A comparison of graduated exposure, training in verbal coping skills : and a combination of those procedures in treating fear of the dark in four- and five-year old children

While a great deal of effort by behavioral researchers and therapists has been directed at demonstrating the success of their treatment techniques in modifying adult fears (Marks, 1974), relatively little effort has been devoted to the treatment of fears and phobias in children. Reports of previous research with childhood populations have suggested therapeutic effects for treatment procedures based on the graduated exposure to the fearful stimulus or situation (Jones, 1924a; Lazarus, 1960), training in verbal coping skills (Kanfer, Karoly, & Newman, 1975), and a combination of verbal skill acquisition and graduated exposure (Jersild & Holmes, 1935). However, no systematic research comparing these treatment approaches with children has been reported. The purpose of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of a graduated exposure procedure, a verbal coping skill procedure, and a combination of the two procedures, in the treatment of fear of the dark behavior in 4- and 5-year-old children using both behavioral and subjective measures of fearfulness. Thirty-two children attending a private day care center were selected on the basis of their minimal dark tolerance as measured by two Behavioral Avoidance Tests. Children who failed to remain in total darkness for 30 seconds on both behavioral tests were operationally defined as dark fearful and eligible for treatment

Depression in college students : analysis of activity preference and comparison of treatment approaches

The first goal of this study was to determine whether depressed and non-depressed college students could be discriminated on the basis of both the quantity and quality of reported everyday activities. Results of a multivariate discriminant analysis demonstrated that with the Inclusion of a large number of activity variables depressed students can be differentiated from non-depressed students. The second goal of the study was to compare the effectiveness of different therapy techniques in alleviating the reported depression of college students. Two behavioral treatment groups, a Reinforcement Training group which attempted to increase skills in audience behavior and a Programmed Activities group which attempted to directly manipulate the depressed individual's environment into a potentially more reinforcing one, were compared with two other treatment approaches, a Problem Ventilation group, which discussed current personal problems, a Childhood Experiences group which discussed early experiences and depressed and non-depressed No-Treatment control groups on measures of depression and activity preference. Results of the analyses showed that all of the depressed groups reported equivalent reductions in depression at the end of the study