An experiment was conducted to separate the effects of anxiety relief conditioning from other variables which may be operative within that paradigm. A review of the literature revealed that no definitive investigations had been conducted, and critiques of these investigations were offered. Also, the distinction between aversion relief and anxiety relief conditioning procedures was detailed.

An experiment was conducted to investigate the relative effectiveness of a combined behavior rehearsal anxiety relief conditioning paradigm with a more conventional behavioral rehearsal program in the treatment of deficient assertive behavior.

Cue-controlled relaxation appeas to have several advantages over prominent anxiety-reduction treatments. It does not require the formulation of conditioned stimulus hierarchies nor the use of mental imagery as does systematic desensitization nor the application of noxious stimularion (farradic shock) utilized in anxiety relief. However, its efficacy, in quantitative terms, has not been determined. The present study compared the effectiveness in attainment of relaxation of instructional set, biofeedback training, and biofeedback-assisted/cue-controlled relaxation training procedures. Results indicate that cue-controlled relaxation training was more effective in terms of mean level of frontal is EMG and degree of maintenance of low EMG levels than either biofeedback training or instructions.

An experiment was conducted to study the role of "positive expectancy" when utilizing anxiety-relief conditioning. Fourteen male and female undergraduate psychology students were selected as subjects (Ss), based on pre-test scores obtained on the "Snake Intimacy Test" (SIT). Ss were matched according to pre-SIT scores and randomly assigned to the "positive expectancy" or "no expectancy" groups. Anxiety relief conditioning was administered without variation. Only the rationale given each group describing what was transpiring was different. The statistical results revealed significant improvement by both groups. Also, the "positive expectancy" group improved significantly over the "no expectancy" group. Therefore, "positive expectancy" is apparently a sufficient, but not necessary, variable of anxiety-relief conditioning.

One of the newer techniques to be utilized in the treatment of a variety of behavioral disorders is anxiety-relief conditioning (Thorpe, Schmidt, Brown, and Castell, 1964; Solyom and Miller, 1967; Wolpe and Lazarus, 1966). In its theoretical formulation, reciprocal inhibition by anxiety-relief is similar to Wolpe's reciprocal inhibition by progressive relaxation (Solyom and Miller, 1967). Whereas Wolpe's method utilizes Jacobsonian relaxation principles to provide the medium through which anxiety is reciprocally inhibited, the procedure employed in anxiety-relief conditioning utilizes the relief following termination of an aversive stimulus to set an occasion which will permit reciprocal inhibition to take place. Many of the problems encountered in relaxation induction and control are thus avoided (Wolpe, 1958; Thorpe et al., 1964). Anxiety-relief conditioning appears to have been successful in patients that previously had been unsuccessfully treated by psychotherapy and chemotherapy for as long as 20 years (Myers, 1957; Thorpe et al., 1964; Solyom and Miller, 1967). Solyom and Miller reported successfully treating six of seven phobic patients who complained of severe depression, difficulty in interpersonal relationships and anxiety attacks when meeting people, as well as excessive fear of crowded places. These patients had an average length of illness of 11.1 years, ranging from 2 to 20 years. Patients were treated for a mean of 19.5 sessions with no evidence of symptom substitution or reappearance of the phobic fear upon follow-up (Solyom and Miller, 1967). Although the authors cited above have all reported case studies of successful therapeutic applications of anxiety-relief conditioning techniques, there have been few experimental studies of the efficacy of this technique. A recent experiment failed to refute the hypothesis that noxious stimulation and/or habituation, rather than aversion-relief, contribute to the beneficial therapeutic effects noted. This study left unanswered the question of which variables contribute to aversion-relief conditioning (Solyom, L., McClure, Heseltine, Ledwidge, and Solyom, C., 1972). The present study was undertaken to further explore the relevant variables in aversion-relief conditioning. It was hypothesized that reduction of fear to a phobic stimulus would be significantly greater among subjects who viewed the phobic stimulus while experiencing the pleasant sensation associated with aversion-relief than among subjects who viewed the phobic stimulus after the effects of aversion-relief had presumably dissipated.

