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CHAPTER 7 174 RESULTS Participant characteristics and baseline differences Groups did not differ in age, disgust sensitivity (DS-R), and spider fear at screening (SAS) and pretest (FSQ), largest F (2,73) = 1.14, p = .33, see Table 1. The mean pretest FSQ score of 70.31 ( SD = 19.03) indicates a subclinical sample, as participants with spider phobia in other studies obtained FSQ scores of 83.74 ( SD = 20.78), 83.56 (SD = 20.48; Milosevic & Radomsky, 2013), and 89.10 (SD = 19.60; Muris & Merckelbach, 1996), compared to healthy controls with 3.00 ( SD = 7.80). Groups did not differ in the extent participants thought the spider used in the experiment was scary or disgusting, largest F (2,73) = 2.27, p = .11. No pretest differences were found on any of the outcomes measures, F s < 1. Outcome measures FSQ There was a significant effect for Time, F (1,73) = 64.32, p < .001, η p ² = .47, power = 1.00, and for Time x Condition, F (2,73) = 5.95, p = .004, η p ² = .14, power = .87, indicating an overall decrease in self-reported spider fear that differed between conditions, see Figure 2 left panel. The pre- to posttest decrease was significant for the Exposure + approach and Exposure only conditions, smallest t (24) = 5.96, p < .001, r = .77, power = 1.00, but not for the Control condition, t (24) = 1.74, p = .10. Pairwise comparisons showed a larger decrease in FSQ scores for Exposure + approach compared to the Control condition, p = .004, power = .76, and a trend for the Exposure only compared to the Control condition, p = .06, power = .47. In contrast with the hypothesis that Exposure + approach would outperform Exposure only, these conditions did not differ, p > .99.