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Fear reduction during in vivo exposure to blood‐injection stimuli: Distraction vs. attentional focus
Author(s) -
Oliver Naomi S.,
Page Andrew C.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
british journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.479
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8260
pISSN - 0144-6657
DOI - 10.1348/014466503762841986
Subject(s) - distraction , psychology , anxiety , audiology , clinical psychology , medicine , psychiatry , cognitive psychology
Objective: This study extends Penfold and Page's (1999) finding that exposure plus distraction enhanced within‐session fear reduction to a phobic stimulus by examining whether the within‐session advantage could be replicated and translated into longer‐term gains. Design: To test the effects of distraction, participants were assigned randomly to one of three experimental conditions; exposure plus focusing, exposure plus distraction, or exposure alone. Method: Blood‐injection fearful participants ( N = 48) were assigned randomly to receive 3 weekly sessions of 10‐min exposure under one of the experimental conditions. Results: Consistent with the previous finding, exposure plus distraction showed the greatest within‐session fear reduction. Participants in the exposure plus distraction condition also reported the greatest reduction in fear between sessions, at post‐treatment, and at 1‐month follow‐up. Furthermore, participants in the exposure plus distraction condition reported continued increases in perceived control over their anxiety during the month following the exposure sessions. Conclusions: The data suggest that conversation is a distraction that can increase perceived control over anxiety and assists anxiety reduction.