title: Changes in facial electromyographic activity in spider-phobic girls after psychotherapy.
abstract: Recent studies of spider phobia have indicated that disgust is a crucial disorder-relevant emotion and that the facial electromyogram (EMG) of the levator labii region is a reliable disgust indicator. The present investigation focused on EMG effects of psychotherapy in thirty girls (aged between 8 and 14 years) suffering from spider phobia. They were presented with phobia-relevant, generally fear-inducing, disgust-inducing and affectively neutral pictures in a first EMG session. Subsequently, patients were randomly assigned to either a therapy group or a waiting-list group. Therapy-group participants received a single session of exposure therapy in vivo. One week later a second EMG session was conducted. Patients of the waiting-list group received exposure therapy after the second EMG session. After therapy, the girls were able to hold a living spider in their hands and rated spiders more positive, and less arousing, fear- and disgust-inducing. Moreover, they showed a reduction of average levator labii activity in response to pictures of spiders, reflecting the reduction of feelings of disgust. A positive side effect of the therapy was a significant drop in overall disgust proneness and a decreased average activity of the levator labii muscle in response to generally disgust-inducing pictures. Results emphasize the role of disgust feelings in spider-phobic children and suggest that overall disgust proneness should also be targeted in therapy.
authors.affiliation: University of Graz, Department of Clinical Psychology, Universitätsplatz 2/III, A-8010 Graz, Austria. verena.leutgeb@uni-graz.at
authors.forename: Verena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Leutgeb
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schienle
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004576:Electromyography; D004924:Escape Reaction / Q000502:physiology; D019054:Evoked Potentials, Motor / Q000502:physiology*; D005145:Face / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007171:Implosive Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013112:Spiders; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires