A Spiderless Arachnophobia Therapy: Comparison between Placebo and Treatment Groups and Six-Month Follow-Up Study

Granado, Laura Carmilo; Ranvaud, Ronald; Peláez, Javier Ropero

doi:https://doi.org/10.1155/2007/10241

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Volume 2007 | Article ID 010241 | https://doi.org/10.1155/2007/10241

A Spiderless Arachnophobia Therapy: Comparison between Placebo and Treatment Groups and Six-Month Follow-Up Study

Laura Carmilo Granado,¹Ronald Ranvaud,²and Javier Ropero Peláez³

Academic Editor: Patrice Venault

Received28 Jan 2007

Accepted02 May 2007

Published27 Jun 2007

Abstract

We describe a new arachnophobia therapy that is specially suited for those individuals with severe arachnophobia who are reluctant to undergo direct or even virtual exposure treatments. In this therapy, patients attend a computer presentation of images that, while not being spiders, have a subset of the characteristics of spiders. The Atomium of Brussels is an example of such an image. The treatment group (n=13) exhibited a significant improvement (time × group interaction: P=.0026) when compared to the placebo group (n=12) in a repeated measures multivariate ANOVA. A k-means clustering algorithm revealed that, after 4 weeks of treatment, 42% of the patients moved from the arachnophobic to the nonarachnophobic cluster. Six months after concluding the treatment, a follow-up study showed a substantial consolidation of the recovery process where 92% of the arachnophobic patients moved to the nonarachnophobic cluster.

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Copyright

Copyright © 2007 Laura Carmilo Granado et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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