Budzynski (1970) Improving - Behavioural

Question 1

Aim:

Answer 1

To see whether biofeedback is an effective method of reducing tension headaches

Question 2

Method

Answer 2

Experimental method with participants being trained in a laboratory

Question 3

Participants

Answer 3

18 participants who replied to a newspaper advertisement in colorado

Question 4

Design

Answer 4

Independent design - participants randomly allocated to one of three groups

Question 5

Procedure

Answer 5

participants kept a record of their headaches for 2 weeks
groups A and B were given 16 sessions of training over 8 weeks.

Group A - taught relaxation and told the clicks on the biofeedback machine would reflect their muscle tension

Group B - told to concentrate on the varying clicks, given pseudo feedback

Group C - given no training but told they would begin in two months

Question 6

Results

Answer 6

The muscle tension of group A was significantly lower than that of group B after 3 months

Group A’s reported headaches dropped to baseline whereas B and C did not

Drug usage in group A decreased.

Question 7

Conclusions

Answer 7

Biofeedback is an effective way of training patients to relax and reduce tension headaches, also effective as stress management.

relaxation training is also more effective than just being monitored .