Treatments of dysfunctional behaviour

Behavioural Treatment - McGrath

Aim- To treat a girl with specific noise phobias using systematic desensitisation.

Pps- Lucy 9yrs with fear of sudden loud noises, lower than av. IQ, wasnt depressed.

Procedure- Constructed hierarchy of feared noises
taught breathing + imagery to relax - imagine herself at home on bed with her toys
had hypothetical fear thermometer for rating fear 1-10
given stimulus of loud noise she paired feared object with relaxation and imagery
this lead to feelings of calmness so she associated the noise with feeling calm
Findings- After 4 sessions she learned to feel calm when noise was presented + didnt need to use imagery
10th and final session fear thermometer scores gone from 7/10 to 3/10 for ballons
9/10 to 3/10 for party poppers
8/10 to 5/10 for cap guns
conclusions: important factors - giving lucy control to say when/where noises made
using inhibitors of fear response (relaxation and playful environment).

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Aim - Compare drug treatment and non-drug treatment for depression in women

Method - Review article

Pps - Women diagnosed with depression
Procedure - Depression analysed useing depression inventories.
general testing prior to treatment, after and in some cases some time after as a follow up.
some health practioner assessment of symptoms were used by some research.
Findings- Adding psychological treatment to drug therapy didnt increase drugs effectiveness
combination therapy had lower attrition rates.

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Aim- Compare effectiveness of cognitive therapy and drug therapy
Method- Controlled experiment with pps allocated to 1 of 2 conditions
Pps- 44 patients diagnosed with moderate-severe depression attending psychiatric outpatients clinics.
Procedure- Pps assessed with 3 self-reports before treatment (Becks Depression Inventory, Hamilton Rating Scale and Rasking Scale)
for 12 weeks patients had 1-hour cognitive therapy session twice a week or 100 imipramine capsules prescribed by visiting doctor for 20mins each week
cog therapy sessions prescribed and controlled and therapists were observed to ensure reliability
Findings- Both groups showed significant decrease in depression symptoms
cognitive treatment group showed significantly greater improvements on self-reports and observer-based ratings (78,9% compared to 20% of those with drug therapy)
drop-out rate 5% in cognitive therapy and 32% in drug treatment

Conclusion- Cog therapy leads to better treatment of depression, shown by fewer symptoms, and also better adherence to treatment.

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it may have been simply getting out of the house for 1 hour twice a week and having social interaction that improved the patients depression
didnt have a control group to account for this variable
independent design - participant variables
useful - shows cognitive therapy is a good way to treat depression
self-report - social desirability

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