Client anxiety level as a moderator variable in assertion training

Abstract

Twenty-eight male and female college undergraduates seeking assertion training were dichotomized into high- and low-anxiety groups on the basis of the discomfort scale of Gambrill and Richey's (1975) Assertion Inventory. Subjects from both groups were randomly assigned to two treatment conditions: (1) behavioral skills training and (2) cognitive restructuring. The skills training condition included components of instruction, modeling, social feedback, and behavioral rehearsal. The cognitive restructuring condition involved training in the discrimination of maladaptive self-statements, and the implementation of cognitive coping strategies. Both treatment conditions were run in a group format and consisted of six 2-hour sessions. Client anxiety was found to function as a moderator variable on treatment effectiveness. While low-anxiety subjects benefited equally well from skills training or cognitive restructuring procedures, high-anxiety subjects benefited more from skills training on behavioral measures and showed a nonsignificant trend to benefit more from cognitive restructuring on self-report measures. The lack of consistency in change between behavioral and self-report realms is examined in terms of a cognitive-evaluative model of social anxiety and implications for future treatment programs are discussed.