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Psykologstudenters inställning till exponering som behandlingsmetod och syn på att integrera exponering inom psykodynamisk terapi

Guldager, Gustav LU and Johansson, Emil LU (2026) PSPR14 20252
Department of Psychology
Abstract
Exposure is one of the most empirically validated treatment methods within cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and is effective in treating several types of anxiety. Despite this, research shows that the method often faces resistance among therapists, contributing to underutilization in clinical practice. It is unclear to what extent this resistance exists among psychology students. This explorative study aimed to examine the attitudes towards exposure as a treatment method in Swedish psychology students, attending the psychology program at Lund’s University. The possibility of integrating exposure within psychodynamic therapy (PDT) was also examined. The study also examined group differences in attitudes towards exposure, in regards to... (More)
Exposure is one of the most empirically validated treatment methods within cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and is effective in treating several types of anxiety. Despite this, research shows that the method often faces resistance among therapists, contributing to underutilization in clinical practice. It is unclear to what extent this resistance exists among psychology students. This explorative study aimed to examine the attitudes towards exposure as a treatment method in Swedish psychology students, attending the psychology program at Lund’s University. The possibility of integrating exposure within psychodynamic therapy (PDT) was also examined. The study also examined group differences in attitudes towards exposure, in regards to term, previous experience of anxiety treatment and allying to different therapies. The study used a cross-sectional design with data from 47 students, collected through a partly self-constructed survey. The survey’s main inclusions were the Therapists Beliefs about Exposure Scale (TBES) and manually constructed items regarding the implementation of exposure within PDT. The results for TBES showed that the participants had generally few negative attitudes towards exposure (M = 22.66, SD = 7.38). Little resistance was reported for implementing exposure in PDT. No significant group differences were found in attitudes towards exposure. The results indicate that their attitudes are formed early in their education and are fairly stable in the latter stages. Main limitations were the small sample and the use of manually constructed items. Future research should replicate the study with bigger populations, as well as using longitudinal designs to examine the stability of the attitudes. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Exponering är en av de mest empiriskt validerade behandlingsmetoderna inom kognitiv beteendeterapi (KBT) och har visat sig vara effektiv vid flera ångestrelaterade tillstånd. Trots detta visar forskning att metoden ofta möter motstånd bland terapeuter, vilket kan bidra till en underanvändning i praktiken. Det är oklart i vilken utsträckning ett sådant motstånd finns bland psykologstudenter. Syftet med denna explorativa studie var att undersöka inställningen till exponering som behandlingsmetod hos svenska psykologstudenter på psykologprogrammet vid Lunds universitet. Vidare undersöktes deras syn på att integrera exponering inom psykodynamisk terapi (PDT). Studien ämnade också att undersöka huruvida det fanns gruppvisa skillnader i... (More)
Exponering är en av de mest empiriskt validerade behandlingsmetoderna inom kognitiv beteendeterapi (KBT) och har visat sig vara effektiv vid flera ångestrelaterade tillstånd. Trots detta visar forskning att metoden ofta möter motstånd bland terapeuter, vilket kan bidra till en underanvändning i praktiken. Det är oklart i vilken utsträckning ett sådant motstånd finns bland psykologstudenter. Syftet med denna explorativa studie var att undersöka inställningen till exponering som behandlingsmetod hos svenska psykologstudenter på psykologprogrammet vid Lunds universitet. Vidare undersöktes deras syn på att integrera exponering inom psykodynamisk terapi (PDT). Studien ämnade också att undersöka huruvida det fanns gruppvisa skillnader i inställning till exponering för vilken termin studenten går på, erfarenhet av ångestbehandling och alliering till terapiform. Studien genomfördes som en tvärsnittsstudie med 47 psykologstudenter där data samlades in via en egenkonstruerad enkät. Centrala delar av enkäten var självskattningsformuläret Therapists Beliefs about Exposure Scale (TBES) och egenkonstruerade påståenden om att implementera exponering i PDT. Resultatet på TBES visade att deltagarna hade generellt få negativa attityder till exponering (M = 22.66, SD = 7.38). Deltagarna hade få invändningar till att integrera exponering inom PDT. Inga signifikanta gruppvisa skillnader fanns gällande resultatet på TBES. Resultatet tyder på att attityder till exponering formas tidigt under utbildningen och att inställningen i senare terminer är stabil. Studiens begränsningar berör det begränsade urvalet och de egenkonstruerade frågorna om exponering i PDT. Framtida forskning bör fokusera på att replikera studien i större och mer varierande populationer, samt använda longitudinella studier för att undersöka hur stabil inställningen är över tid. (Less)
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author
Guldager, Gustav LU and Johansson, Emil LU
supervisor
organization
course
PSPR14 20252
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
exposure, attitudes, psychology students, cognitive behavioural therapy, psychodynamic therapy, exponering, inställning, psykologstudenter, kognitiv beteendeterapi, psykodynamisk terapi
language
Swedish
id
9219530
date added to LUP
2026-01-20 09:35:34
date last changed
2026-01-20 09:35:34
@misc{9219530,
  abstract     = {{Exposure is one of the most empirically validated treatment methods within cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and is effective in treating several types of anxiety. Despite this, research shows that the method often faces resistance among therapists, contributing to underutilization in clinical practice. It is unclear to what extent this resistance exists among psychology students. This explorative study aimed to examine the attitudes towards exposure as a treatment method in Swedish psychology students, attending the psychology program at Lund’s University. The possibility of integrating exposure within psychodynamic therapy (PDT) was also examined. The study also examined group differences in attitudes towards exposure, in regards to term, previous experience of anxiety treatment and allying to different therapies. The study used a cross-sectional design with data from 47 students, collected through a partly self-constructed survey. The survey’s main inclusions were the Therapists Beliefs about Exposure Scale (TBES) and manually constructed items regarding the implementation of exposure within PDT. The results for TBES showed that the participants had generally few negative attitudes towards exposure (M = 22.66, SD = 7.38). Little resistance was reported for implementing exposure in PDT. No significant group differences were found in attitudes towards exposure. The results indicate that their attitudes are formed early in their education and are fairly stable in the latter stages. Main limitations were the small sample and the use of manually constructed items. Future research should replicate the study with bigger populations, as well as using longitudinal designs to examine the stability of the attitudes.}},
  author       = {{Guldager, Gustav and Johansson, Emil}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Psykologstudenters inställning till exponering som behandlingsmetod och syn på att integrera exponering inom psykodynamisk terapi}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}