Abstract
Outcome expectancy and efficacy expectancy measures were made during the course of a cross-cultural comparison of thermal biofeedback and autogenic training as treatments for mild essential hypertension. There were no differences between groups at either pre- or posttreatment, and expectancy measures were not related to initial success or failure at the completion of treatment. However, both outcome and efficacy expectations were related to relapse over the three months immediately following the completion of treatment. Treatment failures had lower ratings for both outcome and efficacy expectations at the posttreatment assessment in comparison to treatment successes. Implications of these results are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Agras, W. S., Horne, M., & Taylor, C. B. (1982). Expectation and the blood-pressure-lowering effects of relaxation.Psychosomatic Medicine, 44 389–395.
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change.Psychological Review, 84 191–215.
Blanchard, E. B., Khramelashvili, V. V., McCoy, G. C., Aivasyan, T. A., McCaffrey, R. J., Salenko, B. B., Musso, A. J., Wittrock, D. A., Berger, M., Gerardi, M. A., & Pangburn, L. (1988). The USSR-USA collaborative cross-cultural comparison of autogenic training and thermal biofeedback in the treatment of mild hypertension.Health Psychology, 7(suppl.), 175–192.
Borkovec, T. C., & Nau, S. D. (1972). Credibility of analogue therapy rationales.Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 3 256–260.
Cottier, C., Shapiro, K., & Julius, S. (1984). Treatment of mild hypertension with progressive muscle relaxation: Predictive value of indexes of sympathetic tone.Archives of Internal Medicine, 144 1954–1958.
Hypertension Detection and Follow-up Program Cooperative Group (1979). Five-year findings of the Hypertension Detection and Follow-Up Program: I. Reduction in mortality of persons with high blood pressure, including mild hypertension.Journal of the American Medical Association, 242 2562–2571.
Jacobson, N. S., & Baucom, D. H. (1977). Design and assessment of nonspecific control groups in behavior modification research.Behavior Therapy, 8 709–719.
Kirschenbaum, D. S., & Tomarken, A. J. (1982). On facing the generalization problem: The study of self-regulatory failure. In P. C. Kendall (Ed.),Advances in cognitive-behavioral research and therapy (Vol. 1). New York: Academic Press.
Wittrock, D. A., Blanehard, E. B., & McCoy, G. C. (1988). Three studies on the relation of process to outcome in the treatment of essential hypertension with relaxation and thermal biofeedback.Behavior Research and Therapy, 26 53–66.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The American portion of this research was supported by grant No. HL-31189 from the NHLBI. We express appreciation to the late Academician Igor Shkvatsabaya and Professor Vadim Zaitsev at the USSR Cardiology Research Center for their scientific and administrative support.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wittrock, D.A., Blanchard, E.B., McCoy, G.C. et al. The relationship of expectancies to outcome in stress management treatment of essential hypertension: Results from the joint USSR-USA behavioral hypertension project. Biofeedback and Self-Regulation 20, 51–63 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01712766
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01712766