Cognitive and coping therapy for agoraphobia - a controlled trial

The purpose of the project was to compare the impact of cognitive therapy and guided coping in the treatment of agoraphobia. It has been investigated whether cognitive therapy is more effective than exposure-based coping therapy for severe agoraphobia. An overall test showed no differences between the conditions at a one-year follow-up. The cognitive therapy patients were more improved in terms of conditions related to spontaneous panic attacks. As expected in the cognitive model, change in catastrophic beliefs during treatment proved to predict change in outcome after treatment.

本研究旨在对比认知疗法（Cognitive Therapy）与指导性应对疗法在广场恐惧症（Agoraphobia）治疗中的干预效果。本研究同时探讨了针对重度广场恐惧症，认知疗法是否优于基于暴露的应对疗法（Exposure-based Coping Therapy）。整体检验结果显示，在一年随访阶段，两种干预组的患者无显著差异。接受认知疗法的患者在与自发性惊恐发作（Spontaneous Panic Attacks）相关的症状改善上效果更佳。正如认知模型所预期的，治疗期间灾难性信念（Catastrophic Beliefs）的变化可有效预测治疗后的结局变化。