Understanding Behaviors 1: Avoiding Your Emotions

2010 ◽  
pp. 135-144
Author(s):  
David H. Barlow ◽  
Kristen K. Ellard ◽  
Christopher P. Fairholme ◽  
Todd J. Farchione ◽  
Christina L. Boisseau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Avoidance ◽  
Behavioral Avoidance ◽  
Avoidance Strategies ◽  
Safety Signals

Chapter 9 discusses how to understand behaviors of emotion avoidance. Emotion avoidance is introduced, followed by types of emotion avoidance strategies (subtle behavioral avoidance, cognitive avoidance strategies, the use of safety signals) and a demonstration exercise of emotion avoidance strategies.

Countering Avoidant Behaviors

2021 ◽  
pp. 147-158
Author(s):  
Heather Thompson-Brenner ◽  
Melanie Smith ◽  
Gayle Brooks ◽  
Dee Ross Franklin ◽  
Hallie Espel-Huynh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Avoidance ◽  
Behavioral Avoidance ◽  
The Future ◽  
Safety Signals

The key concept for this session is emotion avoidance, which means any strategies we use to avoid feeling strong emotions or to prevent our emotions from becoming more intense. Although these responses may be useful in some situations, they rarely work well in the long term, and they can increase the intensity of our emotions when we encounter a similar situation in the future. During this session, clients learn how suppression of thoughts and emotions can be counterproductive. Clients are taught to identify three types of avoidance, which are behavioral avoidance (obvious and subtle), cognitive avoidance, and safety signals.

Therapist Materials for Countering Avoidant Behaviors

2021 ◽  
pp. 195-208
Author(s):  
Heather Thompson-Brenner ◽  
Melanie Smith ◽  
Gayle Brooks ◽  
Rebecca Berman ◽  
Angela Kaloudis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Avoidance ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Behavioral Avoidance ◽  
The Future ◽  
Negative Messages ◽  
Intensity Of Emotion ◽  
Safety Signals ◽  
Avoidant Behavior

The session in this chapter looks at how suppression of thoughts and emotions can be counterproductive. Suppression or attempted avoidance may control things somewhat in the short term but rarely works in the long term, and it increases intensity of emotion when a similar situation is encountered in the future. Subtle behavioral avoidance, cognitive avoidance, and safety signals are introduced, and clients are asked to provide their own examples. Habitual avoidance of emotion creates negative messages about our capabilities and robs us of the chance to learn that the emotion is tolerable and will pass on its own without our efforts to avoid or escape. In this countering avoidant behavior session, clients are taught how to do the opposite of avoidance by developing a willingness to lean into emotions, or approach them, and thereby learn new lessons about emotion, situations, and themselves.

scholarly journals Individual differences in avoiding feelings of disgust: Development and construct validity of the disgust avoidance questionnaire

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0248219
Author(s):  
Paula von Spreckelsen ◽  
Nienke C. Jonker ◽  
Jorien Vugteveen ◽  
Ineke Wessel ◽  
Klaske A. Glashouwer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Construct Validity ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cognitive Avoidance ◽  
Behavioral Avoidance

We developed and examined the construct validity of the Disgust Avoidance Questionnaire (DAQ) as a measure of people’s inclination to prevent experiencing disgust (disgust prevention) and to escape from the experience of disgust (disgust escape). In a stepwise item-reduction (Study 1; N = 417) using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) based on a 4-subscale distinction (behavioral prevention, cognitive prevention, behavioral escape, cognitive escape), we selected 17 items from a pool of potential items. In order to incorporate the conceptual overlap between dimensions of disgust avoidance, focus (prevention vs. escape), and strategy (behavioral avoidance vs. cognitive avoidance), we specified an adapted model. In this model, we allowed each item to load on one type of dimension and one type of strategy, resulting in four overlapping factors (prevention, escape, behavioral avoidance, cognitive avoidance). Evaluation of this overlapping 4-factor model (Study 2; N = 513) using Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) showed promising model fit indices, factor loadings, factor correlations, and reliability estimates for three of the four factors (prevention, behavioral avoidance, cognitive avoidance). Those three subscales also showed good convergent validity. In contrast, the results related to the escape factor may call the suitability of self-report to assess disgust escape into question. In light of the exploratory nature of the project, future examinations of the DAQ’s validity and applicability to more diverse samples are essential. A critical next step for future research would be to examine the DAQ’s criterion validity and the distinctive roles of the DAQ subscales in (clinical) psychological constructs and processes.

