Capafons 1998

• What was the aim?

  To validate the effectiveness of systematic desensitisation as a treatment of fear of flying and to assess the therapeutic success of systematic desensitisation when applied to other types of phobia
• where was the sample that Capafons used gathered from?

  ppts recruited from study by a media campaign which asked them to take part free of charge in an intervention programme aimed at treating fear of flying.
• How many ppts were in the study?

  41
• How many ppts were assigned to the treatment groups?

  20 ppts

  8 males

  12 females
• What were the tests that were done to assess the ppts fear of flying?

  1.The IDG-FV (a spanish assessment to help diagnose fear of flying)

  2. The fear displayed during the flight

  3. Fear of flight preliminaries

  4. Fear without involvement (eg., seeing a plane)

  5. Scales of Expectation of Danger (occurrence of catastrophic thoughts such as fear of the engine catching on fire)
• In addition to the measures, what did the researchers also record?

  the ppts physiological arousal using measures of heart rate, palm temperature, and muscle tension
• After all the measures were taken, what did the ppts watch?

  a video of a plane trip starting from the person packing the bags to them arriving at the destination
• How many minutes before the video were the ppts physiological measures taken?

  3 mins
• What was the interval between pre and post session for the treatment group?

  about 8 weeks
• How many sessions did the treatment group recieve?

  1 or 2 hour sessions per week

  between 12 and 15 sessions in total
• What did the treatment include?

  muscle relaxation, breathing techniques, and imagination (combination of in vitro and in vivo)
• What were the main results?

  90% of treatment group showed a reduction in the fear of flying
• What did Capafons conclude?

  Systematic desensitisation is effective to treat the fear of flying. However, 10% did not improve which means it is not suitable for all.
• Evaluate the reliability of Capafons study

  Highly reliable- standardised procedure (ppts all given the same tests in the same order) and controlled procedure (timings, order, and self reports given)
• Evaluate the sample of Capafons study

  ppts were matched on age, gender and strength of fear as well as having a control group which strengthened the sample and the results.

  However, ppts were all recruited from a media campaign so may be bias in the sample as well as not having a large age range.
• Evaluate the validity of Capafons study

  Low validity- used self-reports which can be affected by demand characteristics

  However, there were objective measures such as heart rate and temperature counteract this and increase the validity as they cannot be manipulated
• Evaluate the application of Capafons study

  Is useful- shows how effective systematic desensitisation is

  However, this was restricted for only the fear of flying