Effects of safety behaviors on fear reduction during exposure |
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| Authors: | Heather K Hood Martin M Antony Naomi Koerner Candice M Monson |
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| Institution: | 1. University of Regensburg, Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Universitätsstraße 31, 93053 Regensburg, Germany;2. University of Würzburg, Department of Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Psychotherapy, Marcusstraße 9-11, 97070 Würzburg, Germany;1. Department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatment, Faculty of Psychology, Campus la Cartuja s/n, 18071, University of Granada, Granada, Spain;2. Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Educational Sciences, Campus las Lagunillas, s/n 2307, University of Jaén, Jaén, Spain;1. Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, The Netherlands;2. Center for Anxiety Disorders Overwaal, Institution for Integrated Mental Health Care Pro Persona, Nijmegen, The Netherlands;3. Radboud University, Behavioural Science Institute, NijCare, Nijmegen, The Netherlands;4. Bureau Beta, Nijmegen, The Netherlands |
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| Abstract: | The use of safety behaviors has been considered one of the primary maintaining mechanisms of anxiety disorders; however, evidence suggests that they are not always detrimental to treatment success (Milosevic & Radomsky, 2008). This study examined the effects of safety behaviors on behavioral, cognitive, and subjective indicators of fear during exposure for fear of spiders. A two-stage design was used to examine fear reduction and approach distance during an in vivo exposure task for participants (N = 43) assigned to either a safety behavior use (SBU) or no safety behavior use (NSB) condition. Overall, both groups reported significant and comparable reductions in self-reported anxiety and negative beliefs about spiders at posttest and 1-week follow-up. Participants in the SBU group approached the spider more quickly than did participants in the NSB condition; however, participants in the SBU condition showed a small but significant decrease in approach distance at follow-up. These results call for a reconceptualization of the impact of safety behaviors on in vivo exposure. |
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