Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pftt2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-12T23:17:36.854Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mental Retrieval of Treatment Context in Dental Phobia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 April 2012

Karin Elsesser ,
Andre Wannemüller ,
Thomas Lohrmann ,
Peter Jöhren  and
Gudrun Sartory
Karin Elsesser
Affiliation:
University of Wuppertal, Germany
Andre Wannemüller
Affiliation:
University of Wuppertal, Germany
Thomas Lohrmann
Affiliation:
University of Wuppertal, Germany
Peter Jöhren
Affiliation:
Augusta Hospital, Bochum, Germany
Gudrun Sartory*
Affiliation:
University of Wuppertal, Germany
*
Reprint requests to Gudrun Sartory, Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Wuppertal, Max-Horkheimer-Strasse 20, 42119 Wuppertal, Germany. E-mail: sartory@uni-wuppertal.de
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background: The effect of mental retrieval of an exposure session was investigated during a follow-up examination in dental phobia patients. Method: The exposure session took place at the psychology unit and the follow-up a week later at the dental clinic prior to dental treatment while patients were seated in the dental chair. During exposure, individuals with dental phobia (N = 72) were shown a video of a dental appointment, after which they were instructed to imagine themselves receiving dental treatment. During follow-up half of the participants received instructions to mentally retrieve the exposure session and the other half were asked to recall everyday activities. Before and after exposure treatment, and after mental retrieval, participants were shown three dental instruments while heart rate (HR) and avoidance and subjective units of discomfort (SUD) were recorded. Results: Questionnaires of phobic anxiety administered before and after treatment indicated significant improvement. Mental retrieval of treatment was moderately superior to the control condition with regard to avoidance. Over 80% of patients underwent the subsequent dental treatment session. Those not adhering showed initially more dysfunctional cognitions and more desire for control. Conclusion: There is some evidence that retrieval of treatment context may have a moderately beneficial effect on avoidance.

