title: Agoraphobia: a situational analysis.
abstract: Examined previous notions about the nature of agoraphobia. A contrast of emphasis was found between those who regarded it primarily as a situational fear and others who saw it essentially as a product of some underlying anxiety. A more precise situational analysis was attempted that focused on six variables: Unaccompanied vs. with someone, distance from home, familiarity of location, crowdedness, type of location, and time spent. One hundred and twenty-eight situation descriptions were generated by factorially combining the different levels of each variable. The items thus produced were assembled randomly into a questionnaire that was completed by 30 agoraphobic patients. The importance of the contribution of each variable to the rated fear-provoking potential of the situation description was analyzed. Results were discussed in terms of the agoraphobic as typically dependent upon a significant other, and treatment implications were examined.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000379:Agoraphobia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D012931:Social Environment