scholarly journals A computer-based avatar task designed to assess behavioral inhibition extends to behavioral avoidance but not cognitive avoidance

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5330 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Todd Allen
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Inhibition ◽  
Depressive Disorders ◽  
Objective Measure ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Cognitive Avoidance ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Behavioral Avoidance ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Biased Responding ◽  
Future Work

Avoidance is a common feature of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as anxiety and depressive disorders. Avoidance can be expressed behaviorally as well as cognitively. Most personality assessments for avoidance involve self-report inventories which are susceptible to biased responding. The avatar task (Myers et al., 2016a) was developed as an objective measure of behavioral inhibition (BI) which is defined as a tendency for avoidance of unfamiliar people and situations. The avatar task has been demonstrated to screen avoidant behaviors related to BI, PTSD, as well as harm avoidance (HA) as measured by the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ). In the current work, the avatar task was tested with cognitive as well as behavioral avoidance as measured by the cognitive-behavioral avoidance scale (CBAS; Ottenbreit & Dobson, 2004). The CBAS includes four subscales which measure behavioral social (BS) avoidance, behavioral non-social (BN) avoidance, cognitive social (CS) avoidance, and cognitive non-social (CN) avoidance. It was hypothesized that avatar scores would be significantly positively related to behavioral, but not cognitive, avoidance. In addition, it was also hypothesized that performance on the avatar task would be more related to social than non-social behavioral avoidance. Participants completed the avatar task, the HA scale of the TPQ and the CBAS. Pearson’s product moment correlations revealed that avatar scores were significantly related to CBAS total scores as well as BS and BN scores, but not CS and CN scores. In addition, BS has a stronger relationship with avatar scores than BN avoidance which fits with the social aspects of the scenarios in the avatar task. A median split of the avatar scores produced a significant difference in scores on the behavioral but not the cognitive subscales. Overall, the current results supported the idea that the avatar task is measuring behavioral avoidance, specifically in social situations, rather than cognitive avoidance. Future work could adapt the avatar task to include scenarios similar to the cognitive items on the CBAS to create an objective measure of cognitive avoidance which may be relevant in measuring avoidance in depression and behavioral avoidance associated with PTSD as well as anxiety disorders.

Rumination, Worry, Cognitive Avoidance, and Behavioral Avoidance: Examination of Temporal Effects

2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 629-640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelsey S. Dickson ◽  
Jeffrey A. Ciesla ◽  
Laura C. Reilly
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Avoidance ◽  
Temporal Effects ◽  
Behavioral Avoidance

scholarly journals Preprint: Individual Differences in Avoiding Feelings of Disgust: Development and Construct Validity of the Disgust Avoidance Questionnaire

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula von Spreckelsen ◽  
Nienke Jonker ◽  
Jorien Vugteveen ◽  
Ineke Wessel ◽  
Klaske A. Glashouwer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Construct Validity ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cognitive Avoidance ◽  
Behavioral Avoidance

