Relationship Between Perfectionism and Agoraphobia in Patients with Panic Disorder

Abstract

We investigated the relationship between perfectionism and agoraphobia in 59 panic disorder patients with agoraphobia, 44 panic disorder patients without agoraphobia and 35 healthy controls using Frost's Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale. The panic disorder with agoraphobia group scored significantly higher than the panic disorder group or the healthy controls on the Frost's Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale subscales regarding concern over mistakes, personal standards, parental criticism and on the total Frost's Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale score. In logistic regression analyses, the Frost's Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale total score was the only predictor variable that made a significant unique contribution to the prediction of agoraphobia. These results suggest that perfectionistic beliefs and tendencies may be involved in the development and maintenance of agoraphobia in patients with panic disorder and thus should be considered as a target for cognitive behavioural therapy.