Personality traits among panic disorder with agoraphobia patients before and after symptom-focused treatment

The first aim of this study was to examine the relationship between change of the agoraphobic state during treatment and personality change. The second aim was to examine the potential effect of PD traits on symptom change during and after treatment. Patients (N = 46) suffering from panic disorder with moderate or severe agoraphobia and considering agoraphobia as their main problem were randomly assigned to receive either cognitive therapy or guided mastery therapy in a 6-week inpatient group program. From before to 1 year after the end of treatment, the number of avoidant and dependent traits decreased significantly. Among changes during treatment on various symptom and cognitive variables, only change in catastrophic beliefs was significantly related to reduction in avoidant and dependent traits. Number of dependent traits at pretreatment was related to less improvement from pretreatment to 1-year follow-up on the symptom and cognitive scales.