Changes in distress intolerance and treatment outcome in a partial hospital setting.
Despite the well-established role of distress intolerance (DI) in a wide range of psychological disorders, few studies have examined whether DI improves during treatment and whether these changes are associated with symptom outcomes. Patients (N=626) enrolled in a brief cognitive-behavioral partial hospital program completed pre- and posttreatment measures of DI. Results indicated that DI decreased significantly during treatment, with more than 30% of the sample exhibiting a reduction of more than 2 standard deviations from the sample mean. Women reported higher DI than men at baseline; however, there were no gender differences in changes in DI over time. Participants also completed a pre- and posttreatment measure of depression and a subset completed a measure of anxiety (n=167). DI was associated with more severe depression and anxiety at pre- and posttreatment, with participants who reported a decrease in DI also reporting lower depression and anxiety symptoms at post-treatment. These results further highlight the transdiagnostic relevance of DI and suggest that DI may be a relevant factor in treatment outcome for depression and anxiety.
McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Electronic address: kmchugh@mclean.harvard.edu.
R Kathryn
RK
McHugh
McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Sarah J
SJ
Kertz
McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Rachel B
RB
Weiss
McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Arielle R
AR
Baskin-Sommers
McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Bridget A
BA
Hearon
McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Thröstur
T
Björgvinsson
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011614:Psychotherapy, Brief; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
anxiety; cognitive behavioral therapy; depression; distress intolerance; treatment outcome