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Large Group Exposure Treatment: a Feasibility Study in Highly Spider Fearful Individuals
André Wannemueller1, David Appelbaum1, Maike Küppers1
1Mental Health Research and Treatment Center, Department of Clinical Psychology, Ruhr-Universität Bochum Bochum, Germany.
Frontiers in Psychology
|August 25, 2016
Summary
Large group one-session exposure treatment (LG-OST) is feasible for spider phobia, showing stable effects. However, standard single-person treatments (SP-OST) were more effective overall.
Area of Science:
- Clinical Psychology
- Behavioral Therapy
- Phobia Treatment
Background:
- Specific phobias, like arachnophobia, significantly impact quality of life.
- One-session exposure treatments (OST) are effective but often require individual sessions.
- Large group formats may increase accessibility but require validation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of a large group one-session exposure treatment (LG-OST) for severe spider phobia.
- To assess the long-term stability of LG-OST effects.
- To compare LG-OST with standard single-person one-session treatment (SP-OST).
Main Methods:
- A sample of 78 individuals with severe spider phobia underwent LG-OST based on indirect modeled exposure.
- A subset of 30 individuals received standard SP-OST for comparison.
- Fear was assessed using questionnaires and a behavioral approach test pre-treatment, post-treatment, and at 8-month follow-up for LG-OST.
Main Results:
- LG-OST demonstrated medium to large effect sizes for subjective fear reduction (Cohen's d = 0.69–1.21).
- Participants showed significantly improved behavioral approach to spiders post-LG-OST (d = 1.18), with stable effects at 8-month follow-up.
- SP-OST yielded superior results across most measures compared to LG-OST.
Conclusions:
- LG-OST is a feasible and efficient treatment for spider phobia, comparable to indirect exposure in single settings.
- While effective and stable, LG-OST's current efficacy is surpassed by SP-OST.
- Future LG-OST protocols could enhance effectiveness by incorporating more direct exposure elements.
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