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Anxiety is a common mental health disorder that affects many Americans yet often goes unrecognized or undertreated. The purpose of this article is to review the current literature to assist in determining which alternative and complimentary therapy, aerobic exercise or yoga, is most beneficial in reducing anxiety symptoms. The literature search process resulted in a total of 14 articles included in the review. Results indicate that yoga is more effective in decreasing anxiety symptoms than aerobic exercise. Health care providers can use this information to help recommend an alternative form of therapy for patients.

Very little is known about the use of nutritional supplements in children with Tourette syndrome. The current study aimed to address the frequency of nutritional supplements and the use of special diets in children with Tourette syndrome and typically developing children. Additional data also sought to address the motivations behind using them, their cost and perceived benefits. A total of 76 responses from an anonymous online survey (Tourette syndrome = 42; typically developing = 34) were completed and analyzed. Fifty-six per cent of children with Tourette syndrome compared to 15% of typically developing children were currently taking nutritional supplements, with the majority take two or more. Thirty-five per cent of the Tourette syndrome compared to 6% typically developing were currently or had previously adopted a special diet. Supplements most used for children with TS included probiotics, omega-3, multivitamins and magnesium. For children with TS, supplementation often began around the age of eight, for a duration on average of 35 months. The average cost was £32.44 a month compared to £8.25 for typically developing children. Seventy-five per cent of supplement users in the Tourette syndrome group noted improvement, mainly in motor and vocal tics, sleep quality and anxiety reduction. Most caregivers learned of supplements through the Internet. In almost 42% of the Tourette syndrome group, their pediatrician was unaware of the supplement use and this rose to 65% for special diets. Given the popularity of nutritional supplements, more research on the effectiveness and safety of such interventions is crucial.

Research has shown that writing can help reduce anxiety in individuals who have experienced trauma or complicated grief. This small case study asked if writing could also reduce anxiety in those bereaved by addiction. For this study, thirteen individuals who experienced increased anxiety as a result of bereavement by addiction completed two semi-structured interviews and responded to ten writing prompts over four weeks. Thematic analysis was used to analyze interview transcripts and narrative analysis was used to analyze participants��� writing. Findings from this study suggest that writing decreased anxiety for six participants by helping them to identify intrusive ruminations and by demonstrating the progress they had made since the death of their loved one. However, more research is needed to understand why writing reduced anxiety for only half of these participants and to understand how writing might be more effectively used as a therapeutic intervention for individuals bereaved by addiction.

Preterm labor (PTL) is associated with high anxiety and stress in pregnant women. The study investigated the effect of adding psychotherapy to hospital management of pregnant women with successfully treated for PTLon improving anxiety, pregnancy stress, and perceived control. In a randomized controlled trial study, sixty pregnant women with gestational ages of 24 to 37 weeks and successfully treated forPTL were randomly divided into the experimental (n = 30) and control group (n = 30). The experimental group received psychotherapy along with medical care in individual face-to-facesessions, 1 h per day for 6 consecutive days.The control group received medical care for PTL. Objective outcomes were assessed via the State-Anxiety Inventory, Prenatal Distress Questionnaire (NuPDQ), and Perceived Pregnancy Control at pre-trial and post-trial. The results revealed that psychotherapy significantly improved mean pregnancy distress (45.80 ± 2.29 vs. 43.80 ± 1.93), state anxiety (47.46 ± 5.92 vs. 41.60 ± 5.46), and perceived control (2.86 ± 1.59 vs. 5.26 ± 1.38) in women with PTL from beginning to end of the intervention. The findings suggest that adding psychotherapy to hospital management of women successfully treated for PTLcan be considered a potential method to reduce anxiety and pregnancy-specific stress.

Research has indicated that mental health disorders, particularly anxiety, predicts poorer antiretroviral medication adherence among persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). The present study tests a novel six-session Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy-based integrated treatment/management program for PLWHA with concurrent anxiety delivered in community health clinics Houston, Texas. Twenty-Seven PLWHA (

Background: Women undergoing cesarean delivery may have significant anxiety prior to surgery. Nonpharmacological approaches to anxiety reduction are favored in this patient population.Objective: Th...

This study compared the effects of 4 different coloring activities on state anxiety scores to determine whether adult coloring books are as effective as other coloring activities in reducing anxiet...

An exploration of the role that creativity can play in anxiety reduction was conducted using a quantitative study design. Participants completed the State Anxiety Inventory (SAI) before and after c...

Little research exists on using clay as an anxiety-reducing intervention with patients in psychiatric hospitals. This article reports on a study that used a one-group, pretest/posttest design with 49 adults in a psychiatric facility who created a clay pinch pot. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was used as a pre- and posttest measure. Results revealed a significant decrease in anxiety and a significant gender interaction. Pretest mean scores for men were higher than those for women, rendering the amount of anxiety reduction significantly greater for men. These results provide evidence that clay work may effectively reduce state anxiety for adult psychiatric inpatients.

