Does computer anxiety reach levels which conform to DSM IV criteria for specific phobia?

Fear of technology in general and of computers in particular has been shown to be prevalent in the population. This study sets out to explore the experience of computer anxiety and is in two parts. The first part examines computer anxiety in the context of DSM IV criteria for specific phobia by comparing the incidence of underlying beliefs of those high in computer anxiety with people with spider phobia and with a non-anxious group. 185 Participants filled in questionnaires concerning general and specific measures of anxiety. Results provide tentative support for the claim that computer anxiety may reach clinical levels, that some cognitions held by the computer anxious are held in common with the cognitions of those suffering from spider phobia who conform to DSM IV criteria for specific phobia, and that a case may be made for computer anxiety to enter into the framework of problematic fears. However, several of the cognitions core to the experience of spider phobia were not found in the computer anxious participants. Examination of individual cognitions revealed that the kinds of concerns being expressed were more akin to social or test anxiety ('I would make a fool of myself') than to specific phobia ('I would scream', 'I would become hysterical'). In a further exploration of this, the second study with 164 participants compared aspects of computer anxiety and avoidance with measures of social, performance, and test anxiety. These were found to be significantly related to each other. The implications and limitations of the studies are discussed.

[1]  Magid Igbaria,et al.  Computer anxiety and attitudes towards microcomputer use , 1990 .

[2]  P. Salkovskis,et al.  Phobic beliefs: do cognitive factors play a role in specific phobias? , 1995, Behaviour research and therapy.

[3]  M. Omar.  Attitudes of college students towards computers: A comparative study in the United States and the Middle East , 1992 .

[4]  Dc Washington.  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Ed. , 1994 .

[5]  R. Friend,et al.  Measurement of social-evaluative anxiety. , 1969, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[6]  Sherrie L. Nist,et al.  Developing Textbook Thinking , 1994 .

[7]  Joel Cooper,et al.  Mere presence, gender, and reactions to computers: Studying human-computer interaction in the social context , 1990 .

[8]  Mark Brosnan,et al.  Technophobia: The Psychological Impact of Information Technology , 1998 .

[9]  R. Carlson,et al.  Computer Anxiety and Communication Apprehension: Relationship and Introductory College Course Effects , 1993 .

[10]  Marilyn E. Gist,et al.  EFFECTS OF ALTERNATIVE TRAINING METHODS ON SELF-EFFICACY AND PERFORMANCE IN COMPUTER SOFTWARE TRAINING , 1989 .

[11]  Ik-Whan G. Kwon,et al.  Attributes Affecting Computer-Aided Decision Making--A Literature Survey. , 1994 .

[12]  Lily Shashaani.  Gender Differences in Computer Attitudes and Use among College Students , 1997 .

[13]  Alan Durndell,et al.  Computer self efficacy, computer anxiety, attitudes towards the Internet and reported experience with the Internet, by gender, in an East European sample , 2002, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[14]  Larry D. Rosen,et al.  The psychological impact of technology from a global perspective , 1995 .

[15]  Martin M Antony,et al.  Assessment and Treatment of Social Phobia , 1997, Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie.

[16]  G. Davey,et al.  Phobias: A Handbook of Theory, Research and Treatment , 2000, Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy.

[17]  Mark J. Brosnan,et al.  The role of psychological gender in the computer-related attitudes and attainments of primary school children (aged 6-11) , 1998, Comput. Educ..

[18]  Mark Brosnan,et al.  A new methodology, an old story? Gender differences in the “draw-a-computer-user” test , 1999 .

[19]  G. A. Marcoulides,et al.  The Relationship between Computer Anxiety and Computer Achievement , 1988 .

[20]  Mark J. Brosnan,et al.  The impact of computer anxiety and self-efficacy upon performance , 1998, J. Comput. Assist. Learn..

[21]  Gerard George,et al.  Managing Instructor Cyberanxiety: The Role of Self-Efficacy in Decreasing Resistance to Change. , 1996 .

[22]  Mark Brosnan,et al.  The Impact of Psychological Gender, Gender-Related Perceptions, Significant Others, and the Introducer of Technology upon Computer Anxiety in Students , 1998 .

[23]  A. Wells.  A cognitive model of social phobia , 1995 .

[24]  Larry D. Rosen,et al.  Computer anxiety: A cross-cultural comparison of university students in ten countries , 1995 .

[25]  M. Franklin.  Social phobia : diagnosis, assessment, and treatment , 1996 .

[26]  Johnson Jh,et al.  WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT. , 1965 .

[27]  N. Bozionelos,et al.  Psychology of Computer Use: XXXIX. Prevalence of Computer Anxiety in British Managers and Professionals , 1996, Psychological reports.

[28]  A. Beck.  Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders: A. T. Beck , 1987, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[29]  Peter Caputi,et al.  Cognitive interference in computer anxiety , 2001, Behav. Inf. Technol..

[30]  Larry D. Rosen,et al.  Myths and realities of computerphobia: A meta-analysis , 1990 .

[31]  A. Durndell,et al.  Gender and computing: A decade of change? , 1997, Comput. Educ..

[32]  Carl H. Johnson,et al.  Role-Reversed Systematic Desensitization in the Treatment of a Writing Phobia , 1982, Perceptual and motor skills.

[33]  Larry D. Rosen,et al.  Computers, classroom, instruction, and the computerphobic university student , 1990 .

[34]  M. Brosnan,et al.  A cross-cultural comparison of gender differences in computer attitudes and anxieties : the united kingdom and Hong Kong , 1998 .

[35]  F. Watts,et al.  Questionnaire dimensions of spider phobia. , 1984, Behaviour research and therapy.

[36]  S. Lemeshow,et al.  Body, weight, stature, and sitting height: white and Negro youths 12-17 years, United States. , 1973, Vital and health statistics. Series 11, Data from the National Health Survey.

[37]  W. Stone.  Modern problems of pharmacopsychiatry: Edited by H. E. Lehmann and T. A. Ban. New York, Karger, 1969, 116 pages, $5.00 , 1969 .

[38]  Gil Choi,et al.  Computer Anxiety and Social Workers: Differences by Access, Use, and Training , 2002 .

[39]  Robert S. Lee.  SOCIAL ATTITUDES AND THE COMPUTER REVOLUTION , 1970 .

[40]  Matthew M. Maurer,et al.  Computer anxiety correlates and what they tell us: A literature review , 1994 .

[41]  Brian Wilson,et al.  Redressing the anxiety imbalance: Computerphobia and educators , 1999, Behav. Inf. Technol..

[42]  P. Salkovskis,et al.  Selective attention to real phobic and safety stimuli. , 1998, Behaviour research and therapy.

[43]  M. Brosnan.  Modeling technophobia: a case for word processing , 1999 .

[44]  Larry D. Rosen,et al.  Treating technophobia: A longitudinal evaluation of the computerphobia reduction program , 1993 .