title: All at once or one at a time? A randomized controlled trial comparing two ways to deliver bibliotherapy for panic disorder.
abstract: Bibliotherapy is potentially effective in the treatment of panic disorder (PD). A still unanswered question is whether pacing is important. This study was designed to test whether there is a difference between being assigned a full book as therapy and receiving one individual chapter every week (i.e. pacing). A total of 28 participants were randomized to either 10 paced chapters or one book with 10 chapters. To maximize compliance, short weekly telephone calls were added in both conditions (M = 17.8 min, SD = 4.2). Both treatments showed promising results, with effects maintained up to 2 years and with within-group effect sizes (Cohen's d) between 0.95 and 1.11. Pretreatment ratings of credibility were positively correlated with the change scores at both posttest and 2-year follow-up for three panic measures. Pacing of text material in bibliotherapy for PD is not needed, and all material can be provided at once when the treatment is guided by a therapist.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden. per.carlbring@psy.umu.se
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carlbring
authors.forename: Tommy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maurin
authors.forename: Josefin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sjömark
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Maurin
authors.forename: Bengt E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Westling
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ekselius
authors.forename: Pim
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cuijpers
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Andersson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001638:Bibliotherapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000628:therapy*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013997:Time Factors