Psychology – STRESS- Meichenbaum – Stress inoculation therapy (SIT) – Flashcards

To compare SIT (stress inoculation therapy - exposing you to the stress a little bit at a time) with standard behavioral systematic desensitization and a control group on a waiting list.

A field experiment where students were assessed before and after treatment using self report and grade averages. (All about exam stress) It was a blind situation in that the people assessing them did not know which condition they had been in. Due to it being a blind situation it is more objective causing it to be higher in validity.

21 students aged 17-25 who responded to an advert for the treatment of test anxiety.

It was a matched pairs design with random allocation to the SIT group, the waiting list control group or the systematic desensitization (a behaviorist treatment) group. Gender was controlled and anxiety levels were matched in three groups. (7 participants in each group)

Each participant was tested using a test-anxiety questionnaire. They were then told they would be doing some IQ tests and would be assessed using an anxiety adjective checklist. After the IQ tests the participants were given a base line score and allocated to their group.

The SIT group received 8 therapy sessions. They were given the 'insight' approach to help them identify their thoughts prior to the tests. They were given positive statements to say and relaxation techniques to use in test situations.

The systematic desensitization group were given 8 therapy sessions with progressive relaxation training which they were encouraged to practice at home. They were told to practice relaxation while imagining progressively more anxiety causing situations.

The control group were told they were on a waiting list and that they would have therapy in the future. This is unethical because they have to wait.

- Performance on the tests improved in the SIT group compared with the other two groups. - The significant difference was between the two therapy groups and the control group. - Participants in the SIT group showed more reported improvements in their anxiety levels (although both therapy groups showed overall improvement compared with the control group).

- SIT is a more effective way of reducing anxiety in students who are anxiety prone in test situations. - It is more effective than behavioral techniques such as systematic desensitization as it adds a cognitive component to the therapy.

- Usefulness - The results and conclusions show that SIT is a more effective way of treating students for anxiety than some other methods. - Validity - Matched pairs design - Participant variables have been controlled (gender and anxiety levels) - Ecologically valid - As it is a field experiment , it is natural (real life therapy sessions).

- Small sample - So you can argue that the reliability of the study is low and you can't really generalize. - Ethnocentrism - (only one ethnicity) The sample only consisted of students and therefore we can argue that the generalizability of the results and conclusions are low. - Ethics - Control group are on a waiting list, therefore missing out on the therapy all of the other groups are getting.