A controlled experiment examined the effectiveness of Respiratory Relief Therapy in reducing public speaking anxiety in college students. The therapy employed two procedures: (a) a systematic desensitization paradigm in which the competing response paired with scene presentations was the relief experienced when the student breathed again after exhaling and holding his or her breath out for as long as possible; and (b) homework assignments to practice breathing deeply and regularly. In this study 60 speech-anxious college students were divided into three groups: a Respiratory Relief Therapy group; a Gradual Repeated Exposure group in which students imagined hierarchy items without initiating a competing response in order to control for placebo and expectancy effects; and a Waiting-List control group in which students were evaluated, waited four weeks, were evaluated again, and then offered treatment. Pre and postmeasures, including self-ratings of anxiety, physiological measures (GSR and pulse rate), and blind observer ratings of videotaped public speaking episodes, showed significantly greater reductions in public speaking anxiety in the Respiratory Relief Therapy group than in the other two groups on most measures, supporting the effectiveness of this procedure in reducing specific anxieties in a controlled experimental setting.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bedell, J. R. , Archer, R. P., & Rosemann, M. (1979). Relaxation therapy, desensitization and the treatment of anxiety-based disorders. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 35840-843.
2.
Benson, H. , Dryer,T. & Hartley, L. H. (1978). Decreased C02consumptions during exercise with elicitation of the relaxation response. Journal of Human Stress, 438-42.
3.
Bernstein, D. A. , & Borkovec, T. D. (1973). Progressive relaxation training. Champaian, IL: Research Press.
4.
Borkovec, T. D. (1972). Effects of expectancy on the outcome of systematic desensitization and implosive treatments of analogue anxiety. Behaviour Therapy, 329- 40.
5.
Borkovec, T. D. , & Sides, J. K. (1979). The contribution of relaxation and expectancy to fear reduction via graded imaginal exposure to feared stimuli. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 17, 529-540.
6.
Clark, M. F. (1979). The therapeutic applications of physiological control: The effectiveness of respiratory pacing in reducing autonomic and subjective distress (Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 1978). Dissertation Abstracts International, 39, 4571B-4572B. (University Microfilms #7904796).
7.
Clark, M. F. , & Hirschman, R. (1980). Effects of paced respiration on affective responses during dental stress. Journal of Dental Research, 591533-1533.
8.
Damas, M. J. , Grant, L., Keyon, P., Patel, M. K., & Jenner, F. A. (1976). Respiratory ventilation and carbon dioxide levels in syndromes of depression. British Journal of Psychiatry, 129457-464.
9.
Denny, M. R. (1971). Relaxation theory and experiments. In F. R. Bruse (Ed.), Aversive conditioning and learning. New York: Academic Press.
10.
Denny, M. R. (1976). Post-aversive relief and relaxation and their implications for behavior therapy. Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 7315-321.
11.
Duffy, E. (1962). Activation and behavior. New York: John Wiley.
12.
Endler, N. S. , Hunt, J., & Rosenstein, A. L. (1962). An S-R Inventory of anxiousness. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 76, 1-33. (Whole #536).
13.
Galassi, J. P. , Berrier, G. D., & Mullinix, S. D. (1982). The appropriateness of using statistically-selected students as analogues to adult clinical subjects: A preliminary comparison on measures of psychological adjustment. The Behavior Therapist, 5179-180.
14.
Gibson, H. B. (1978). A form of behavior therapy for some states diagnosed as affective disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 16191-195.
15.
Gilkenson, H. (1942). Social fears as reported by students in college speech classes. Speech Monograph, 9141-160.
16.
Godfrey, S. , & Campbell, E. J. (1969). Mechanical and chemical control of breath holding. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Physiology, 54117-128.
17.
Goldstein, A. P. , Serber, M. & Piaget, J. (1970). Induced anger as a reciprocal inhibitor of fear. Journal of Behavior Research and Experimental Psychiatry, 167-67.
18.
Griez, E. , & Van Den Hout, M. A. (1982). Effects of carbon dioxide-oxygen inhal-ations on subjective anxiety and some neurovegetative parameters. Journal of Behavior Research and Experimental Psychiatry, 1327-32.
19.
Hirschman, R. , Young, D., & Nelson, C. (1979). Physiologically based techniques for stress reduction. In B. D. Ingersoll & W. R. McCutcheon (Eds.), Clinical research in behavioral dentistry. Morgantown: W. Virginia Univ. Foundation.
20.
Hull, C. L. (1943). Principles of behavior. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
21.
Jacobson, E. (1938). Progressive relaxation. Illinois: University of Chicago Press.
22.
Jeger, A. , & Goldfried, M. R. (1976). A comparison of situation tests of speech anxiety. Behavior Therapy, 7, 252-255.
23.
Keppel, G. (1973). Design and analysis: A researcher's handbook. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
24.
Lazarus, A. A. (1971). Behavior therapy and beyond. New York: McGraw-Hill.
25.
Martin, I. , & Venables, P. H. (Eds.) (1980). Techniques in psychophysiology. New York: John Wiley.
26.
Meduna, L. J. (1947). Carbon dioxide therapy. Springfield, IL: Thomas.
27.
Orwin, A. (1971). Respiratory relief: A new and rapid method for treatment of phobic states. British Journal of Psychiatry, 119635-637.
28.
Orwin, A. (1973a) Augmented respiratory relief: A new use of CO2therapy in the treatment of phobic conditions - A preliminary report on two cases. British Journal of Psychiatry, 122, 171-173.
29.
Orwin, A. (1973b). "The running treatment": A preliminary communication on a new use for an old therapy (physical activity) in the agoraphobic syndrome. British Journal of Psychiatry, 122175-179.
30.
Orwin, A. (1974). Treatment of situational phobia-a case for running. British Journal of Psychiatry, 12595-98.
31.
Orwin, A. , LeBoef, A., Dovey, L., & James, S. (1975). Exposure and respiratory relief therapies. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 13205-214.
32.
Paul, G. L. (1966). Insight vs. desensitization in psychotherapy-an experiment in anxiety reduction. California: Stanford University Press.
33.
Russel, R. K. , & Sipich, J. F. (1974). Treatment of test anxiety by cue-controlled relaxation. Behavior Therapy, 5673-676.
34.
Slater, S. L. , & Leavy, A. (1966). The effects of inhaling a 35%C02-65% 02 mixture upon anxiety in neurotic patients. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 4309-316.
35.
Suinn, R. , & Richardson, F. (1971). Anxiety management training: A non-specific behavior therapy program for anxiety control. Behavior Therapy, 2498-510.
36.
Thorpe, J. G. , Schmidt, E., Brown, P. T., & Castell, D. (1964). Aversion relief: A new method for general application. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 271-71.
37.
Ventis, W. L. (1973). Case History: The use of laughter as an alternative response in systematic desensitization. Behavior Therapy, 4120-122.
38.
Weinstein, S. A. (1967). Carbon dioxide as a reinforcer in escape conditioning. Conditional Reflex, 2118-126.
39.
Weir, R. O. , & Marshal, W. L. (1980). Relaxation and distraction in experimental desensitization. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 36246-252.
40.
Wolpe, J. (1958). Psychotherapy by reciprocal inhibition. California: Stanford University Press.
41.
Wolpe, J. (1973). The practice of behavior therapy (2nd ed.). New York: Pergamon Press.
