Capafons et al

• Capafons et al 1998

  Systematic desenstitzation in the treatment of flying 
• Background

  • Capafons predicted that they think systematic desensitisation works for fear of flying.
  • One reason they think this is that people have traveled in aeroplanes many times still have fear so flooding has not worked
  • Systematic desensitisation includes an element of control over the situation which may make it a better option than flooding
  • Second reason is that systematic desensitisation is practical as it can involve imagining the feared situation and the live situation which is not easy for someone struggling with this phobia 
  • Third reason is the need for self control which means less dependence on the therapist which is likely to help success for therapy
  • Fourth reason is that systematic desensitisation is not as stressful as flooding and the patient can go at their own speed meaning they are more likely to continue therapy
• Aim

  To see if systematic desensitisation is a successful treatment for a specific phobia of flying
• Sample

  Volunteer sample: was a volunteer self selecting sample, found by a media campaign on radio, press and television 

  • 20 participants and 21 waiting for therapy as the waiting control group with random assignments of participants to the groups
  • Balanced in terms of age, gender and strength of fear
  • Treatment group has 8 males, 12 females (mean age 30)
  • Control group had 9 males and 12 females ( average age 35)
• How was fear assessed:

  • measures of fear before and after flying was done with self report scales and clinical interviewing. Physical variables were also recorded in addition 
• Pre treatment 

  • Participants were asked about life history and fear of flying
• Control group procedure

  • watched video and had physical measurements taken 
  • Nothing else for 8 weeks 
• Treatment group procedure

  • treatment consisted of 2 one hour sessions a week
  • After treatment measures were taken after two flights (first being within 7 days of the treatment,
  • 12-15 sessions all together finishing within 8 weeks

  Both groups after 8 weeks were re tested for fear intensity measures (no clinical interview)
• Measures

  • interview with person to find out about fear of flying including their life history
  • Fear of flying scale measured level of anxiety in different flying situations
  • Two scales measuring a persons catastrophic thoughts and how they thought they would have a physical reaction to flying
  • Video of a trip on plane, beginning with packing case and ending at touchdown at destination 
  • Physical measures of heart rate, muscular tension and skin temperature 
• Dependant variable - the level of fear flying 

  • measured by self report questionnaire
  • Fear scale measuring fear during flight
  • Scales measuring catastrophic thoughts and anxiety
  • Physical measures of heart rate, palm temperature and muscular tension
• Results

  Treatment group

  90% of participants experienced a significant reduction of fear in measures 

  10% experienced no significant reduction of fear in measures
• Control

  No significant improvement therefore passage of time did not lead to changes 

  (5% showed improvement 1 participant showed similar improvement to treatment group)
• Conclusion

  Systematic desensitisation is an effective treatment for decreasing or eradicating the fear of flying