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Anxiety management with schizophrenic outpatients
Author(s) -
van Hassel John H.,
Bloom Larry J.,
Gonzalez Anna M.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/1097-4679(198204)38:2<280::aid-jclp2270380208>3.0.co;2-r
Subject(s) - anxiety , psychology , clinical psychology , psychological intervention , stress management , coping (psychology) , relaxation (psychology) , psychiatry , social psychology
Current theoretical speculation and research evidence suggest that elevated anxiety levels and poor anxiety coping skills may be important aspects of the schizophrenic process. Despite the success of various behaviorally oriented stress management techniques with nonpsychotic individuals, research on the effects of these programs as applied to schizophrenics has been scarce. The present study examined the effects of two such techniques, Anxiety management training (AMT) and Applied Relaxation Training (R), on schizophrenic outpatients. After 6 weeks of training, both the AMT and R S s ( N = 27) reported significantly lower levels of generalized anxiety on a standard measure, as contrasted to non‐treated Wait‐List (WL) group S s ( N = 12). In addition, significant positive changes were reported by the S s' regular outpatient therapists on a number of related, non‐targeted behaviors. The results of this study support the idea that short‐term anxiety management interventions may be useful in the treatment of schizophrenic patients.