The Generalizability of Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Panic Disorder
The current study examined the generalizability of manual-driven cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) for panic disorder to a clinical setting representing an ethnically diverse population. This treatment had previously been shown to be effective in a controlled clinical trial at a research clinic (Barlow, Craske, Cerny, & Klosko, 1989). In the present study, 30 patients with panic disorder received 12 sessions of CBT. Patients were evaluated at pre- and posttreatment with measures assessing the full spectrum of symptoms associated with panic disorder (panic attacks, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety, depression). Following treatment, there were significant and clinically meaningful reductions on all measures. In order to determine how well the efficacy of CBT generalizes to nonresearch clinical settings and to ethnically diverse urban populations, data in the present study were compared to those collected by Barlow and associates (1989). Patients in our clinical setting showed higher pretreatment levels of symptomatology than patients in Barlow and colleagues’ (1989) research setting, but similar posttreatment symptom levels and response rates. Thus, this study provides evidence for the generalizability of CBT from clinical research centers to clinically representative settings.