OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether (a) baseline levels of panic-specific reflection function (PSRF; i.e. patients' capacity to reflect on their panic symptoms) and improvement in this capacity over treatment; (b) baseline borderline personality disorder (BPD) traits and pre-post treatment improvement in BPD traits predict change in patients' quality of object relations. METHOD: A subsample of 102 patients diagnosed with panic disorder from a larger randomized controlled trial received either Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy or Panic-Focused Psychodynamic Psychotherapy. We investigated whether baseline levels and change in both PSRF and BPD traits (as measured by the SCID-II) predicted pre-post change in quality of object relations (QOR), while controlling for pre-post treatment change in panic symptoms assessed by the Panic Disorder Severity Scale. RESULTS: In both treatments, higher baseline levels of PSRF and lower levels of BPD traits, as well as pre-post decrease in BPD traits, predicted improvement in QOR when controlling for symptomatic change. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that reduction in comorbid BPD traits can facilitate improvement in patients' quality of object relations even in brief symptom-focused psychotherapies. Additionally, patients with higher baseline levels of symptom-focused reflective function and lower BPD traits are more likely to demonstrate interpersonal change over the course of psychotherapy for panic disorder. Finally, our study highlights the importance of examining therapeutic change beyond reduction in symptoms, particularly in domains of interpersonal functioning.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether (a) baseline levels of panic-specific reflection function (PSRF; i.e. patients' capacity to reflect on their panic symptoms) and improvement in this capacity over treatment; (b) baseline borderline personality disorder (BPD) traits and pre-post treatment improvement in BPD traits predict change in patients' quality of object relations. METHOD: A subsample of 102 patients diagnosed with panic disorder from a larger randomized controlled trial received either Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy or Panic-Focused Psychodynamic Psychotherapy. We investigated whether baseline levels and change in both PSRF and BPD traits (as measured by the SCID-II) predicted pre-post change in quality of object relations (QOR), while controlling for pre-post treatment change in panic symptoms assessed by the Panic Disorder Severity Scale. RESULTS: In both treatments, higher baseline levels of PSRF and lower levels of BPD traits, as well as pre-post decrease in BPD traits, predicted improvement in QOR when controlling for symptomatic change. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that reduction in comorbid BPD traits can facilitate improvement in patients' quality of object relations even in brief symptom-focused psychotherapies. Additionally, patients with higher baseline levels of symptom-focused reflective function and lower BPD traits are more likely to demonstrate interpersonal change over the course of psychotherapy for panic disorder. Finally, our study highlights the importance of examining therapeutic change beyond reduction in symptoms, particularly in domains of interpersonal functioning.
Authors: John R Keefe; Barbara L Milrod; Robert Gallop; Jacques P Barber; Dianne L Chambless Journal: Depress Anxiety Date: 2017-12-06 Impact factor: 6.505
Authors: Almut Zeeck; Svenja Taubner; Thorsten C Gablonski; Inga Lau; Stephan Zipfel; Wolfgang Herzog; Beate Wild; Hans-Christoph Friederich; Gaby Resmark; Katrin Giel; Martin Teufel; Markus Burgmer; Andreas Dinkel; Stephan Herpertz; Bernd Löwe; Sefik Tagay; Jörn von Wietersheim; Martina De Zwaan; Max Zettl; Alexander F Meier; Armin Hartmann Journal: Front Psychiatry Date: 2022-05-23 Impact factor: 5.435