Dosed versus prolonged exposure in the treatment of fear: an experimental evaluation and review of behavioral mechanisms.

Full Abstract

Exposure-based treatments have proven effective in treating a range of fears and phobias and can be accounted for by mechanisms described in behavioral theory. Enhanced dosed and dosed-only exposure are promising new behavioral approaches for treating fears and phobias. Thirty-nine participants with speech anxiety were randomly assigned to a prolonged exposure (PE) condition, a positively enhanced dosed exposure (PDE) condition, a dosed-only exposure (DE) condition, or a negatively-supplemented dosed exposure (NDE) condition. Results indicated that both the PDE and DE conditions produced less measured aversive arousal and significantly more rapid arousal reduction than the tested alternatives. These techniques may represent an important advancement, in that the treatment gains of traditional exposure therapies might be achieved without the degree of aversive arousal (and possibly high drop out rates) typically seen in exposure therapies. Additionally, these data contradict prevailing opinion concerning the necessity for sustained aversive arousal during exposure-based treatment.

Author information

Author/s: Rubin, Sophie (S); Spates, C Richard (CR); Johnson, Douglas A (DA); Jouppi, Leigh (L);

Affiliation: Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, United States. sophierubin(-atsign-)gmail.com

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Randomized Controlled Trial

Journal: Journal of anxiety disorders (J Anxiety Disord), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Aug; vol 23 (issue 6) : pp 806-12

Dates: Created 2009/05/25; Completed 2009/07/23; Revised 2009/08/12;

PMID: 19414236, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 8/21/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.