Effects of a therapeutic modeling film on cognitive and emotional components of anxiety.

This study examined the nature of the anxiety reduction resulting from the administration of a film designed to reduce anxiety about snakes. One-hundred-sixty high school seniors viewed either a modeling film or a control film. As expected, the modeling group, compared to control subjects, experienced significantly greater decrements on self-report measures of anxiety and avoidance of snakes and demonstrated significantly fewer false assumptions about snakes after viewing the film than before. Also as expected, following the distinction between Worry and Emotionality as separable components of anxiety, Worry scores decreased significantly more for the modeling than for the control group, whereas no differential changes in Emotionality were found. (Author)