Analysis of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Interoception Does Not Reliably Predict Individual Outcomes of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Panic Disorder with Agoraphob…
In contrast to reports on other neurofunctional probes, SVM based on an interoception paradigm was not able to reliably predict individual response to CBT. Results speak against the clinical applicability of this technique
Social Comparison, Envy, and Depression on Facebook: A Study Looking at the Effects of High Comparison Standards on Depressed Individuals
The co-occurrence of depression and envy is both plausible and empirically established. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying this correlation. An account is proposed according to which low self-esteem in depressed individuals leads to upward social comparison and thus makes envy more likely. This effect should frequently occur in online social networks like Facebook because they allow for easy impression management and hence p…
Can't suppress this feeling: Automatic negative evaluations of somatosensory stimuli are related to the experience of somatic symptom distress
Cognitive theories of medically unexplained ("somatoform") symptoms stress the importance of alterations in attention and memory processes. Accordingly, specific schemata are hypothesized to (mis-)guide the processing of somatosensory stimuli leading to the formation of symptom-like perceptions. The current study tested a possible association between altered automatic somatosensory evaluation processes and the tendency to experience somatoform sy…
Blood-Injury Phobia With and Without a History of Fainting: Disgust Sensitivity Does Not Explain the Fainting Response
Objective: Individuals diagnosed with blood-injury phobia respond to venipuncture with strong psychophysiological responses. We investigated whether disgust sensitivity contributes to the fainting response and is associated with parasympathetic activation, as suggested by previous research. Methods: Twenty individuals diagnosed with blood-injury phobia (9 with a history of fainting to the sight of blood, 11 without such a fainting history) and 20…
End-Tidal pCO2 in Blood Phobics During Viewing of Emotion- and Disease-Related Films
OBJECTIVE: Many patients with blood, injection, and injury (BII) phobia respond to specific stimuli with vasovagal dysregulation and fainting. However, little is known about the role of hyperventilation in the distress of these patients. Hyperventilation, defined by subnormal arterial pCO2 levels, induces anxiety and may promote the development of fainting. We studied end-tidal pCO2 in 12 patients with BII phobia and 14 nonanxious controls during…
Slow Recovery From Voluntary Hyperventilation in Panic Disorder
OBJECTIVE: Because hyperventilation has figured prominently in theories of panic disorder (PD) but not of social phobia (SP), we compared predictions regarding diagnosis-specific differences in psychological and physiological measures before, during, and after voluntary hyperventilation. METHOD: Physiological responses were recorded in 14 patients with PD, 24 patients with SP, and 24 controls during six cycles of 1-minute of fast breathing altern…
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Slow Recovery From Voluntary Hyperventilation in Panic Disorder
OBJECTIVE: Because hyperventilation has figured prominently in theories of panic disorder (PD) but not of social phobia (SP), we compared predictions regarding diagnosis-specific differences in psychological and physiological measures before, during, and after voluntary hyperventilation. METHOD: Physiological responses were recorded in 14 patients with PD, 24 patients with SP, and 24 controls during six cycles of 1-minute of fast breathing altern…
End-Tidal pCO2 in Blood Phobics During Viewing of Emotion- and Disease-Related Films
OBJECTIVE: Many patients with blood, injection, and injury (BII) phobia respond to specific stimuli with vasovagal dysregulation and fainting. However, little is known about the role of hyperventilation in the distress of these patients. Hyperventilation, defined by subnormal arterial pCO2 levels, induces anxiety and may promote the development of fainting. We studied end-tidal pCO2 in 12 patients with BII phobia and 14 nonanxious controls during…
Blood-Injury Phobia With and Without a History of Fainting: Disgust Sensitivity Does Not Explain the Fainting Response
Objective: Individuals diagnosed with blood-injury phobia respond to venipuncture with strong psychophysiological responses. We investigated whether disgust sensitivity contributes to the fainting response and is associated with parasympathetic activation, as suggested by previous research. Methods: Twenty individuals diagnosed with blood-injury phobia (9 with a history of fainting to the sight of blood, 11 without such a fainting history) and 20…
Can't suppress this feeling: Automatic negative evaluations of somatosensory stimuli are related to the experience of somatic symptom distress
Cognitive theories of medically unexplained ("somatoform") symptoms stress the importance of alterations in attention and memory processes. Accordingly, specific schemata are hypothesized to (mis-)guide the processing of somatosensory stimuli leading to the formation of symptom-like perceptions. The current study tested a possible association between altered automatic somatosensory evaluation processes and the tendency to experience somatoform sy…
Social Comparison, Envy, and Depression on Facebook: A Study Looking at the Effects of High Comparison Standards on Depressed Individuals
The co-occurrence of depression and envy is both plausible and empirically established. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying this correlation. An account is proposed according to which low self-esteem in depressed individuals leads to upward social comparison and thus makes envy more likely. This effect should frequently occur in online social networks like Facebook because they allow for easy impression management and hence p…
Support Vector Machine Analysis of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Interoception Does Not Reliably Predict Individual Outcomes of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Panic Disorder with Agoraphob…
