Exposure therapy improves everyday physical activity

The systematic confrontation with avoided stimuli (exposition) has been shown to improve the quality of life in individuals with anxiety disorders. But is this rather a subjective matter – or is there also objective change in patients' lives? In an Ecological Momentary Assessment study, Ingmar Heinig and Philipp Kanske, with colleagues from Würzburg, Göttingen and Greifswald, demonstrate that exposure therapy is associated with an increase in physical activity: After treatment, patients take more steps per hour, spend more time active instead of sitting or lying, and have a higher energy turnover (metabolic equivalent of task). These results are shown in 85 patients with anxiety disorders who were equiped with a movement sensor on their hips around the clock before, during and after therapy. Exposure therapy thus improves physically active behavior, which could in turn be associated with further positive sequelae.

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