Negative beliefs of spider phobics: A psychometric evaluation of the spider phobia beliefs questionnaire

doi:10.1016/0146-6402(93)90012-Q

Advances in Behaviour Research and Therapy

Volume 15, Issue 4, 1993, Pages 257-277

Advances in Behaviou...

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Abstract

Beliefs held by spider phobics about a confrontation with a spider are investigated. Study 1 explores the content of thoughts and images which spider phobics (N = 44) report to have during a confrontation with a spider and investigates the frequency and strength of the subjective belief in the idea. Spider phobics appear to have an abundance of negative, irrational ideas about the spider and about their own reactions during a confrontation with a spider. A one-session therapistassisted exposure therapy strongly attenuates these beliefs. Study 2 investigates the psychometric properties of the Spider Phobia Beliefs Questionnaire (SBQ), which measures the strength of belief of a large number of ideas derived from Study 1, in a second sample of spider phobics (N = 112). Factor analysis revealed 5 spider-related factors: harm, hunter and prey, unpredictability, territory, and multiplication; and 4 self-related factors: panic, paralysis, incubation, and unrestrained behavior. These factors have good internal consistency and reasonable test-retest reliability. The SBQ discriminates strongly between spider phobics and normals (N = 33) and has good concurrent validity as indicated by positive associations with other indices of spider phobia. It appears that spider phobics have a lot of misconceptions about spiders, e.g., that spiders attack them, take revenge, or are incalculable and about their own reactions about a confrontation with a spider, e.g., they expect to have a heart attack, to die of fear, or to exacerbate their fear. Most self-related ideas resemble those held by panic patients. Both spider-related and self-related ideas can be corrected by a one-session treatment.

