Does interpersonal loss preceding panic disorder onset moderate response to psychotherapy? An exploratory study.

Background: Little research has addressed moderators of treatment outcome for anxiety disorders, and none has considered interpersonal loss as a predictor of outcome.

Purpose: To examine the effect of interpersonal loss events within the 6 weeks preceding panic disorder onset as a moderator of outcome in a randomized controlled trial of Panic-Focused Psychodynamic Therapy (PFPP) and Applied Relaxation Therapy (ART). Researchers hypothesized that such loss events would predict better outcome in PFPP but would not affect ART outcome.