AO3: Behavioural treatments for phobias

• Brosnan and Thorpe

  Used systematic desensitisation to treat technophobia
• Brosnan and Thorpe: First study

  Sample of 16 participants was used: 8 technophobics and 8 not, and a control group of 8 non-anxious participants. A 10 week systematic desensitisation programme was delivered to the computer-anxious participants.
• Brosnan and Thorpe: Second study

  30 computer anxious participants were assigned to a treatment group or a non-treatment group. There was also a non-anxious control group of 59 participants.
• Brosnan and Thorpe: Findings

  First study: computer anxiety and coping strategies were significantly improved in the computer-anxious group, becoming comparable to the non-anxious controls.

  Second study: Established over an academic year that the reduction in anxiety was 3x greater in the treated group than the non-treated group. By the end of the year, the treated group no longer differed from the controls, whilst the non-treated group remained significantly more anxious.
• Brosnan and Thorpe: Conclusions

  Systematic desensitisation is effective in treating technophobia.
• Brosnan and Thorpe: Evaluation

  It's not known whether the therapy had a long-term benefit in reducing technophobia. However, the success of the therapy suggests a major benefit in allowing technophobes to participate in an increasingly technologically-oriented world.
• Wolpe (1960)

  Used flooding to remove a girls phobia of being in cars.
• Wolpe: Process

  The girl was forced into a car and driven around for 4 hours until her hysteria was eradicated, demonstrating the effectiveness of the treatment.
• Craske and Barlow

  Investigated treating agoraphobia.
• Craske and Barlow: Outcome

  CSI in 60-80% of cases, in many cases however, improvement was only slight and 50% relapse within 6 months.
• Social phobias tend to involve cognitive aspects- it's not just anxiety or avoidance but there are also unpleasant thoughts associated with the phobia. This makes then harder to treat- you have to understand you have learnt the phobia to unlearn it.
• Craske and Barlow: Evaluation

  As relapse is highly likely, the treatment can be seen as ineffective in the long term.
• Ost

  Found that flooding is a rapid treatment that often delivers rapid, immediate improvements, especially when a patient is encouraged to continue self-directed exposure to feared objects and situations outside of therapy sessions.
• General Evaluations: Systematic desensitisation

  Suitable for everyone- doesn't require talking about what is going on. Less trauma.

  Some people like the gradual approach, more likely to finish treatment.
• General Evaluations: Flooding

  Not suitable for children or people with learning difficulties.

  Traumatic.

  Issues with consent, cannot withdraw.