Recall and validation of phobia origins as a function of a structured interview versus the Phobia Origins Questionnaire.
Switch from questionnaires to brief structured interviews when you need accurate recall of how a client’s phobia began.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team asked the adults with specific phobias to tell how their fear started.
Half filled out the Phobia Origins Questionnaire.
Half answered a structured interview with set follow-up questions.
Parents then checked which stories were true.
What they found
The interview group gave fewer stories, but parents could confirm twice as many.
The questionnaire group gave more stories, yet most could not be verified.
In short, interviews cut the noise and kept the facts.
How this fits with other research
A-Bigby et al. (2009) saw a similar pattern with youths who have intellectual disabilities.
When interviewers repeated leading questions, 40 % of kids changed their answers.
Both studies warn that format, not just memory, shapes what clients report.
Prasher et al. (1995) worked with panic clients at the same time.
They showed that early warmth builds trust, so a calm interview style may also help recall.
Why it matters
Before you write a behavior plan, you need true events, not tall tales.
Start with a short structured interview instead of a paper form.
Ask one clear question, pause, then probe once.
You will get fewer stories, but the ones you get will hold up when parents or staff check.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Memory for fear onset events was examined in 43 dog-fearful and 48 blood/injection-fearful participants. Half of each fear type was administered the Phobia Origins Questionnaire (POQ), and half the Phobia Origins Structured Interview (POSI). Written accounts of recalled onset experiences were sent to participants' parents for verification. More participants assessed by the POQ reported a phobia onset event (93%) than did those assessed by the POSI (54%). A majority in both methods recalled conditioning-like experiences. The POQ resulted in more reports of vicarious and informational onset reports than did the POSI. Parents confirmed more onset event reports obtained by the POSI (81%) than those obtained by the POQ, (50%). In addition, in 21% of cases where a child recalled an event, a parent reported an onset event that predated the one provided by the child. Results are discussed in terms of memory mechanisms operative in autobiographical memories.
Behavior modification, 1999 · doi:10.1177/0145445599231003