We developed and examined the construct validity of the Disgust Avoidance Questionnaire (DAQ) as a measure of people’s inclination to prevent experiencing disgust (disgust prevention) and to escape from the experience of disgust (disgust escape). In a stepwise item-reduction (sample 1; n = 417) using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) based on a 4-subscale distinction (behavioral prevention, cognitive prevention, behavioral escape, cognitive escape), we selected 17 items from a pool of potential items (step 1). In order to incorporate the conceptual overlap between dimensions of disgust avoidance, focus (prevention vs. escape), and strategy (behavioral avoidance vs. cognitive avoidance), we specified an adapted model. In this model, we allowed each item to load on one type of dimension and one type of strategy, resulting in four overlapping factors (prevention, escape, behavioral avoidance, cognitive avoidance). Evaluation of this overlapping 4-factor model (sample 2; n = 513) using Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) showed promising model fit indices, factor loadings, factor correlations, and reliability estimates for three of the four factors (prevention, behavioral avoidance, cognitive avoidance; step 2). Those three subscales also showed good convergent validity (step 3; sample 2). In contrast, the results related to the escape factor question the suitability of self-report to assess disgust escape. In light of the exploratory nature of the project, future examination of the DAQ’s validity is essential. A critical next step for future research would be to examine the DAQ’s criterion validity and the distinctive roles of the DAQ subscales in (clinical) psychological constructs and processes.

Core Module 7: Situational Emotion Exposure

2017 ◽  
pp. 119-134
Author(s):  
Jill Ehrenreich-May ◽  
Sarah M. Kennedy ◽  
Jamie A. Sherman ◽  
Emily L. Bilek ◽  
Brian A. Buzzella ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Skills ◽  
Skills Development ◽  
Adaptive Behaviors ◽  
Cognitive Avoidance ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms ◽  
Behavioral Avoidance ◽  
Core Module

Chapter 7 covers situational emotion exposure. The module begins with a review of previously learned skills. The therapist helps the adolescent to identify situations in which they continue to use maladaptive emotional behaviors, including instance of behavioral avoidance, cognitive avoidance, and aggression, to cope with strong emotions. The therapist then works with clients to help them approach and/or use more adaptive behaviors in these situations. Information about additional skills applicable to those with obsessive-compulsive symptoms or needs for social skills development in concert with situational emotion exposure is also provided.

Interactive Effect of Dispositional Cognitive Avoidance, Magnitude of Threat, and Response Efficacy on the Persuasive Impact of Threat Communications

2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steffen Nestler ◽  
Boris Egloff
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Cognitive Avoidance ◽  
Effective Response ◽  
Response Efficacy ◽  
Internet Study ◽  
High Threat

This internet study investigated the effect of individual differences in cognitive avoidance on the persuasive impact of threat communications. A total of 289 participants completed a measure of dispositional cognitive avoidance and read either a high- or a low-threat communication that provided either an effective response to reduce the threat or not. We found that cognitive avoidance did not moderate the effect of magnitude of threat when response efficacy was low. By contrast, cognitive avoidance was relevant when efficacy was high: After a high-threat message, low cognitive avoiders reported more favorable attitudes toward and intentions to adopt the action recommendation than high cognitive avoiders. Further analyses showed that severity perceptions mediate this effect of avoidance on attitudes and intentions. Individual differences in cognitive avoidance are thus an important moderator of the effectiveness of threat communications.

I Want to Be Like You

2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 115-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Matschke ◽  
Kai Sassenberg
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Identity Development ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Social Identification ◽  
Social Self ◽  
Approach And Avoidance ◽  
Internal Motivation ◽  
Avoidance Strategies ◽  
Social Identity Development

Entering a new group provides the potential of forming a new social identity. Starting from self-regulation models, we propose that goals (e.g., internal motivation to enter the group), strategies (e.g., approach and avoidance strategies), and events (e.g., the group’s response) affect the development of the social self. In two studies we manipulated the group’s response (acceptance vs. rejection) and assessed internal motivation as well as approach and avoidance strategies. It was expected, and we found, that when newcomers are accepted, their use of approach strategies (but not avoidance strategies) facilitates social identification. In line with self-completion theory, for highly internally motivated individuals approach strategies facilitated social identification even upon rejection. The results underline the active role of newcomers in their social identity development.

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