Acute exercise combined with imaginal exposure as a technique for anxiety reduction.

Abstract

The potential of physical exertion to enhance anxiety reduction was investigated by combining acute exercise with an imaginal exposure treatment for public speaking anxiety. Self-report, behavioural, and psychophysiological outcome measures all indicated that groups that received imaginal exposure improved more than those that received control procedures. The addition of acute exercise increased the treatment effect on two self-report measures (one for females only), although there was an indication of interference with change on one behavioural index. Multiple measures of process effects indicated that greater responding and greater habituation during treatment were associated with better outcome. Additional process measures indicated that enhanced imagery, altered attribution for arousal, and reduced energy were all associated with the addition of acute exercise to the exposure intervention. These findings support the value of imaginal exposure for reduction of speech anxiety, suggest that acute exercise may be of circumscribed value as an adjunct to such exposure, and offer possible directions for the study of the mechanisms responsible for exposure-based anxiety reduction.

Physical therapy in palliative care: From symptom control to quality of life: A critical review

“…Exercise as an adjunct to enhanced imagery was studied by Schwartz and Kaloupek[77] for anxiety reduction. It was Bruning and Frew[78] who found exercise to be beneficial for stress management and Puetz et al ,[79] found chronic exercise to influence feeling of energy and fatigue, and recently Chafin et al ,[80] found exercise as an effective strategy for anger control.…”

“…Exercise therapy programs such as aerobic exercise training was shown by McCann and Holmes[ 74 ] to positively influence depression, followed by Brown and Siegel,[ 75 ] who studied adolescent population and later McNeil et al ,[ 76 ] confirmed this with added effects of exercise on anxiety. Exercise as an adjunct to enhanced imagery was studied by Schwartz and Kaloupek[ 77 ] for anxiety reduction. It was Bruning and Frew[ 78 ] who found exercise to be beneficial for stress management and Puetz et al ,[ 79 ] found chronic exercise to influence feeling of energy and fatigue, and recently Chafin et al ,[ 80 ] found exercise as an effective strategy for anger control.…”

Cognitive Group Therapy and Aerobic Exercise in the Treatment of Anxiety

“…These results are not surprising in light of the positive findings shown for hypothesis #1, and previously conducted research comparing exercise and therapy for the treatment of anxiety. Only a limited number of studies in the literature have sought to compare exercise and a more traditional therapeutic intervention for treating anxiety or stress (Long, 1983(Long, , 1984Schwartz & Kaloupek, 1987;Stern, Gorman, & Kaslow, 1983). These researchers reported that both state and trait anxiety were significantly reduced when compared to no-treatment controls.…”

“…However, other researchers have found additive effects of exercise and therapy with different types of anxiety, and with different populations. For example, Schwartz and Kaloupek (1987) found that subjects who participated in both aerobic exercise (stationary bicycle) and cognitive therapy (imaginal exposure) reported a greater reduction in public speaking anxiety than those involved in cognitive therapy alone. It Downloaded by [Florida State University] at 03:37 05 January 2015 appears that while more treatment may not always translate into more effective treatment, there are circumstances in which exercise can facilitate the therapeutic process, and lead to greater reductions in psychological discomfort.…”

“…However, a few researchers (e.g., McEntee & Halgin, 1996) have studied the use of exercise as part of a psychotherapy treatment program. Some of these investigations have involved the combined effects of exercise and therapy in the study of mood states such as depression (Fremont & Craighead, 1987) and self-concept (Hilyer & Mitchell, 1979), yet the only studies in the professional literature examining anxiety have been with the specialized populations of adolescent criminal offenders (Hilyer et al, 1982) and speechanxious subjects (Schwartz & Kaloupek, 1987). Unfortunately, many of these investigations have contained methodological flaws, and have reported inconclusive findings.…”