Cognitive Coping as a Mechanism of Change in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Fear of Flying: A Longitudinal Study With 3-Year Follow-Up

Psychological Outcomes of a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Youth with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Results of the HAPPY-IBD Randomized Controlled Trial at 6- and 12-Month Follow-Up

Youth with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) often experience psychological difficulties, such as anxiety and depression. This randomized controlled study tested whether a 3-month disease-specific cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in addition to standard medical care versus standard medical care only was effective in improving these youth’s psychological outcomes. As this study was aimed at prevention, we included 70 youth (10–25 years) with IBD and symptoms of subclinical anxiety and/or depression, and measured psychological outcomes at 6- and 12-month follow-up. In general, participants in both groups showed improvements in anxiety, depression, health-related quality of life, social functioning, coping, and illness perceptions, sustained until 12 months follow-up. Overall, we found no differences between those receiving additional CBT and those receiving standard medical care only. We assume that this can be explained by the perceived low burden (both somatically and psychologically) or heightened awareness of psychological difficulties and IBD. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02265588.

Short report: coaching as an intervention to treat mild form of fear of flying

Fear of flying can lead to restrictions in private but also in professional life. Different treatment approaches are available to handle fear of flying. Of these, coaching could be one possible treatment method. However, evidence is rare and the aim of this study was to evaluate descriptive effect of wingwave® coaching on a mild form of fear of flying. Coaching was delivered twice before the first flight and once after the first flight. The interventions were conducted between December 2016 and May 2017. Four people with fear of flying participated in the study. As measurement tools, satisfaction with life scale and 'Fear of Flying Scale' (FFS) were used at each of the measurement points. The measurement of fear of flying using the FFS measures showed a reduction in all four individuals. The participants also revealed a benefit in the sub-scales Anticipation, Flying and Turbulence. Our study indicates a positive impact of wingwave® coaching on dealing with a mild form of fear of flying.

Synchronous change in subjective and physiological reactivity during flight as an indicator of treatment outcome for aviophobia: A longitudinal study with 3-year follow-up

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Emotion can be seen as the organizing process that coordinates response systems to deal effectively with challenges and opportunities. Synchronous change in subjective and physiological reactivity is regarded as an indication of this organizing process. Synchrony is expected to increase with the intensity of emotional stimuli. Conversely, adaptive emotional functioning could be indicated by progressive synchrony upon increasing demands, and the magnitude of synchrony could be an indication of progress during therapy.

METHODS

We examined whether synchronous change in subjective and physiological reactivity over repeated exposures increased from watching a flight video through simulated flight to actual flight, and whether the magnitude of synchronous change predicted favourable short- and long-term treatment outcome within a group of 77 aviophobic participants during CBT.

RESULTS

Results did not show a relationship between the intensity of the phobic stimuli and the magnitude of synchronous change in subjective and physiological reactivity. Moreover, synchronous change across both response systems did not predict treatment outcome.

LIMITATIONS

By design this study had no control group. Additional treatment or life events between end of treatment and 3-year follow-up were not assessed.

CONCLUSION

The results provide only weak support for the functionalistic view that successful treatment of anxiety disorders is indicated by synchronous change in reactivity across emotional response systems. The relationship between these systems is likely to be affected by many intervening variables including higher order cognitive processes.