12
Views
13
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

Covert Modeling Treatment of Children's Dental Fears

&
Pages 249-255 | Published online: 23 Oct 2008
 

Abstract

Efficacy of covert modeling used in the treatment of children's dental fears was investigated. Following behavioral and self-report pretreatment evaluation, subjects were randomly assigned to four experimental and one control condition. Regardless of assignment, all subjects imagined two successive hierarchies of increasingly anxiety-provoking, dental-related scenes. In a three-factor repeated measure design, experimental groups visualized one model (single) or two models (multiple) as consistently (mastery) or progressively (coping) nonanxious. No-model controls imagined a similar repeated hierarchy without a child model present. Posttreatment evaluation (5 to 15 days later) found significant behavioral anxiety reduction across all groups. In contrast to previous findings using covert modeling treatment with adults, type and number of models imagined did not significantly effect behavioral anxiety reduction. Self-report anxiety decline was sporadic. Recommendations were made specifically with regard to future research using covert modeling in the treatment of children's fears.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.