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Despite empirical support for the efficacy of exposure-based therapy for anxiety-related disorders, many individuals do not respond to this intervention or else experience a return of fear after treatment. Inhibitory learning theory has informed novel approaches to exposure therapy delivery that aim to improve both short- and long-term outcomes. One exposure optimization strategy is to maximize expectancy violation (i.e., the difference between expected and actual outcomes), which is thought to strengthen inhibitory (i.e., non-threat) associations and enhance long-term fear extinction. In practice, exposure therapy is traditionally preceded by cognitive restructuring to lessen the magnitude of harm expectancies. Yet this technique may restrict the discrepancy between expected and actual outcomes, thus reducing the potency of exposure and limiting the durability of treatment gains. The present study examined the effects of manipulating the timing of cognitive techniques during exposure-based therapy by randomly assigning 45 participants with spider phobia to one of three conditions: (a) cognitive restructuring before exposure (CR-EXP; n = 15), (b) exposure before cognitive restructuring (EXP-CR; n = 15), and (c) stress management control (SM; n = 15). Although both CR-EXP and EXP-CR were more effective than SM, there were no significant differences between CR-EXP and EXP-CR on measures of fear, avoidance, spider-related cognitions, or change in harm expectancy. Clinical implications, study limitations, and future directions are discussed.
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Despite being an inert treatment, placebo has been repeatedly shown to induce the experience of automatic symptom relief, a therapeutic effect over which a person has no control. We tested whether a placebo that participants believed was an active drug would induce them to take action to overcome their symptomatic impairment, a self-efficacious role we term an activating placebo effect. Specifically, we tested whether a placebo presented to spider-phobic participants as a fear-reducing drug would induce them to approach a live tarantula. Sixty spider-phobic participants, identified by a fear questionnaire and assessing their approach behavior toward a live tarantula, were randomized to take a placebo, presented either as propranolol or a placebo, or to a no-treatment control group. Participants who believed the placebo was propranolol increased in their willingness to approach the tarantula, and actually moved physically closer to it, relative to the other two groups. They did so despite experiencing higher levels of fear, and subsequently improved in their self-efficacy beliefs about tolerating fear when encountering a spider. Changes in willingness to approach the tarantula mediated changes in approach behavior, which in turn mediated changes in self-efficacy. These results represent the first explicit demonstration of an activating placebo effect.
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Citation Excerpt :
The primary outcome measure, as defined in the protocol, was subjective fear (SUDS, range 0–10) in the BAT with a real-life spider. Our secondary outcomes were performance (range 0–12) as well as the subjective disgust (SUDS, range 0–10) in the BAT, the Fear of Spiders Questionnaire (FSQ Szymanski & O’Donohue, 1995, German version Rinck et al., 2002), the Spider Phobia Beliefs Questionnaire (SBQ Arntz et al., 1993, German version Pössel & Hautzinger, 2003), and one question to assess self-reported reduction of fear of spiders. The FSQ is a self-report questionnaire and measures avoidance behaviour as well as fear of harm.
Although in vivo exposure therapy is highly effective in the treatment of specific phobias, only a minority of patients seeks therapy. Exposure to virtual objects has been shown to be better tolerated, equally efficacious, but the technology has not been made widely accessible yet.
We developed an augmented reality (AR) application (app) to reduce fear of spiders and performed a randomized controlled trial comparing the effects of our app (six 30-min sessions at home over a two-week period) with no intervention. Primary outcome was subjective fear, measured by a Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS) in a Behavioural Approach Test (BAT) in a real-life spider situation at six weeks follow-up.
Between Oct 7, 2019, and Dec 6, 2019, 66 individuals were enrolled and randomized. The intervention led to significantly lower subjective fear in the BAT compared to the control group (intervention group, baseline: 7.12 [SD 2.03] follow-up: 5.03 [SD 2.19] vs. control group, baseline: 7.06 [SD 2.34], follow-up 6.24 [SD 2.21]; adjusted group difference -1.24, 95 % CI -2.17 to -0.31; Cohen’s d = 0.57, p = 0.010).
The repeated use of the AR app reduces subjective fear in a real-life spider situation, providing a low-threshold and low-cost treatment for fear of spiders.
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Pre-extinction fear memory reactivation (PE-FMR) and deepened extinction (DE) enhance long-term extinction of shock-conditioned fear, and may also enhance long-term extinction of naturally acquired fear. Preliminary data suggest that PE-FMR may additionally boost the speed of fear reduction during exposure therapy.
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Participants with elevated fears of either spiders or snakes were randomized to (1) exposure therapy alone (n = 41), (2) exposure therapy + PE-FMR (n = 42), (3) exposure therapy + DE (n = 41), or (4) exposure therapy + PE-FMR + DE (n = 42). Participants were assessed at baseline, post-treatment, and one-week follow-up on subjective and behavioral indices of phobia. Because treatment length was tailored to speed of fear reduction, survival analyses were used to examine the speed of fear reduction during treatment.
DE did not improve clinical outcomes at post-treatment or follow-up, whereas PE-FMR produced more rapid fear reduction and was able to achive equivalent outcomes even when the duration of exposure therapy (tailored to speed of fear reduction) was shortened by an average of 21%.
Data suggest that PE-FMR is a promising strategy for reducing the overall duration of exposure-based therapies.
(clinicaltrials.gov)NCT02160470.
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Snake and spider phobia are one of the most prevalent anxiety disorders, yet quick and reliable measures are rather scarce. Recently, attempts have been made to shorten two widespread measures of snake and spider fear, the Snake Questionnaire (SNAQ) and Spider Questionnaire (SPQ). The new 12-item scales demonstrate very good psychometric qualities in terms of internal consistency and discriminatory power. Using the same approach on a bigger sample from another cultural background, we aimed to verify psychometric properties of the short scales. In total, 2 644 Czechs completed the SNAQ, 1 816 of which also completed the SPQ. The item response theory revealed that nine and seven items on the shorter SNAQ and SPQ, respectively, were identical with the Hungarian study. The 12-item scales show excellent reliability (α = 0.84 and 0.91) and highly correlate with scores on the full versions (r = 0.81 and 0.89) as well as with fear and disgust ratings of snake and spider images. Thus, despite slight discrepancies in the selected items, we confirm that the shorter SNAQ and SPQ keep considerable diagnostic strengths and can be used in the clinical practice as reliable, easy-to- administer, and fast screening tools for snake and spider phobia.
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Unrealistic, negative expectations are a core feature of psychopathology and may contribute to the development and chronicity of mental disorders. Although the exact content and characteristics of expectancy bias varies across disorders, a striking feature that all expectancy biases share is their apparent insensitivity to corrective information. This robustness of negative expectancy biases may help explain why mental disorders often run a chronic course. Yet, it also raises the critical question of why these biased expectations are so resistant to refutation. Understanding what factors contribute to the robustness of expectancy biases is not only important in its own right but also critical for improving currently available treatment procedures. In this chapter, we first describe and illustrate common methods and measures that are used to investigate negative expectancy biases. Next, the chapter focuses on the features of negative expectancy biases and on how negative expectancies may emerge. Subsequently, we address in more depth why once established negative expectancy biases are so resistant to change and how neural processes may be involved in this apparent insensitivity to disconfirming information. The chapter concludes with discussing some leads for future research about the mechanisms involved in the persistence of negative expectancy biases and about procedures that may help adjusting invalidating negative expectancy biases in people with mental disorders.

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Negative beliefs of spider phobics: A psychometric evaluation of the spider phobia beliefs questionnaire

Abstract

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Behavior Therapy

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Behavior Therapy

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders