Reducing the meta-emotional problem decreases physiological fear response during exposure in phobics

Frontiers in Psychology

Nicola Petrocchi¹  Cristina Ottaviani¹  Alessandro Couyoumdjian²  Katia Tenore³  Carlo Buonanno³  Trincas Roberta³  Francesco Mancini³ 

[1] Santa Lucia Foundation;Sapienza University of Rome;Scuola di Psicoterapia Cognitiva S.r.l.;

关键词: Autonomic Nervous System;    Heart Rate;    Heart rate variability;    specific phobia;    self-criticism;    double standard;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01105

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Anxiety disorders may not only be characterized by specific symptomatology (e.g., tachycardia) in response to the fearful stimulus (primary problem or first-level emotion) but also by the tendency to negatively evaluate oneself for having those symptoms (secondary problem or negative meta-emotion). An exploratory study was conducted driven by the hypothesis that reducing the secondary or meta-emotional problem would also diminish the fear response to the phobic stimulus. Thirty-three phobic participants were exposed to the phobic target before and after undergoing a psychotherapeutic intervention addressed to reduce the meta-emotional problem or a control condition. The electrocardiogram was continuously recorded to derive heart rate (HR) and variability (HRV) measures and affect ratings were obtained. Addressing the meta-emotional problem had the effect of reducing the physiological but not the subjective symptoms of anxiety after phobic exposure. Present preliminary findings support the role of the meta-emotional problem in the maintenance of the response to the fearful stimulus (primary problem).

【 授权许可】

Unknown