The separate and combined effects of covert and overt rehearsal in developing assertive behavior

The present investigation evaluated the separate and combined effects of covert modeling and overt rehearsal as a means of developing assertive behavior. Nonassertive clients (n = 66) received one of three treatments: covert modeling, overt rehearsal and covert modeling-overt rehearsal combined. A delayed-treatment group was included in the design to serve as a no-treatment control condition before clients were reassigned randomly to one of the three treatments. Treatments led to significant improvements on self-report and behavioral measures of assertiveness and self-efficacy. Although covert and overt rehearsal treatments were equally effective, the combined procedure led to significantly greater improvements which were evident at posttreatment and at an 8-month follow-up assessment. Treatment effects generalized to novel role-play situations and brought clients to the level of other persons who regarded themselves as adept in social situations requiring assertive behavior.