Premature termination of psychological treatment for anxiety disorders in a clinical setting

  1. Ignacio Fernández-Arias 1
  2. Gloria García-Fernández 12
  3. Mónica Bernaldo-de-Quirós 1
  4. Francisco José Estupiñá Puig 1
  5. Francisco Javier Labrador Encinas 1
  6. Marta Labrador-Méndez 1
  1. 1 Universidad Complutense de Madrid (España)
  2. 2 Universidad de Oviedo
    info

    Universidad de Oviedo

    Oviedo, España

    ROR https://ror.org/006gksa02

Revista:
Psicothema

ISSN: 0214-9915

Año de publicación: 2016

Volumen: 28

Número: 3

Páginas: 241-246

Tipo: Artículo

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Otras publicaciones en: Psicothema

Resumen

Background: Empirically supported psychological treatments (ESTs) have demonstrated their effectiveness and clinical utility for the treatment of anxiety disorders (AD) but few studies have assessed the factors associated with premature termination in ESTs for AD. Method: The goals of this study, which involved 291 patients with a diagnosis of anxiety who had received outpatient psychological care, consisted of examining premature termination of treatment (PTT), comparing the individual characteristics of the patients who successfully completed treatment with those who terminate it prematurely, and analyzing the predictors of PTT. Results: Of the sample, 8.2% refused to start treatment, 28.5% dropped out before completing it, and 63.2% successfully completed treatment. In 50% of the cases, PTT occurred during the first 7 sessions, and in 80%, before the 15th session. Alternatively, 76.4% of the patients who complete treatment successfully do so before session 20. We found that patients with PTT attended a significantly lower number of treatment sessions and attended the sessions more irregularly and unpunctually. Presenting a generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), problems with punctuality and with task performance were predictors of failure to complete treatment. Conclusions: These findings suggest the need to reinforce early adherence to treatments to help patients remain in treatment.

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