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The relationship of affect balance in family interactions to behaviour therapy outcome: a study with agoraphobic outpatients and their relatives
Author(s) -
Renneberg Babette,
Chambless Dianne L.,
Fydrich Thomas,
Goldstein Alan J.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
clinical psychology and psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.315
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1099-0879
pISSN - 1063-3995
DOI - 10.1002/cpp.306
Subject(s) - agoraphobia , psychology , affect (linguistics) , panic , clinical psychology , panic disorder , balance (ability) , psychiatry , anxiety , communication , neuroscience
The purpose of the study was to examine affect balance in dyads of patients and their relatives and its relationship to behaviour therapy outcome for agoraphobia and panic. Thirty‐five agoraphobic outpatients and their relatives participated in the study. On the basis of a 10‐min videotaped discussion between the patients and their partners, coded with Kategoriensystem für Partnerschaftliche Interaktion (KPI; Hahlweg et al. , 1984), dyads were classified as affect balanced or unbalanced. Affect‐balanced dyads were those who demonstrated a preponderance of positive over negative and neutral behaviours for both people in the interaction. Compared to patients in unbalanced families, patients from balanced families were more likely to benefit from treatment on agoraphobic avoidance, although not on panic frequency, at both post‐test and a naturalistic 6‐month follow‐up. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.