title: Effects of internal and external distraction and focus during exposure to blood-injury-injection stimuli.
abstract: The present study examined the effects of attentional focus on fear reduction during exposure. Participants were randomly assigned to experimental conditions: exposure plus internal focus, exposure plus external focus, exposure plus internal distraction, exposure plus external distraction or exposure alone. Fifty blood-injury-injection fearful participants received 3 weekly exposure sessions. Participants in the distraction group reported the greatest fear reduction, with most notable reductions occurring for the external distraction condition. The distraction group also achieved a greater number of steps on a behavioral avoidance task at post-treatment, with the external distraction condition displaying greater approach behavior at follow-up. At follow-up the distraction group also displayed a greater increase in perceived control than the focusing group. Thus, distraction reduces fear within and between sessions and increases approach behavior in the longer-term, with exposure plus external distraction further facilitating this effect.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, The University of Western Australia, CRAWLEY, WA 6009, Australia.
authors.forename: Naomi S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Oliver
authors.forename: Andrew C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Page
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007171:Implosive Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D007267:Injections / Q000523:psychology; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group / Q000379:methods; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013637:Tape Recording; D013813:Therapy, Computer-Assisted; D016896:Treatment Outcome