Do the effects of cognitive therapy endure? A two-year follow-up of tension headache sufferers treated with cognitive therapy or biofeedback

Abstract

This report presents findings from a two-year follow-up of chronic tension headache sufferers treated either with stress-coping training (cognitive therapy, N = 11) or electromyographic biofeedback (N = 8). Clients who had received stress-coping training reported that two years following treatment they continued to use the coping strategies they had been taught, and daily headache recordings indicated they were still significantly improved ( p < .005). About one-half of the clients treated with biofeedback were substantially improved following treatment, with the remaining clients showing minor improvements or increases in headache symptoms. These mixed outcomes were still evident at two-year follow-up, with three of four clients maintaining improvements and the remaining clients showing, at best, minor reductions in headache symptoms. This longterm maintenance of treatment gains following stress-coping training suggests that cognitive therapy deserves the increased attention of investigators interested in the long-term maintenance of therapeutic gains.