In contrast to reports on other neurofunctional probes, SVM based on an interoception paradigm was not able to reliably predict individual response to CBT. Results speak against the clinical applicability of this technique
Somatosensory Illusions Elicited by Sham Electromagnetic Field Exposure: Experimental Evidence for a Predictive Processing Account of Somatic Symptom Perception
OBJECTIVE: According to the predictive processing theory of somatic symptom generation, body sensations are determined by somatosensory input and central nervous predictions about this input. We examined how expectations shape predictions and consequently bodily perceptions in a task eliciting illusory sensations as laboratory analogue of medically unexplained symptoms. METHODS: Using the framework of signal detection theory, the influence of sha…
An item analysis according to the Rasch model of the German 12-item WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0)
Overall, the analysis results according to the Rasch model support the use of the WHODAS 2.0 12-item version as a measure of disability in cancer patients
Linking Depression with Negative Alcohol-Related Consequences: A Structural Equation Model Among a Clinically Depressed Population
Background and Objectives: Previous research suggests that rumination acts as a mediating mechanism in the association between depression and drinking motives, particularly drinking to cope, as well as negative alcohol-related consequences. In this study, we tested the connections between depressive symptoms, rumination, drinking motives, alcohol consumption, and alcohol-related problems in a clinically depressed population (N = 209). Methods: St…
Symptom Perception in Pathological Illness Anxiety: Tactile Sensitivity and Bias
OBJECTIVE: Symptom perception in pathological illness anxiety (PIA) might be biased so that somatic signals are overreported. In the somatic signal detection task (SSDT), performance in detecting weak tactile stimuli gives information on overreporting or underreporting of stimuli. This task has not yet been applied in PIA. METHODS: Participants with PIA (n = 44) and healthy controls (n = 40) underwent two versions of the SSDT in randomized order.…
Respiratory Interoception and Pathological Illness Anxiety: Disentangling Bias
OBJECTIVE: Biased interoception decoupled from physiology might be relevant in the etiology of pathological illness anxiety (PIA). Empirical evidence for interoceptive deviations in illness anxiety is scarce but potentially informative to optimize treatments. We hypothesized that persons with PIA differ fundamentally in the classification of bodily sensations from those without PIA. METHODS: In a respiratory categorization task, participants brea…
Elevated accuracy in recognition of subliminal happy facial expressions in patients with panic disorder after psychotherapy
These data suggest that patients with PD exhibited a "happy-face recognition advantage" after psychotherapy. Less symptoms after treatment were related to a reduced fear bias. Thus, a differential facial emotion detection task could be a suitable tool to monitor response patterns and biases in individuals with ADs in the context of psychotherapy
Intolerance of uncertainty predicts indecisiveness and safety behavior in real-life decision making: Results from an experience sampling study
In decision making, intolerance of uncertainty (IU) may be linked to safety behavior, which could ironically maintain IU and, thus, foster indecisiveness. In a smartphone-based experience sampling study, 247 participants described their real-life decisions six times per day and rated (a) their situational indecisiveness, (b) decision characteristics, (c) situational IU, and (d) problematic safety behaviors. Participants higher in dispositional IU…
Depression, Contraception, and Ambivalence Concerning Fertility
Individuals suffering from depression exhibit a higher rate of unintended pregnancies, which are associated with negative outcomes for both parents and children. Often, unintended pregnancies result from contraceptive mistakes. Here, we examine the relationship between depression and the consistency of contraceptive behavior, testing ambivalence as a possible mediator. The analyses were based on cross-sectional data from the second and third wave…
Therapeutic and legal aspects of psilocybin in cancer-related depression
Depression prevalence is markedly elevated in oncological patients, particularly among head and neck cancer (HNC) cohorts, who face twice the prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) compared to other cancer populations. MDD in this context independently predicts poorer clinical outcomes and increased morbidity. HNC management often involves acute surgical interventions with disfiguring effects, creating a narrow therapeutic window for conve…
The Effect of Intolerance of Uncertainty on Indecisiveness in Anxiety and Obsessive‐Compulsive Disorders
OBJECTIVES: Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) describes a dispositional aversion to uncertainty. Recent research has identified IU as a causal contributor to pervasive decision difficulties (indecisiveness). Given that IU and indecisiveness occur across mental disorders, understanding whether IU's causal role in indecisiveness extends to clinical populations is critical. This study therefore tested the effect of IU on indecisiveness in a clinical s…
The Cardiac Orthostatic Stress Response as a Function of Internalizing Psychopathology and Sex in Typically Developing Youth—An Observational Study
Stress‐induced physiological changes offer insights into autonomic nervous system (ANS) function beyond resting cardiac activity, relevant to both physical and mental illnesses. Limited research exists on heart rate (HR) reactivity in children and adolescents, particularly in the context of internalizing psychopathology. In a study of n = 48 typically developing adolescents (mean age 16.31 years, SD = 0.51), HR and vagal‐mediated heart rate varia…
Psychology (15 works) · Anxiety (11 works) · Psychiatry (11 works) · Medicine (9 works) · Clinical Psychology (8 works) · Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes (7 works) · Neuroscience (6 works) · Social Psychology (6 works) · Perception (5 works) · Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments (5 works)