A CLINICAL-STUDY OF SPIDER PHOBIA - PREDICTION OF OUTCOME AFTER SELF-HELP AND THERAPIST-DIRECTED TREATMENTS

The present clinical study was aimed at investigating predictors of tr eatment success, attrition and the extent of treatment needed to achie ve clinically significant improvement in spider phobic patients. A tot al of 103 patients were included in the study after a detailed screeni ng interview. There were four treatment conditions; self-help manual, video, group, and individual treatment, which the patients received in a hierarchical order providing they were not clinically significantly improved after the previous treatment. Pre and post each treatment th e patients went through a behavioral approach test and filled in a num ber of self-report questionnaires. The results showed that 38 patients dropped out during the manual treatment, and 59 fulfilled the treatme nts to become clinically improved. The patients achieving clinical imp rovement after the two self-help treatments were significantly predict ed, as was the extent of treatment needed. The significant predictors were credibility of the manual treatment and motivation for psychother apy in general. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.