Behavioral activation versus cognitive restructuring to reduce automatic negative thoughts in anxiety generating situations.

BACKGROUND Recent studies have compared the efficacy of cognitive intervention compared to behavioral techniques for the treatment of different disorders. In line with that work, the empirical study presented here examined the efficacy of Behavioral Activation (BA) and Cognitive Therapy (CT) on Negative Automatic Thoughts (PANs) elicited in situations generating anxiety. METHOD Based on a sample of 42 students aged 18 to 21 who took the ISRA B, BADS and EROS, 18 subjects with the highest scores were selected and assigned at random to one of two experimental groups or to a control group. Experimental Group 1 was given intervention based on CT and Experimental Group 2 based on BA. Both interventions consisted of five 60-min sessions. RESULTS Pre and post treatment measurement analyses reveal that both conditions effectively reduced the intensity of the anxiety response. However, BA was the only condition showing a significant reduction in ANTs. CONCLUSIONS The results are discussed stressing the efficacy of BA in exclusively cognitive intervention.