Stereotyped behaviour.

Increased rates of smoking initiation and smoking-related illness among women have narrowed the gender gap in smoking behavior. Past studies of performance by gender in prevention and treatment programs have reported reduced success with women and have suggested a need for stronger interventions having greater effects on both genders' smoking cessation. A field study of 93 male and 93 female CMHC outpatients examined the facilitation of smoking cessation by combining hypnosis and aversion treatments. After the 2-wk. program, 92% or 86 of the men and 90% or 84 of the women reported abstinence, and at 3-mo. follow-up, 86% or 80 of the men and 87% or 81 of the women reported continued abstinence. Although this field study in a clinical setting lacked rigorous measurement and experimental controls, the program suggested greater efficacy of smoking cessation by both sexes for combined hypnosis and aversion techniques.

Aversive Therapy↗

PubMed1993

Elimination of thumb-sucking as a treatment for severe trichotillomania.

A 5-year-old girl presented with a 3-year history of severe trichotillomania and alopecia. The trichotillomania was observed to covary, or occur only in the presence of thumb-sucking. Thus, the elimination of thumb-sucking was targeted as a treatment for trichotillomania. The investigation evaluated the relative effectiveness of a standard aversive taste treatment, a response-dependent alarm and a response-disrupting thumb-post. Results indicated that only the thumb-post completely eliminated thumb-sucking and the covarying trichotillomania. These results suggest that when trichotillomania is a benign habit disorder, the treatment of a covarying habit such as thumb-sucking can be an effective treatment alternative and that resilient thumb-sucking can be effectively managed with an easily implemented thumb-post that requires little supervision and provides long-term success.

Aversive Therapy↗