The Treatment of Social FailureA Comparison of Anxiety-Reduction and Skills-Acquisition Procedures on Two Social ProblemsHollymoor Hospital, Birmingham, England
Dartington College of Arts
Oxford University
Oxford University The differential response of two forms of social failure-primary and secondary-to two forms of treatmenta skills-acquisition procedure and an anxiety-reduction technique-was studied. Twenty socially unskilled (primary) patients and 20 socially phobic (secondary) patients were given either systematic desensitization (SD) or social skills training (SST). The unskilled patients responded more to SST, as predicted, in that they reported significantly less difficulty in social situations, went out more, and improved on their personal behavioral deficits. The phobic patients responded equally well to both therapies. The success of SST in both kinds of problems is explained in terms of an unpredicted dual role, in that it reduced anxiety as well as facilitated behavior change. This is discussed in the light of current theories of anxiety reduction.
Behavior Modification, Vol. 2, No. 1,
41-60 (1978) This article has been cited by other articles:
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