Douglas H. Lamb

A Psychophysiological Study of State and Trait Anxiety in Public Speaking.

This study investigates the effects of several variables upon the correlation of psychological and physiological measures of speech anxiety.

Speech anxiety: Towards a theoretical conceptualization and preliminary scale development

Anxiety experienced while in a public speaking situation (speech anxiety) is discussed within the framework of Trait‐State Anxiety Theory. Speech anxiety may be considered a dispositional variable designed to measure individual differences in speech anxiety proneness (Speech A‐Trait) or a measure of anxiety experienced during a particular speech (Speech A‐State). Physiological and behavioral measures of speech anxiety are typically viewed as A‐State measures. Self‐report indices may be considered either state or trait anxiety measures depending on the context in which the measures were obtained. The development of a scale to measure both Speech A‐State and Speech A‐Trait, including initial normative, reliability, and validity data, is reported.

Patient Anxiety in the Dentist's Office

Patient anxiety during three phases of a dental appointment indicated that subjectively experienced anxiety increased as treatment approached and dramatically decreased after treatment. The amount of anxiety change was different for men and women. Implications for anxiety reduction in the dentists office are discussed.

Psychologists reflect on their sexual relationships with clients, supervisees, and students: Occurrence, impact, rationales and collegial intervention.

Practicing psychologists who engaged in prohibited sexual relationships with clients, supervisees, and students reflected on the impact, circumstances, and rationales associated with engaging in such relationships. Of thesample, 3.5% reported such relationships; 84% were male psychologists, and the majority of the relationships were with female clients after the therapist-client relationship ended. There was considerable variability in the evaluation of such relationships, with retrospective reflections being less positive. The majority of psychologists reported a significant impact on their professional work and identified personal vulnerabilities that contributed to developing such relationships. Collegial intervention was universally viewed as valuable. Professional implications are discussed.

Comparative effects of cognitive modification, systematic desensitization, and speech preparation in the reduction of speech and general anxiety

This study compared the effectiveness of cognitive modification (CM), systematic desensitization (D), and speech preparation (SP) in the reduction of speech and general anxiety. Effectiveness was measured by self‐report and behavioral measures, administered after treatment and again at a three month follow‐up. The results of a series of analyses of covariance suggested that (1) the CM program was very effective in reducing both speech anxiety and general anxiety, (2) the SP program was very effective in reducing speech anxiety but not effective in reducing general anxiety, and (3) the D program was moderately effective for both speech and general anxiety.

The effect of a brief relaxation treatment for dental anxiety on measures of state and trait anxiety.

Used a brief deep muscle relaxation procedure to reduce patient (N = 39) anxiety during a dental appointment. State anxiety decreased significantly for a relaxed (treated) group from the waiting room period to the actual contact with the dentist. This reduction in state anxiety was maintained for the duration of the dental visit. There were no changes in trait anxiety. Implications for the reduction of state and trait anxiety in an in vivo situation were discussed.

A preliminary look at how psychologists identify, evaluate, and proceed when faced with possible multiple relationship dilemmas

Psychologists identified which nonsexual multiple relationships (MRs) they most frequently had to negotiate with current and former clients, supervisees, and students. Information was also gathered on how potential sexualMRs develop and why such relationships do not ultimately occur. Nonsexual MRs were discussed or addressed most frequently with supervisees, and social interactions and events were the types of relationships that were most frequently discussed. Actions cuing a potential sexual MR are also described, and rationales that deterred psychologists from actually engaging in sexual relationships are provided.

Addressing Impairment and its Relationship to Professional Boundary Issues: A Response to Forrest, Elman, Gizara, and Vacha-Haase

I believe that there would be little doubt among professionals who study student/trainee impairment that the Forrest, Elman, Gizara, and Vacha-Haase (1999 [this issue]) article will stand as the most comprehensive and useful reference on this topic for a number of years. Their work represents an excel lent summary and synthesis regarding the definitional, evaluative, organiza tional, and legal perspectives on impairment. It is must reading not only for training personnel but also for students and academic or training administra tors. In addition to providing a synthesis of a significant amount of material, the authors, through their comprehensive review and subsequent set of recommendations, challenge professionals to further clarify a number of issues related to impairment. My comments regarding the content of this article fall into two broad categories. First, several issues that have been discussed in Forrest et al.’s article will be highlighted and expanded. Second, I will discuss a topic, professional boundaries, that I will suggest has relevance to anticipating and/or minimizing impairment.

“Overloading” the left hemisphere in right-handed subjects with verbal and motor tasks ☆

Abstract One hundred and two (51 male, 51 female) right-handed subjects were randomly assigned to either perform a motor task with the left arm or with the right arm while simultaneously performing a digits backward task. It was found that the left arm group performed significantly better on the digits backward task than did the right arm group. The results were explained in terms of “hemisphere sharing”. This concept suggests that an interference situation is created in the left hemisphere when subjects are required to perform two tasks which are both designed to elicit left hemisphere activity.

Use of Behavioral Measures in Anxiety Research

While behavioral-observer ratings have been routinely used in anxiety research and, in particular, to note changes as a function of treatment, mixed findings have been reported. This study attempted to delineate specific behaviors which differentiated individuals who were highly prone to experience anxiety in a speaking situation from low prone individuals. No over-all differences on the behavioral measures were found between the two groups, and there were no consistent relationships found between the behavioral measure and other measures of state anxiety obtained during a test speech.