Contribution of the token economy to the efficacy of emotive performances for treating phobia of the dark

The outcomes of a study that analyzes the contribution of the token economy to the effectiveness of the program of emotive performances are presented. The participants were 65 children, with an average age of 6 years and 3 months, similarly distributed by gender (50,65% boys). The subjects were randomly assigned to 3 experimental conditions: a) treatment with the complete program of emotive performances, b) treatment with emotive performances without token economy, c) control group in a waiting list. The program was applied by the parents at home during 12 sessions of 30 minutes, after being trained. The complete program reached better outcomes than the treatment without token economy, what means that this is an important component of the program. The control group showed avoidance behaviours and fear of the dark when the period of waiting finished, showing significant differences compared with the treated groups. These findings confirm the efficacy of the emotive performances and the relevance of the token economy in the treatment of the phobia of the dark in children.