Exam 2 Flashcards
A future-oriented mood state characterized by apprehension and worry (adaptive only at low-to-moderate levels)
Anxiety
- Excessive anxiety and worry about numerous events or activities. Lasts for more than 6 months.
- Difficulty controlling the worry
- Significant distress or impairment
- Disturbance not due to physiological effects of substance or another medical condition
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension, sleep disturbance
Symptoms of GAD
Metacognitive theory, Intolerance of uncertainty theory, and avoidance theory
- received considerable research support in understanding how GAD develops
Cognitive Etiology Theories of GAD
Problematic assumptions in GAD are the individual’s worries about worrying – meta-worry; developed by Wells
Metacognitive Theory
Individual believes that any possibility of a negative event occurring means that the event is likely to occur
Intolerance of Uncertainty Theory
Worrying serves “positive” function for those with GAD by reducing unusually high levels of bodily arousal; developed by Borkovec
Avoidance Theory
Cognitive Therapy, Behavioral Therapy, Biological Treatment
Treatment for GAD
- Work to change maladaptive thinking by challenging erroneous assumptions
- Help patient replace dysfunctional thoughts with more balanced thoughts
Cognitive Therapy
Worry less about worrying and practice acceptance
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy
Worry exposure
Behavioral Therapy
Antidepressant drugs (SSRIs)
Biological Treatment
How do phobias differ?
More intense fear, greater desire to avoid the feared object, and distress, which interferes w/ functioning
- Marked and persistent fear or anxiety about a specific object or situation that is excessive and unreasonable. Lasts for more than 6 months
- Immediate fear/anxiety following exposure to object
- Fear is out of proportion to the actual object
- Avoidance of the feared situation
- Significant distress or impairment
- Anxiety is not better accounted for by another mental disorder
Specific Phobia
Classical conditioning, Operant conditioning, and modeling
- Phobias maintained through avoidance
- Prepardness
Behavioral Etiology of Specific Phobia
Where two events occur closely together in time
Classical Conditioning
Negative reinforcement (avoidance reinforced)
Operant conditioning
Observation and imitation
Modeling
Exposure therapies for specific phobias and mechanism of action (how they work)
Behavioral Treatments for Specific Phobias
Systematic Desensitization, Flooding, and Modeling
Exposure Therapies for Specific Phobias
- Provide patient with new evidence about the phobic (conditioned) stimulus (e.g., dogs, airplanes) - new learning
- Help patient disconfirm negative belief (e.g., not all dogs are dangerous, not all flights have turbulence)
Mechanism of Action
Teach relaxation skills, create fear hierarchy, and pair relaxation with feared objects or situations (relaxation response is thought to substitute for fear response due to incompatibility); technique developed by Joseph Wolpe
Systematic Desensitization
Nongradual Exposure (single session, no relaxation)
Flooding
Therapist confronts the feared object while the fearful person observes
Modeling
In vivo and covert
Types of Exposures
Live exposure
In vivo