Reduction of Anxiety and Personal Space as a Function of Assertion Training with Severely Disturbed Neuropsychiatric Inpatients

Abstract

7 severely disturbed neuropsychiatric inpatients participated in a 12-session assertion training program as well as the normal hospital milieu therapy program. A matched group participated in only the normal hospital milieu therapy routine. All Ss were compared on the dependent measures of personal space and the Spielberger Self-evaluation Questionnaire 1 wk. before and 1 wk. after the assertion training program. The experimental group showed a significant reduction in both personal space and self-reported anxiety while the matched control group shewed no significant reduction. Small rhos indicate the need for further research examining the relationship between personal space and anxiety.

Assertiveness training: A forgotten evidence‐based treatment.

“…Specifically, assertiveness group training compared to control groups (e.g., normal hospital milieu program) has been found to significantly improve both selfreport and behavioral indices of anxiety and assertive behavior in inpatients with serious mental illness (Aschen, 1997;Booraem & Flowers, 1972;Lin et al, 2008). In addition to the use of assertiveness training to target individuals with specific diagnostic presentations such as anxiety and depression, past research has explored whether assertiveness training could be used to influence comorbid conditions and increase general functioning in individuals with serious mental illness and hospitalized samples.…”

Assertion and defense mechanism preference.

“…Not unexpectedly, the primitive defenses of repression and turning against self were found to correlate positively with psychosomatic complaints (Gur & Gur, 1975) and illness (Klein, Gonen, & Smith, 1975). Finally, nonassertive individuals have been reported to maintain unusually large zones of personal space (Booraem & Flowers, 1972). Even in this area, Meisels and Dorsey (1971) reported that subjects with primitive defenses against anger expression (i.e., denial) employed larger interpersonal spatial distances.…”

Personal space of incarcerated offenders

“…Distance is greater for violent offenders (Newman & Pollack, 1973), schizophrenics (Horowitz et al, 1964;Sommer, 1959), and cigarette smokers (Kunzendorf & Denney, 1982). Proxemic distance decreases with psychotherapy among schizophrenics (Booraem & Flowers, 1972;Horowitz, 1968) and with repeated weekly assessments among violent offenders (Kinzel, 1970). It increases in stressful situations (Dosey & Meisels, 1969;Leipold, 1963), in cross-racial encounters (Booraem, Flowers, Bodner, & Satterfield, 1977;Frankel & Barrett, 197 l), and when preceded by insulting interpersonal encounters, particularly when the insulter is the proxemic intruder (O'Neal, Brunault, Carifio, Troutwine, & Epstein, 1980).…”