The current study examines the relationships between exposure to partisan political parody, affinity for political humor given a desire to reduce anxiety, and internal political efficacy. Analyzing data from a spring 2013 experiment (N = 269), the results suggest that prior media exposure, an affinity for political humor given the desire to reduce anxiety, and a preference for humor that attacks the opposition are significant predictors of political efficacy. In addition, a three-way interaction between partisan identification, humor type, and affinity for political humor (AFPH)–anxiety relative to the dependent variable of internal political efficacy was significant. In particular, high AFPH–anxiety Republicans who viewed Democrat-directed humor were more likely to feel politically efficacious. The significance of the findings is discussed along with suggestions for potential theoretical mechanisms that can guide future academic research on the democratic impacts of politically entertaining media.

The current study examined the therapeutic utility of creative endeavors for the reduction of anxiety among undergraduate college students enrolled in a public university in the United States. Students were randomly assigned to participate in one of three conditions: an individual art project (n = 30), a group art project (n = 30), or a non-art control project (n = 30). An overall within-subjects effect of anxiety was noted in which participants reported reduced anxiety levels following intervention. A statistical interaction showed that anxiety was reduced by both individual and group arts interventions, but not by the control condition in which participants completed puzzles. The extent of anxiety reduction did not differ between the individual and group conditions. In conclusion, although presently underutilized, arts interventions may be a viable form of anxiety-reduction among college students.

Recent studies of state anxiety patterns show that sensitization during the first minute of speech performance affects a substantial number of novice speakers. Because sensitization delays or obstructs adaptation to public speaking, thereby impeding skills acquisition, understanding the basic mechanisms underlying sensitization should be of interest to communication scholars. In the present study, Gray’s (1991) reinforcement sensitivity theory is examined as an explanation for this phenomenon. Specifically, sensitivity to punishment and affect intensity were found to predict sensitization during the initial minute of public speaking. The resulting regression equation explained 60.7% of the variance in sensitization during public speaking. Implications for the study of anxiety reduction and potential pedagogical applications for these findings are discussed.

Helping clients deal with the stress and anxiety that they experience in the therapeutic setting and in everyday life is a phenomenon faced by all therapists. The natural breathing process shows promise as a coping technique for common anxiety and stress. Specific breathing techniques are beginning to emerge as ways to help clients mitigate the effects of stress and anxiety and to learn that they have some control over their experiences. This article provides an overview and review of several breathing techniques and provides detailed instructions through handouts on how to teach these breathing techniques to clients.

Wishful thinking and self-deception are instances of motivated believing. According to an influential view, the motivated believer is moved by the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain; i.e. the motive of the motivated believer is strictly hedonic--typically, the reduction of anxiety. This anxiety reduction account would, however, appear to face a serious challenge: cases of unwelcome motivated believing [Barnes (1997) Seeing through self-deception, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; Scott-Kakures (2000) Motivated believing: wishful and unwelcome, Nous, 34, 348-375] or "twisted" self-deception [Mele (1999) Twisted self-deception, Philosophical Psychology, 12, 117-137]. Annette Barnes (1997) has recently argued that the anxiety reduction account can, in fact, handle such cases. I show that the anxiety reduction account cannot explain cases of unwelcome believing. Neither precipitous unwelcome believing nor the intensive and recurrent testing of unwelcome hypotheses characteristic of cases of se...

Our purpose was to examine the effects of cognitive group therapy, aerobic exercise, or their combination on anxiety reduction. Seventy participants were divided into four groups: cognitive group therapy, aerobic exercise, both treatments, or control. Participants were administered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) before and after the study, and at a two-month follow-up. Results indicate that all interventions were equally effective in reducing anxiety as compared to no intervention. The combination of cognitive group therapy and exercise was not significantly more effective than either cognitive group therapy or aerobic exercise alone. Although effects were not maintained after two months, it is unclear whether this is attributable to the limitations of such interventions in changing more enduring traits. Possible mechanisms for change are discussed.

This experiment examines the timing of visualization treatment and its effects on public speaking anxiety, a subject neglected in the communication apprehension literature thus far. The study utilized pre and posttests on two experimental groups and one control group. Members of one experimental group received the anxiety reduction treatment one week before their speeches and those in the second group received the anxiety reduction treatment one day before their speeches. The control group received no treatment. The results indicate some significant differences based on the presence or absence of the visualization treatment along with one's level of previous experience in public speaking. Limitations and directions for future research are also provided.

A meta-analysis was conducted on 40 studies (76 effects) in order to examine exercise training as a method of stress-management treatment for adults. It offered evidence of a low-to-moderate positive effect in anxiety reduction. Exercise training studies that examined change from pre to post-treatment and studies that examined both change over time and between group differences were examined separately. The unbiased weighted average effect sizes were .45 and .36, respectively. Thus, exercise training improved anxiety levels an average of .36 standard deviations over alternative or control conditions. Adults who were more likely to have a stressful lifestyle benefited more from the exercise training than those who did not. Recommendations are made for both practice and research.

