APPLICATION OF THE STAGES OF CHANGE SCALE IN A CLINICAL DRUG TRIAL

The Stages of Change Scale (SOC: McConnaughy, Prochaska, & Velicer, 19 83) was used to predict outcome among 131 outpatients with generalized anxiety disorder who were enrolled in a clinical drug trial. As predi cted, subjects high on Precontemplation did not experience as much rel ief from anxiety as subjects low on Precontemplation, whereas subjects high on Contemplation or Action experienced more decrease in anxiety during the trial than subjects low on these stages. Contrary to our hy pothesis, only Contemplation was related to illness severity changes, and scores on the Maintenance scale were not related to outcome, Of th e four stage scores, only Maintenance was related to premature termina tion of treatment. There were no differences between drug (adinazolam) and placebo groups and only Action scores interacted with drug/placeb o assignment in this study. Results suggest that the SOC may be useful in identifying individuals who are most likely to experience decrease d anxiety while enrolled in a clinical drug trial. (C) 1997 Elsevier S cience Ltd.