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Psicothema was founded in Asturias (northern Spain) in 1989, and is published jointly by the Psychology Faculty of the University of Oviedo and the Psychological Association of the Principality of Asturias (Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos del Principado de Asturias).
We currently publish four issues per year, which accounts for some 100 articles annually. We admit work from both the basic and applied research fields, and from all areas of Psychology, all manuscripts being anonymously reviewed prior to publication.

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Cognitive Defusion as a Verbal Exercise: An Experimental Approach

Mª Angeles López de Uralde-Selva, and Luis Valero-Aguayo

Universidad Málaga

Background: As one of the founding principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), cognitive defusion is a contextual control of language, but it is not clear which behavioural process would allow such defusion. Two experiments are presented which analyse that process using a word repetition exercise. Method: Experiment 1 was performed with 30 randomised participants, using a factorial between-groups (4×2) with repeated measures design: Group 1 = milk-milk-milk exercise; 2 = emotional word repetition; 3 = milk-to-emotional word shaping; and 4 = control without intervention. Questionnaires were applied on thoughts, emotional regulation, and experiential avoidance, in addition to the evaluation of 20 images suggesting emotions. In Experiment 2, 78 participants were randomised using the same 4×2 design, and also 60 images with a proven emotional reactivity were used. Results: Experiment 1 did not show changes in any of the variables, nor a decrease in emotional assessment, which should occur according to the theory behind ACT. In Experiment 2, no significant changes between the groups and no pre-post changes appeared, except in latency time. Conclusions: The lack of replication of the defusion process is discussed, along with the mixed results of other studies.

Defusión Cognitiva como Ejercicio Verbal: un Enfoque Experimental. Antecedentes: desde la Terapia de Aceptación y Compromiso (ACT), la defusión cognitiva es un proceso de control contextual del lenguaje, aunque no está claro cuál sería el proceso conductual de esa defusión. Se presentan dos experimentos analizando ese proceso mediante un ejercicio de repetición de palabras. Método: el primer experimento se realizó con 30 participantes aleatorizados, con un diseño factorial entre-grupos con medidas repetidas (4×2): Grupo 1 = ejercicio leche-leche; 2 = repetición de palabra emocional; 3 = moldeamiento leche-palabra emocional; y 4 = control. Se han utilizado cuestionarios sobre pensamientos, regulación emocional y evitación experiencial, junto con la valoración de 20 imágenes que sugerían emociones. En el segundo experimento se aleatorizaron 78 participantes con el mismo diseño 4×2, y se utilizaron 60 imágenes con una reactividad emocional ya comprobada.  Resultados: en el primer experimento no hubo cambios en ninguna de las variables, ni la disminución de la valoración emocional que debería producirse según la teoría de ACT. Tampoco en el segundo experimento aparecieron cambios significativos entre los grupos, ni pre-post, excepto en el tiempo de latencia. Conclusiones: se discute la falta de replicación del proceso de defusión que defiende ACT, siguiendo también los resultados dispares de otros estudios.

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