Negative beliefs of spider phobics: A psychometric evaluation of the spider phobia beliefs questionnaire

Abstract

Beliefs held by spider phobics about a confrontation with a spider are investigated. Study 1 explores the content of thoughts and images which spider phobics (N = 44) report to have during a confrontation with a spider and investigates the frequency and strength of the subjective belief in the idea. Spider phobics appear to have an abundance of negative, irrational ideas about the spider and about their own reactions during a confrontation with a spider. A one-session therapistassisted exposure therapy strongly attenuates these beliefs. Study 2 investigates the psychometric properties of the Spider Phobia Beliefs Questionnaire (SBQ), which measures the strength of belief of a large number of ideas derived from Study 1, in a second sample of spider phobics (N = 112). Factor analysis revealed 5 spider-related factors: harm, hunter and prey, unpredictability, territory, and multiplication; and 4 self-related factors: panic, paralysis, incubation, and unrestrained behavior. These factors have good internal consistency and reasonable test-retest reliability. The SBQ discriminates strongly between spider phobics and normals (N = 33) and has good concurrent validity as indicated by positive associations with other indices of spider phobia. It appears that spider phobics have a lot of misconceptions about spiders, e.g., that spiders attack them, take revenge, or are incalculable and about their own reactions about a confrontation with a spider, e.g., they expect to have a heart attack, to die of fear, or to exacerbate their fear. Most self-related ideas resemble those held by panic patients. Both spider-related and self-related ideas can be corrected by a one-session treatment.