Use of Motivation Enhancement Therapy to Increase Intervention Utilization in a Population at High-Risk of Developing Anxiety Psychopathology

Elevated levels of anxiety sensitivity (AS), the fear of anxiety and its consequences, places individuals at an increased risk for the development of anxiety disorders, especially panic disorder. It has shown that treating AS may reduce the future development of anxiety psychopathology. However, individuals high in AS may be unaware of the risks associated with this risk factor and, therefore, may tend to be ambivalent or unaware of interventions to reduce AS. The purpose of the current study was to enhance motivation to utilize a preventive intervention in a non-intervention seeking population with elevated levels of AS. Participants (N = 65) were randomized to one of two groups: (1) a motivational enhancement group (MET; N = 32) group, or (2) a psychoeducation control group (N = 33). Those in the MET group received MET focused on enhancing motivation to reduce AS, whereas those in the control group were informed of their elevated level of AS, received psychoeducation about health and general well-being, but did not receive MET. At the end of the study, all of the participants were given the option to receive a computerized intervention previously found to be effective at reducing AS (see Schmidt et al., 2007). Results revealed that all participants showed an increase in the importance and confidence to change anxiety after receiving high-risk feedback before starting the experimental session. Once they were in the experimental groups (i.e., MET or health focused control), results revealed that the MET group showed significantly higher levels of motivation on the self-report questionnaires than the control group. However, there was not a group difference in the completion of the AS intervention. Further, the MET condition was associated with a significant reduction in level of AS after completing the experiment session. Implications of the findings are discussed.