Despite the common nature of blushing and the feelings of discomfort that often accompany it, to date. no studies have yet examined the relationship between personality characteristics and the fear of blushing. The present study fills this gap in the literature, by examining, in a sample of adults and a sample of children (9-16 years), the relationship between personality and fear of blushing. For this purpose questionnaires were administered to representative community samples of adults (n = 157) and children (n = 150). Results showed that, among adults, fear of blushing was best predicted by Structure, whereas, among children, fear of blushing was best predicted by Neuroticism. When comparing the two samples, children reported more fear of blushing than adults, whereas, across samples, females reported more fear of blushing than males. Conclusions are discussed as well as future directions for research. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

UNLABELLED The clinical impression is that people who fear blushing do not easily seek psychological help for their complaints. Therefore, we designed a low-threshold psychoeducational group intervention to reduce fear of blushing. The intervention followed a cognitive-behavioural approach, but in a course setting, e.g., with 'participants' and 'teachers' instead of 'patients' and 'therapists'. The effectiveness of the course in reducing fear of blushing and social anxiety was tested in a group of blushing-fearful individuals (n = 47) by using an uncontrolled study design. The course consisted of six weekly sessions and one booster session 3 months after the last regular session. Assessments took place upon application, immediately before the intervention, after the sixth session, before the booster session, and at 1-year follow-up. Results showed that the course was effective in reducing fear of blushing as well as symptoms of social anxiety. The positive effect of the course on anxiety measures suggests that it might be a promising approach for treating fear of blushing. KEY PRACTITIONER MESSAGE The course 'dealing with fear of blushing' is a cognitive-behavioural group intervention in a course setting, e.g., with 'participants' and 'teachers' instead of 'patients' and 'therapists'. The course was effective in reducing anxiety complaints. An effect size of 1.4 and a reduction of approximately 30 points on this Blushing, Trembling and Sweating Questionnaire are comparable with what was reported for individual cognitive-behavioural treatments. Participants evaluated the course positively.

To explain fear of blushing, it has been proposed that individuals with fear of blushing overestimate the social costs of their blushing. Current information-processing models emphasize the relevance of differentiating between more automatic and more explicit cognitions, as both types of cognitions may independently influence behavior. The present study tested whether individuals with fear of blushing expect blushing to have more negative social consequences than controls, both on an explicit level and on a more automatic level. Automatic associations between blushing and social costs were assessed in a treatment-seeking sample of individuals with fear of blushing who met DSM-IV criteria for social anxiety disorder (n = 49) and a non-anxious control group (n = 27) using a single-target Implicit Association Test (stIAT). In addition, participants’ explicit expectations about the social costs of their blushing were assessed. Individuals with fear of blushing showed stronger associations between blushing and negative outcomes, as indicated by both stIAT and self-report. The findings support the view that automatic and explicit associations between blushing and social costs may both help to enhance our understanding of the cognitive processes that underlie fear of blushing.

Both individual cognitive-behavioural therapy and short-term psychoeducational courses have shown to be effective in reducing hypochondriacal complaints. However, it is unknown which patients benefit from treatment. The aim of the present study is to explore which variables predict treatment outcome in a pooled group of 140 participants of a psychoeducational course. Predictor variables were a) pretreatment hypochondriasis, b) age, c) gender, d) level of education, e) duration of hypochondriacal complaints, f) severity of depressive complaints, g) severity of trait anxiety, and h) treatment expectation. The target scores were residual gain scores of hypochondriacal complaints. Results showed that more severe hypochondriacal complaints at pre- and post-test correlated significantly with more severe hypochondriacal complaints later. Furthermore, higher trait anxiety and older age predicted less treatment gain in hypochondriacal complaints. More research of which variables can predict treatment outcome is needed.

This study examined the potential role of disgust propensity and contamination sensitivity in vaginismus. Women suffering from vaginismus ( n = 20) or dyspareunia ( n = 22), and a group of women without sexual complaints ( n = 30) completed self report measures indexing their (1) general dispositional disgust propensity, and (2) sensitivity for (ideational) contamination by sexual stimuli as a function of its source (self, partner, unknown). In support of the idea that disgust may be involved in vaginismus, women with vaginistic complaints displayed a generally enhanced dispositional disgust propensity. The sensitivity for contamination by sexual stimuli did not vary across groups. However, especially when the source was the participant’s partner, the willingness ratings might have been influenced by demand and may, therefore, not accurately reflect participant’s actual sensitivity for contamination by sexual stimuli. Future studies using more implicit or behavioral measures are necessary to more definitely test the role of disgust in vaginismus.

Aims: The present study aims to determine whether cognitive-behavioural minimal contact bibliotherapy is acceptable to participants suffering from DSM-IV-TR hypochondriasis, and whether this intervention is able to reduce hypochondriacal complaints, as well as comorbid depressive complaints and trait anxiety. Method: Participants were assigned to either an immediate treatment condition, or subsequently to a waiting list condition. Participants were sent a book, Doctor, I Hope it's Nothing Serious?, containing cognitive behavioural theory and exercises. Measures were taken pre, post and at follow-up (after 3 months). Those in the waiting list group received a second pre-assessment, and were then enrolled in the bibliotherapy. Results: Results showed that participants were accepting of the cognitive-behavioural theory. Furthermore, results showed beneficial effects of the intervention: all effect measures decreased significantly over time, with the largest effect at post-assessment. However, a large amount of questionnaires were not returned. Conclusion: It is concluded that bibliotherapy may be an efficient aid in reducing hypochondriacal and comorbid complaints, but due to data attrition and methodological flaws should first be studied further.