Danger expectancies, self-efficacy and insight in spider phobia

In the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental D isorders (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, (1994) Diagnostic and s tatistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.) Washington, DC: author) pho bic adults and adolescents are said to "recognize that the phobia is excess ive or unreasonable" given the actual danger posed by the feared situation. The present study examined perceptions of danger in 15 spider phobic subje cts and a matched set of controls before, during and after a spider-avoidan ce test. When detached from the phobic stimulus, phobic subjects: (1) gave higher estimates of the probability of being bitten than controls did; (2) gave higher estimates of the injuries that would result from being bitten a nd (3) in line with these first two findings, believed their high levels of anticipated anxiety were more reasonable and appropriate to the demands of the situation than controls did. These findings are inconsistent with the prevailing notion that when detached from the phobic situation patients can accurately evaluate the danger of potential phobic encounters. Instead, th e findings suggest that phobic individuals, whether detached or in the pres ence of the feared object; have relatively limited insight into the irratio nality of their fears. In examining the mediation of phobic phenomena, both self-efficacy and danger estimates remained significantly related to the a nxiety and avoidance experienced in the spider-avoidance task. Further rese arch designed to experimentally establish the likely causal roles of these two constructs is warranted. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. Al l rights reserved.