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Running as Interoceptive Exposure for Decreasing Anxiety Sensitivity: Replication and Extension.
Brigitte C Sabourin1, Sherry H Stewart, Margo C Watt
1a Department of Clinical Health Psychology , University of Manitoba , Winnipeg , Manitoba , Canada.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
|March 3, 2015
Summary
Running-based cognitive behavioral therapy effectively reduces anxiety sensitivity by altering cognitive and affective reactions to physical sensations, not by diminishing the sensations themselves.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Anxiety Disorders
Background:
- Anxiety sensitivity (AS), the fear of arousal sensations, is linked to anxiety disorders.
- Brief group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) using running as interoceptive exposure (IE) has shown promise in reducing AS.
- Previous research indicates running exposure decreases cognitive and affective reactions in high AS individuals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To replicate a process study on CBT with an expanded IE component for anxiety sensitivity.
- To investigate the relationship between changes in cognitive, affective, and somatic reactions to running and decreases in AS.
Main Methods:
- A 3-day group intervention was followed by 20 interoceptive exposure (IE) running trials.
- Participants included 18 high AS and 10 low AS individuals.
- Cognitive, affective, and somatic reactions to running were assessed over time.
Main Results:
- High AS participants, unlike low AS participants, showed decreased cognitive, affective, and somatic reactions to running.
- Reductions in cognitive and affective reactions to running were significantly related to decreases in AS.
- No significant relationship was found between decreased somatic reactions and decreased AS.
Conclusions:
- The therapeutic benefits of running-based CBT for anxiety sensitivity stem from modifying cognitive and affective interpretations of sensations.
- This intervention does not rely on reducing the physiological experience of sensations but rather on changing how these sensations are perceived.
- Findings support the role of cognitive and emotional restructuring in managing anxiety sensitivity through interoceptive exposure.
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