Is agoraphobia harder to treat? A comparison of agoraphobics' and simple phobics' response to treatment

Abstract

Agoraphobia is reputed to be more difficult to treat than simple phobia. In a test of this supposition, 38 agoraphobics and 19 simple phobics were each given 10 sessions of graduated in vivo exposure. They were assessed before and after therapy using a behavioral avoidance test, behavioral diaries, and self-report measures. Analysis of covariance revealed unequivocal posttest differences only on self-assessed disability level; agoraphobics had changed less in their report of global disability immediately following treatment but not at follow-up. Sixty-eight percent of the simple phobics showed clinically significant improvement on avoidance of the Main Phobia, compared with 34% of the agoraphobics. On three other outcome measures, including more precise behavioral measures of phobia, agoraphobics and simple phobics responded equivalently to treatment. Given clinicians' impressions about the comparative difficulty in treating agoraphobic clients, fewer differences in treatment response were obtained than were expected. Several possible explanations for this discrepancy are discussed.