Abstract
Three experiments comparing the effects of muscle tension-release relaxation with vs without physiological attention-focusing and no-treatment on (a) sleep disturbance, (b) general tension, and (c) a variety of time estimation, heart rate perception, and stress reaction measures, are reported. The two relaxation conditions produced equivalent reductions in latency to sleep onset reports, suggesting the importance of tension-release in the relaxation treatment of sleep disturbance. Relaxation without physiological attention-focusing was unexpectedly superior to the other relaxation condition in reducing reported daily tension, supporting Denny's (1976) hypothesis that pervasive anxiety may be a function of anxiety conditioned to relaxation-produced cues. Sleep disturbed subjects over-estimated elapsed time, and relaxation training improved accuracy of time estimation. Several additional differences between sleep and tension subjects and among the three treatment conditions on physiological activity during stress are reported and discussed.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 7-19 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Behaviour Research and Therapy |
Volume | 16 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1978 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Psychiatry and Mental health