ENVIRONMENTAL-FACTORS RELATED TO THE OUTCOME OF PANIC DISORDER - A 7-YEAR FOLLOW-UP-STUDY

The purpose of this study was to examine factors related to the outcom e of naturalistically treated panic disorder. In order to achieve this we followed up 69 patients 7 years after they had presented at a psyc hiatric clinic. At follow-up, the patients were generally doing well d espite persisting symptoms. Patients who were more severely ill at the time of initial assessment had a worse outcome. These patients had mo re severe panic and agoraphobic symptoms, had illnesses of longer dura tion, and more often had histories of major depression. Among the deve lopmental variables examined, separation from a parent by death or div orce was strongly related to poor outcome. Other factors associated wi th poor outcome included high interpersonal sensitivity, low social cl ass, and unmarried marital status. The findings show that, for this ch ronic illness, measures of severity and chronicity predict more severe and persisting symptoms. They also indicate that outcome is important ly related to the social environment in which the illness develops and with which it interacts.