Behaviour modification refers to the techniques used to try and decrease or increase a particular type of behaviour or reaction. This might sound very technical, but it is used very frequently by all of us. Parents use this to teach their children right from wrong. Therapists use it to promote healthy behaviours in their patients. The purpose…

Objective: This study examined (a) duration of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) as a moderator of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) versus its components (cognitive therapy and self-control desensitization) and (b) increases in dynamic flexibility of anxious symptoms during the course of psychotherapy as a mediator of this moderation. Degree of…

Cognitive and behavioral interventions have been cautiously recommended as "best practice" in the treatment of pathological gambling. Behavioral interventions, using a range of techniques, have been the most commonly evaluated approach to the psychological treatment of pathological gambling. The recent literature evaluating behavioral treatments…

This project provides a comprehensive overview of the research literature on social anxiety disorder (SAD) in adolescents and concludes by offering a set of 10 group therapy lesson plans for SAD that therapists can use in their practice. The overview includes a description of social anxiety disorder and highlights various theories of anxiety. The…

In this article, the authors present a multilevel (or hierarchical linear) model that illustrates issues in the application of the model to data from meta-analytic studies. In doing so, several issues are discussed that typically arise in the course of a meta-analysis. These include the presence of non-zero between-study variability, how multiple…

Studied use of electromyographic (CMG) biofeedback to increase efficacy of cue-controlled relaxation training in treatment of test anxiety. Results indicated cue-controlled relaxation was effective in increasing test performance for test-anxious subjects. EMG biofeedback did not contribute to effectiveness. Self-report measures of anxiety are…

Administered intravenous infusions to phobic patients prior to systematic desensitization. Saline-infused subjects significantly demonstrated the predicted symptom decrease in response to systematic desensitization, whereas naloxone-infused subjects showed no change. Subject reports and psychophysiological measures of arousal indicated no…

Compared effectiveness of counterconditioning and self-control models of systematic desensitization in reducing targeted and nontargeted anxieties. Treatments were equally effective in reducing and maintaining reduction of targeted anxiety, debilitating test anxiety. (Author)

Compared experimental desensitization with a procedure that replaced relaxation with a distraction task and with an approach that combined both relaxation and distraction. Desensitization generally was more effective than the other two procedures. (Author)

Women, self-referred for dental anxiety, were given four weeks of cue-controlled relaxation treatment. Nonorthogonal planned comparisons indicated significant decreases on dental anxiety, anxiety differential, and state anxiety scales, and systolic blood pressure. Participants reported that treatment was helpful in controlling anxiety when…

Students with examination anxiety took part in study of effectiveness of two kinds of treatment, structured psychodrama and systematic desensitization, in reducing test anxiety. Results showed that subjects in both treatment groups significantly reduced test-anxiety scores. Structured psychodrama is as effective as systematic desensitization in…

Compared the efficacy of two behavioral anxiety reduction techniques against "subconscious reconditioning," an empirically derived placebo method. Examination of within-group changes showed systematic desensitization produced significant reductions in test and trait anxiety, and remaining treatments and the placebo demonstrated…

Systematic desensitization using deep muscle relaxation was significantly successful in the reduction of math anxiety among preservice elementary teachers, but it did not affect their enjoyment of math or their perceptions of its value. Math anxiety was shown to be related to a more globally defined notion of anxiety. (SB)

Evaluates in vivo desensitization and self-modeling for effectiveness in treating a 29-year-old female with an intense fear of children. Following 19 sessions over a six-month period the subject stopped avoiding situations involving children, heart rate and blood pressure decreased slightly, confidence increased, and multiple fears were reduced.…

Test-anxious subjects were assigned to condition groups: (1) desensitization only; (2) cognitive only; (3) cognitive plus desensitization; and (4) neither cognitive nor desensitization. On test anxiety and self-rating measures, combined treatment and desensitization were less effective than the cognitive-only treatment. Results are consistent with…