Relaxation procedures and anxiety relief were reviewed. Effects of cognitive and expectancy variables in reduction of avoidance behavior were also extensively reviewed. Various theoretical models for desensitization were presented. Use of symbolic control in classical conditioning and use of self-control methods in anxiety reduction were discussed. Special emphasis was given to self-desensitization and cue controlled relaxation. One goal of the experiment was to determine whether a musical stimulus associated with counter anxiety procedures could reduce or prevent subjects' phobic responses in the presence of the phobic situation. Another goal was to determine the relative efficacy of two counter anxiety procedures (anxiety relief and progressive muscle relaxation) in lowering muscle tension and in reducing or preventing speech anxiety. Several implications were drawn from the study. Relaxation alone may alleviate anxiety and phobic behavior without being paired with phobic stimuli. Cognitive variables such as expectancy and feedback of progress make a substantial contribution to treatment of situational anxiety. Progressive muscle relaxation may not be the technique of choice for producing low levels of muscle tension. Recommendations for future research were specified, including additional measures and control procedures.

Bakgrund: Ångest är en folksjukdom som cirka 25 % av befolkningen drabbas av någon gång i sitt liv. Behandlingsmetoderna är få, så som läkemedelsbehandling, och innebär ofta ett patogent förhållningssätt till patienten. Ett av sjuksköterskans ansvarsområden är omvårdnad, och enligt kompetensbeskrivningen ska hen främja hälsa och omvårdnad med ett salutogent förhållningssätt. Integrativ vård, så som akupunktur, riktar sig mot att främja just hälsa och det salutogena. Akupunktur används idag inom psykiatrin, men ingår inte i sjuksköterskans grundutbildning. Information om behandling och effekt förväntas ändå att ges trots den bristande kunskapen. Syfte: Syftet var att ur ett patientperspektiv beskriva upplevelsen av akupunkturbehandling vid ångest. Metod: Litteraturstudien bygger på sex kvalitativa artiklar, som hämtats från olika databaser. En manifest innehållsanalys gjordes för att få fram den data ur artiklarna som svarade an på syftet och som bildade resultatet. Resultat: Det framkom tre kategorier av patientens upplevelse, dessa var: lindring, oro samt hopp och välmående. Majoriteten av patienterna upplevde en stark ångestlindring och svarar då an på den här studiens syfte. Övriga upplevelser var att läkemedelsbehovet kunde minskas, och att akupunkturbehandlingen gav en känsla av hopp och ökat välmående. Ett visst obehag kunde infinna sig hos patienterna. Trots obehag upplevde samtliga patienter behandlingen som mycket positiv. Slutsats: Denna studie styrker akupunkturens lindrande effekt på ångest och positiva inverkan på omvårdnad. Författarnas förförståelse har blivit bekräftad. Det finns svagheter i studien gällande generaliserbarhet, grundat i det bristande underlaget, samt tillförlitlighet gällande författarnas bristande erfarenheter att utföra en liknande studie. Mer forskning krävs inom ämnet. / Background: Anxiety is a common disease that approximately 25% of Sweden's population suffers from at some point in their lives. The treatment methods are few and often imply a pathogenic approach to the patient, such as drug treatment. One of the nurse's area of responsibility is patient care, and according to the nurse's competence description he or she shall promote health and nursing with a salutogenic approach. Integrative medicine, as acupuncture, is aimed at promoting health and the salutogenic. Acupuncture is used today in psychiatry, but is not included in the nurse education, information about treatment and efficacy are expected to be given despite the lack of knowledge. Objective: The objective was that from a patient perspective describe the experience of acupuncture treatment for anxiety. Method: The literature study is based on six qualitative articles, taken from different databases. A manifest content analysis was done to obtain the data from the articles who responded to their purpose and which formed the result. Results: Three categories of patient experience were found, these were: relief, discomfort and hope and well being. The majority of patients experienced a strong anxiety relief and then responds to the purpose of this study. Other experience was that medicine needs were reduced and that the acupuncture treatment gave a sense of hope and increased well being. Some discomfort could appear in the patients. Despite the discomfort, all patients experienced the treatment as very positive. Conclusion: This study proves acupuncture effect on relieving anxiety and positive impact on nursing care. The authors' preconception has become probable. There are weaknesses in the study that concerns generalizability due to the lack of existing research as well as reliability in the authors' lack of experience to carry out a similar study. More research is needed on the subject.