Exertion + Positive Images Protocol
Publication:
Driscoll, R. (1976). Anxiety Reduction Using Physical Exertion and Positive Images. The Psychological Record, 26, 87-94.
Summary:
An early component analysis served as a prototype for the
STARS–PAC trainings, indicating that exposure, strenuous activity, and positive images all contribute significantly to overall anxiety-reduction benefits.Sixty-four highly test anxious students imagined six preparation and exam scenes, each twice, with a brief pause between the scenes. In a 2 x 2 design, 16 students also jogged in place through the sequences; 16 imagined positive images during the pauses; and 16 both jogged and imagined the positive scenes. With 30 minutes of interview and preparation but only nine minutes of actual conditioning, the exposure with exertion + positive images condition nonetheless produced the same strong benefits as three hours of recorded systematic desensitization. So something appears to make the combination unusually speedy.
The exposure alone contributed a baseline 42% of the change, the positive images added 37%, and the physical exertion added the remaining 21%. The contribution of each of the three components was statistically significant. The treatment effect size for the three components together was 2.5
SD (against 16 matched controls who showed essentially no change).Subjects exposed to anxious scenes who then imagine positive scenes reported positive feelings along with residual tension that remained from the initial exposure scenes. In contrast, subjects who jogged through the exposure scenes reported no residual tension and an intense surge of positive feelings during the positive scenes. So far as jogging consumes physiological tension, it leaves subjects readily able to more strongly experience the positives. Thus, sequences which counter tension during and after exposure scenes are apt to intensify the positive experiences following such scenes.
Test Score Gains
The exertion + positive images intervention also showed a 9 percentile test gain against the class average, which remained unchanged. These findings are merely suggestive, as the class average is not a matched control.