title: Examining the effects of thought records and behavioral experiments in instigating belief change.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  While the efficacy and effectiveness of CBT protocols are well established, much less is known about the comparative contribution of the various techniques within CBT. The present study examined the relative efficacy, in comparison to a control condition, of two central techniques in CBT: thought records (TRs) and behavioral experiments (BEs).
  
  
  METHODS
  A mixed within and between participants design was used to compare the efficacy of a single session TR and a single session BE intervention with a control intervention, in a non-clinical sample. Ninety one participants were randomly allocated to one of the three conditions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall pattern of results suggests that both TR and BE had a beneficial therapeutic impact in comparison to the control condition on beliefs, anxiety, behavior and a standardized measure of symptoms. There was evidence of a small advantage of the BE over the TR intervention in that the target belief changed earlier and change generalized to beliefs about others as well as the self.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings confirm the utility of both TR and BE interventions and point to BEs as more useful in effecting belief change in that the change in the BE condition occurred sooner and generalized further.
authors.affiliation: Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK. freda.mcmanus@psych.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: McManus
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Van Doorn
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yiend
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013850:Thinking; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult