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 fearprovoking 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.