Patient Characteristics and Patient Behavior as Predictors of Outcome in Cognitive Therapy and Exposure Therapy for Hypochondriasis
- ObjectivePsychotherapy for hypochondriasis has greatly improved over the last decades and cognitive-behavioral treatments are most promising. However, research on predictors of treatment outcome for hypochondriasis is rare. Possible predictors of treatment outcome in cognitive therapy (CT) and exposure therapy (ET) for hypochondriasis were investigated. MethodCharacteristics and behaviors of 75 patients were considered as possible predictors: sociodemographic variables (sex, age, and cohabitation); psychopathology (pretreatment hypochondriacal symptoms, comorbid mental disorders, and levels of depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms); and patient in-session interpersonal behavior. ResultsSeverity of pretreatment hypochondriacal symptoms, comorbid mental disorders, and patient in-session interpersonal behavior were significant predictors in multiple hierarchical regression analyses. Interactions between the predictors and the treatment (CT or ET) were not found. ConclusionsIn-session interpersonal behavior is an important predictorObjectivePsychotherapy for hypochondriasis has greatly improved over the last decades and cognitive-behavioral treatments are most promising. However, research on predictors of treatment outcome for hypochondriasis is rare. Possible predictors of treatment outcome in cognitive therapy (CT) and exposure therapy (ET) for hypochondriasis were investigated. MethodCharacteristics and behaviors of 75 patients were considered as possible predictors: sociodemographic variables (sex, age, and cohabitation); psychopathology (pretreatment hypochondriacal symptoms, comorbid mental disorders, and levels of depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms); and patient in-session interpersonal behavior. ResultsSeverity of pretreatment hypochondriacal symptoms, comorbid mental disorders, and patient in-session interpersonal behavior were significant predictors in multiple hierarchical regression analyses. Interactions between the predictors and the treatment (CT or ET) were not found. ConclusionsIn-session interpersonal behavior is an important predictor of outcome. Furthermore, there are no specific contraindications to treating hypochondriasis with CT or ET.…
| Author details: | Samantha Richtberg, Marion Jakob, Volkmar Hoefling, Florian WeckORCiDGND |
|---|---|
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22356 |
| ISSN: | 0021-9762 |
| ISSN: | 1097-4679 |
| Pubmed ID: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27532367 |
| Title of parent work (English): | Journal of clinical psychology |
| Publisher: | Wiley |
| Place of publishing: | Hoboken |
| Publication type: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Date of first publication: | 2016/08/17 |
| Publication year: | 2016 |
| Release date: | 2022/05/09 |
| Tag: | cognitive-behavioral therapy; hypochondriasis; illness anxiety disorder; interpersonal behavior; predictors of outcome |
| Volume: | 73 |
| Issue: | 6 |
| Number of pages: | 14 |
| First page: | 612 |
| Last Page: | 625 |
| Organizational units: | Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Strukturbereich Kognitionswissenschaften / Department Psychologie |
| DDC classification: | 1 Philosophie und Psychologie / 15 Psychologie / 150 Psychologie |
| Peer review: | Referiert |
