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Cognitive Defusion And Psychological Flexibility With Self-Relevant Academic Distress Stimuli, Laura Ely

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A distinctive feature of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is cognitive defusion. Rapid word repetition is one of the exercises used in ACT to promote defusion. Previous research has examined the effect of this exercise with the general population, using words representing negative self-referential thoughts. Studies have found that discomfort and believability of these thoughts decrease more following this defusion exercise as compared to a thought distraction task. The present study evaluated the effects of the word repetition defusion exercise using content reflecting academic distress, in an undergraduate sample primed to feel academic anxiety. The defusion exercise was compared to …