Future-Oriented Positive Mental Imagery Reduces Anxiety for Exposure to Public Speaking
Elze LandkroonEva A.M. van DisKatharina MeyerbrökerElske SaleminkMuriel A. HagenaarsIris M. Engelhard
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Exposure therapy is the recommended treatment for anxiety disorders, but many anxious individuals are unwilling to expose themselves to feared situations. Episodic simulation of future situations contributes to adaptive emotion regulation and motivates behavior. This study investigated whether future-oriented positive mental imagery reduces anticipatory anxiety and distress during exposure, and increases exposure willingness and duration. Forty-three individuals with moderate public speaking anxiety were randomized to a standardized positive mental imagery exercise about future public speaking or no-task. All participants were then asked to present in a virtual reality environment. Anticipatory anxiety reduced in the positive mental imagery group, but not in the control group. Additionally, the positive mental imagery group reported lower distress during exposure than the control group, but groups did not differ in exposure willingness. Due to limited variance, effects on exposure duration could not be tested. Future-oriented positive mental imagery is promising to prepare individuals for exposure to previously avoided situations.Failure in dealing with anxiety-provoking situations and stressors in the school setting may have negative consequences not only on children’s performance, but also on their well-being in the future. This research aimed to examine the relationship of forms of anxiety (anticipatory anxiety, school-based performance anxiety, and generalized anxiety) with sources (teacher interactions, academic stress, peer interactions, and academic self-concept) and manifestations (emotional, behavioral, and physiological) of school-based distress. Specifically, our objectives were to examine the correlations between anxiety and school-based distress and, using a person-centered approach, to verify whether different anxiety profiles differed in their levels of distress. The Visual Analogue Scale for Anxiety-Revised (VAA-R) and the School Situation Survey (SSS) were administered to 756 Spanish students (Mage = 9.6, SD = 1.12); 50.3% were girls. Pearson’s correlation coefficients revealed a positive and significant association between each form of anxiety and each source and manifestation of distress. The latent profile analysis identified three anxiety profiles: High Anxiety, High School-based performance Anxiety, and Low Anxiety. The High Anxiety profile scored significantly higher in all sources and manifestations of distress than the Low Anxiety profile. The High Anxiety profile showed significantly higher scores in peer interactions and emotional and behavioral manifestations of distress than the group High School-based performance Anxiety. Suggestions for intervention strategies according to the risk profile are discussed.
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This study investigated the relationship between the state anxiety of Sandplay makers and raters, and the raters' impressions of the Sandplay productions. The S-Anxiety subscale of the STAI was administered to college students. One group (N = 20) created Sandplay productions which were photographed. Three works were selected from higher S-Anxiety subjects (H-works) and three from lower S-Anxiety subjects (L-works). Then another group of 58 college students were asked to rate these Sandplay productions using the SD method. Factor analysis extracted three factors of Flexibility, Integration, and Activity. The raters were divided into two groups based on their S-Anxiety scores, and their subscale scores were examined using ANOVA. Significant main effects for the makers involved Flexibility and Activity (L-works < H-works). This suggests that the S-Anxiety and ego function of the makers influence their works. Furthermore, an interaction was found with Integration. Higher S-Anxiety raters rated the Integration of L-works lower than did the lower S-Anxiety raters. This indicates that higher S-Anxiety raters observed the free expression of lower S-anxiety makers from a partial perspective.
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Most of the research on intergroup anxiety has examined the impact of people's own anxiety on their own outcomes. In contrast, we show that in intergroup interactions, one's partner's anxiety is just as important as one's own anxiety (if not more important). Using a diary study among college roommates, we show that partners' anxiety predicts respondents' anxiety across time on a daily basis, as well as respondents' interest in living together again the next year. We discuss the importance of taking a relational approach to understanding intergroup interactions.
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