Chapman and DeLapp (2014)

Question 1

Context

Answer 1

• Disgust in response to blood is associated with fainting.
• CBT is more effective in reducing fear than disgust in people with BII phobias.
• Applied tension targets fainting, which is less treatable with CBT alone.

Question 2

How is CBT effective at treating phobias?

Answer 2

It challenges irrational thoughts (fears) and replaces them with more rational ones, leading to behavioural and emotional changes that can be practised.

Question 3

Aim

Answer 3

To investigate whether BII phobia could be successfully treated using CBT and applied muscle tension.

Question 4

Method

Answer 4

Case study.

Question 5

Participant

Answer 5

• White
• 42-years-old
• Male
• Known as ‘T’
• Diagnosed with BII phobia
• Diagnosed with MDD (recurrent in full remission) based on an incident in college

Question 6

How was baseline data collected?

Answer 6

Using psychometric tests.

Question 7

What data was collected using interviews?

Answer 7

A detailed life history, including several challenging times in his life, such as witnessing the deaths of family members, living with an anxious Grandmother who would list to emergency dispatch calls on a scanner and witnessing other family members faint during medical procedures.

Question 8

What questionnaires were used?

Answer 8

• Beck’s anxiety inventory (BAI) = measure of anxiety.
• Beck’s depression inventory (BDI) = measure of depression.
• The quality of life questionnaire (Q-LES-Q = measure of general life satisfaction.
• The blood-injection symptom scale (BISS) = tested if ‘T’ met the diagnosis criteria.

Question 9

What treatment plan was used?

Answer 9

‘T’ underwent 9 sessions of CBT and applied muscle tension.

He was educated about how common phobias are and also made a fear hierarchy to work through.

He was also introduced to the Subjective unit of discomfort scale (SUDS) which gave rating of his anxiety as he moved through the hierarchy.

Question 10

Subjective unit of discomfort scale (SUDS)

Answer 10

Gave rating of anxiety (0-100) throughout different stages of the hierarchy exposure.

Question 11

How many items did the fear hierarchy include?

Answer 11

10 items.

Question 12

Sample items from fear hierarchy

Answer 12

• Watching blood tests on Youtube
• Finger-prick blood tests
• Observing blood donations
• Booking and having a blood test

Question 13

At what intervals was data collected after treatment?

Answer 13

At 4, 10 and 12 months following treatment.

Question 14

When were the psychometric tests carried out?

Answer 14

Before and after treatment.

Question 15

What was found after ‘T’s’ treatment?

Answer 15

He no longer had BII phobia.

Question 16

Before treatment, what did T’s assessments show he had?

Answer 16

Severe anxiety; minimal depressive symptoms, and overall good health in most life areas.

He showed intense fear/anxiety surrounding blood and injections.

Question 17

How did his fear hierachy end?

How did his SUDS score change?

Answer 17

The treatment ended with him having his blood taken.

His SUDS were 40/100 initially, then dropped to nothing, with only minimal muscle tension used.

Question 18

What did results of the self-report measures show at the end of the study?

Answer 18

His anxiety levels had dropped significantly and he no longer showed fear or terror to medical-related stimuli.

Question 19

Conclusion

Answer 19

CBT with AT is an effective treatment for BII phobias.

Question 20

Strengths

Answer 20

• Detailed = case study is in-depth with triangulation of data collection methods.
• RWA = findings can be applied to BII phobia research.
• Quantitative data = SUDS scores allowed changes to be monitored.

Question 21

Criticisms

Answer 21

• RWA/generalisability is limited = sample is small and undiverse, so findings cannot be applied to others.
• Low reliability = case studies cannot be replicated.
• Self-report = liable to social desirability bias and mis-remembering, lowering validity.
• No control group = extraneous variables could have impacted results, no proof the treatments made the difference.

Question 22

Is Chapman and DeLapp’s study idiographic or nomothetic?

Answer 22

Idiographic, since it provides a detailed insight into one participant because it’s a case study.