Acute bouts of aerobic exercise have been associated with modest reductions in self-reported state anxiety. Some have speculated that certain intensity or duration thresholds must be achieved before such reductions in anxiety can occur. Additionally, most of the previous research has focused on anxiety reduction or alleviation of negative affect with little concern for the positive affect enhancing potential of exercise. The purposes of the present study were to (1) determine whether anxiety reduction differs at two levels of exercise duration; and (2) examine both positive and negative responses to exercise. Sixteen males completed two (15 min, 30 min) randomly ordered exercise bouts (treadmill running at 75% VO2max) on separate days. Affective responses were assessed before, immediately after, and at 5, 10, 20, and 30 min after the exercise bouts. State anxiety was reduced equally for both durations of exercise, positive affect did not change, and 30 min of running reduced negative affect. The ...

An account-making model of diary-keeping is proposed which suggests that diary use can function as a means of avoiding and reducing both stress and anxiety. Subjects with high scores on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Hassles and Uplifts Scale were selected for the study. An experimental and control group were formed, and stress, anxiety and hassles measured pre- and post-diary-keeping. Support was found for the model in that rated levels of stress, anxiety and hassles were reduced following the adoption of diary-keeping. Significant negative correlations were found between the number of diary entries a subject made and hassles scores. Overall, the study suggests that diary-keeping is beneficial for both avoiding stress and anxiety provoking experiences, and for coping with stress and anxiety resulting from past experiences.

Data from 162 MSW students were analyzed to test the propositions that social work students have high levels of anxiety about research and statistics and that this anxiety has a detrimental effect on students' performance in a required research and statistics course. Levels of anxiety about research and statistics were very varied and only 12% of the stuents bad "very high" levels of anxiety. The relationships between such anxiety and performance in the course was not statistically significant. Anxiety reduction activities may be appropriate for humane reasons but the activities are not likely to increase students' learning of research and statistics.

This study aimed to examine the influence of the presence of a partner in terms of affiliation level and role on anxiety in a physically threatening situation. In the first experiment, nine male subjects waited alone for the electric shock, and the other nine subjects waited with their partner. In the second experiment, 36 female subjects were assigned to four experimental groups by the difference of the role of a partner (coactor or audience) and the affiliation level of a partner (friend or stranger), and subjects waited for the electric shock with their partner. It was found that anxiety of subjects decreased when the partner was a coactor and/or a friend. It was suggested that these two functioned differently in anxiety reduction in a physically threatening situation.

Summary Male undergraduates (N = 126) with either low, medium, or high levels of experimentally induced anxiety were exposed to either no distracting material, nonhumorous distracting material (interesting but neutral quotations), or humorous distracting material (jokes). Jokes were more effective in reducing anxiety than either quotations or no distractions. Anxiety reduction was related to the degree to which Ss perceived the jokes as funny.

This paper presents a description of the use of hypnotherapy in combination with traditional insight-oriented dynamic therapy in the treatment of several schizophrenic patients. It is an extension of an earlier paper presenting a case study of work done with a single patient. This current paper represents a synthesis of several years of psychotherapy with eight patients. Following a description of eight individual patients there is a discussion of some of the preliminary problems encountered in introducing and carrying out hypnosis with schizophrenics. Finally, a presentation of specific therapy techniques used with the eight patients is presented. Both the positive results and the difficulties encountered with these techniques are discussed. The several techniques presented include: 1) anxiety reduction, 2) ego building, 3) development of insights in trance, 4) free association through hypnotic dreams, 5) imagery shifts.

SynopsisFamily adaptability concerns the extent to which a family system is flexible and able to change, and family cohesion refers to the degree to which family members are connected to the family system. Excessive rigidity and enmeshment have been shown to be detrimental to family functioning and are hypothesised to be factors contributing to the development of social anxiety. Self-report data from a sample of socially anxious Australian university students confirm this hypothesis. The findings indicate that counselling with socially anxious persons could usefully involve work with attitudes associated with sex-role stereotyping, emotional bonding and independence. These areas for work could complement the more general treatment programs which focus upon skills training and anxiety reduction in social situations.

This study investigated the effects of group Rational Therapy in promoting rational thinking and self-enhancing emotions among 24 college students. Each subject was administered the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire as a pre- and post-test measurement. Results reveal that some aspects of personality are affected by Rational Therapy group programs while others are not.

Summary Two techniques of anxiety reduction are studied singly and in combination: namely, rapid repetition of words and paired-associate learning. Both methods produce anxiety reduction and better short-term reduction together. The paired-associate learning consisted of the pairing of subject-provided anxiety words with experimenter-provided Counteracting Response Associates (CRA) or with Personally-Provided Response Associates (PRA) . Paired-associate learning with CRA yielded the best long-term reduction in response anxiety, which suggests the potential application of this technique in therapy.

(1967). Insight vs. Desensitization in Psychotherapy: An Experiment in Anxiety Reduction by Gordon L. Paul. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy: Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 402-403.