Keywords

Dental phobiamental retrievalexposureheart rate
Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , March 2013 , pp. 173 - 187
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Armfield, J. M. (2010). Towards a better understanding of dental anxiety and fear: cognitions vs. experiences. European Journal of Oral Sciences, 118, 259–264.Google Scholar
Bouton, M. E. (2004). Context and behavioural processes in extinction. Learning and Memory, 11, 485–494.Google Scholar
Bouton, M. E., Woods, A. M., Moody, E. W., Sunsay, C. and García-Gutiérrez, A. (2006). Counteracting the context-dependence of extinction: relapse and tests of some relapse prevention methods. In Craske, M. G., Hermans, D., Vansteenwegen, D., Craske, M. G., Hermans, D. and Vansteenwegen, D. (Eds.), Fear and Learning: from basic processes to clinical implications (pp. 175–196). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Brooks, D. C. and Bouton, M. E. (1993). A retrieval cue for extinction attenuates spontaneous recovery. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behaviour Processes, 19, 77–89.Google Scholar
Brown, T. A., Di Nardo, P. A. and Barlow, D. H. (1994). Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV (ADIS-IV). San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation/Graywind Publications Inc.Google Scholar
Brunsman, B. A., Logan, H. L., Patil, R. R. and Baron, R. S. (2003). The developement and validation of the Revised Iowa Dental Control Index (IDCI). Personality and Individual Differences, 34, 1113–1128.Google Scholar
Corah, N. L. (1969). Development of a dental anxiety scale. Journal of Dental Research, 48, 596–602.Google Scholar
Corah, N. L., Gale, E. L. and Illig, S. J. (1978). Assessment of a dental anxiety scale. Journal of the American Dental Association, 97, 816–819.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Jongh, A., Muris, P., Schoenmakers, N. and Ter Horst, G. (1995). Negative cognitions of dental phobics: reliability and validity of the Dental Cognitions Questionnaire. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 33, 507–515.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dibbets, P., Havermans, R. and Arntz, A. (2008). All we need is a cue to remember: the effect of an extinction cue on renewal. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 46, 1070–1077.Google Scholar
Frerk, N., Holcombe, L., Johnson, S. and Nelson, T. (1985). Context-Dependent Learning in a Classroom Situation. Unpublished manuscript, Gustavus Adolphus College.Google Scholar
Getka, E. J. and Glass, C. R. (1992). Behavioural and cognitive-behavioural approaches to the reduction of dental anxiety. Behavior Therapy, 23, 433–448.Google Scholar
Hautzinger, M., Bailer, M., Worall, H. and Keller, F. (1994). Beck-Depressions-Inventar. Bern: Huber.Google Scholar
Jöhren, P. (1999). Validierung eines Fragebogens zur Erkennung von Zahnbehandlungsangst. ZWR - Das Deutsche Zahnärzteblatt, 108, 104–114.Google Scholar
Jöhren, P. and Sartory, G. (2002). Zahnbehandlungsangst – Zahnbehandlungsphobie. Ätiologie – Diagnose – Therapie. Hannover: Schlütersche.Google Scholar
Kent, G. and Gibbons, R. (1987). Self-efficacy and the control of anxious cognitions. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 18, 33–40.Google Scholar
Kvale, G., Breggren, U. and Milgrom, P. (2004). Dental fear in adults: a meta-analysis of behavioral interventions. Community Dentistry and Oral Epidemiology, 32, 250–264.Google Scholar
Laux, L., Glanzmann, P., Schaffner, P. and Spielberger, C. D. (1981). Das State-Trait-Angst-Inventar. Weinheim: Beltz.Google Scholar
Logan, H. L., Baron, R. S., Keeley, K., Law, A. and Stein, S. (1991). Desired control and felt control as mediators of stress in a dental setting. Health Psychology, 10, 352–359.Google Scholar
McFarland, K. and Kalivas, P. W. (2001). The circuitry mediating cocaine-induced reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior. The Journal of Neuroscience, 21, 8655–8663.Google Scholar
Mostofsky, D. I., Forgione, A. G. and Giddon, D. B. (2006). Behavioral Dentistry. Oxford: Blackwell Munksgaard.Google Scholar
Mystkowski, J. L., Craske, M. G., Echiverri, A. and Labus, J. S. (2006). Mental reinstatement of context and return of fear in spider-fearful participants. Behavior Therapy, 37, 49–60.Google Scholar
Öst, L. G. (1987). Age of onset in different phobias. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 96, 223–229.Google Scholar
Öst, L. G. (1989). One-session treatment of specific phobias. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 2, 1–7.Google Scholar
Öst, L. G. (1991). Acquisition of blood and injection phobia and anxiety response patterns in clinical patients. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 29, 323–332.Google Scholar
Rescorla, R. (2001). Experimental extinction. In Mowrer, R. R., and Klein, S. B. (Eds.), Handbook of Contemporary Learning Theories (pp. 119–154). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Sartory, G. and Daum, I. (1992). Effects of controllability on subjective and cardiac responses in phobics. Journal of Psychophysiology, 6, 131–139.Google Scholar
Sartory, G., Heinen, R., Pundt, I. and Jöhren, P. (2006). Predictors of behavioral avoidance in dental phobia: the role of gender, dysfunctional cognitions and the need for control. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 19, 279–291.Google Scholar
Sartory, G. and Wannemüller, A. (2010). Fortschritte der Psychotherapie: Zahnbehandlungsphobie. Göttingen: Hogrefe.Google Scholar
Schmid-Leuz, B., Elsesser, K., Lohrmann, T., Jöhren, P. and Sartory, G. (2007). Attention focusing versus distraction during exposure in dental phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, 2691–2703.Google Scholar
Schneider, S. and Margraf, J. (2006). Diagnostisches Interview bei psychischen Störungen: DIPS. 3. Auflage. Berlin: Springer.Google Scholar
Smith, S. M. (1979). Remembering in and out of context. Journal Experimental Psychology, Human Learning and Memory, 5, 460–471.Google Scholar
Smith, S. M. (1988). Environmental context-dependent memory. In Davies, G. M. and Thomson, D. M. (Eds.), Memory in Context: context in memory (pp. 13–34). Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
Ten Berge, M., Veerkamp, J. S. and Hoogstraten, J. (2002). The etiology of childhood dental fear: the role of dental and conditioning experiences. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 16, 321–329.Google Scholar
Thom, A., Sartory, G. and Jöhren, P. (2000). Comparison between one-session psychological treatment and benzodiazepine in dental phobia. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 378–387.Google Scholar
Vansteenwegen, D., Vervliet, B., Hermans, D., Beckers, T., Baeyens, F. and Eelen, P. (2006). Stronger renewal in human fear conditioning when tested with an acquisition retrieval cue than with an extinction retrieval cue. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, 1717–1725.Google Scholar
Wälte, D., Ebe, H., Brandenburg, U. and Kröger, F. (1999). Kognitive Selbstregulation bei somatoformen Störungen. In Kröger, F. and Petzold, E. (Eds.), Selbstorganisation und Ordnungswandel in der Psychosomatik. Stuttgart: VAS.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.