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A comparison of ‘flooding’ and ‘successive approximation’ in the treatment of agoraphobia

1973; Elsevier BV; Volume: 11; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0005-7967(73)90073-9

1873-622X

Walter Everaerd, Hanneke Rijken, Paul M.G. Emmelkamp,

Gambling Behavior and Treatments

Flooding (in the imagination and in vivo) and successive approximation were compared in a cross-over design with 14 agoraphobic patients. Assessments were made at the beginning of the treatment, at the cross-over, at the end of the treatment and at the follow-up 3 months later. The assessments were made by the therapist (in vivo measurement) and by the client (phobic anxiety scale; phobic avoidance scale; FSS; MAS; I-E scale and a depression inventory). At the time of the pre-test and the posttest, an independent external judge scored the clients on the following items : anxious mood, specific phobias, obsessive compulsive symptoms, depersonalization and depressed mood. Both methods of treatment resulted in a significant improvement on the in vivo measurements, phobic anxiety scale, phobic avoidance scale and FSS. Successive approximation also led to a significant decrease on the MAS and the I-E scale. The only significant difference between the two methods was shown by the phobic anxiety scale, the mean of the flooding group being significantly higher.