title: Relaxation versus cognitive therapies for dental fear--a psychophysiological approach.
abstract: By separating 127 adult dental-phobic patients according to fear etiology and psychophysiologic response style, the authors investigated the outcome of 2 dental fear treatments. Before and after either relaxation or cognitively oriented treatment, subjects were exposed to neutral and fear-relevant video sequences while the subjects' forehead muscle tension, heart rate, and skin conductance were recorded. Pre- to postintervention differences in self-reported dental fear, general fear, and trait anxiety were analyzed together with psychophysiological data. Both treatments resulted in a significant reduction of dental fear. Despite significant interaction effects of Treatment Modality x Psychophysiological Response Style, it could not be concluded that patients with different fear etiologies or response styles benefit differentially from the 2 treatments given.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden. jesper.lundgren@psy.gu.se
authors.forename: Jesper
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lundgren
authors.forename: Sven G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Carlsson
authors.forename: Ulf
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Berggren
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D003813:Dentistry; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011584:Psychology; D012063:Relaxation / Q000523:psychology*; D013548:Sweden; D016896:Treatment Outcome