Agoraphobic Behavior in Daily Life: Effects of Social Roles and Demographic Characteristics

Abstract

Agoraphobia is related to demographic characteristics and social roles. To unravel behavioral aspects from demographic characteristics, daily life situations were registered with the Experience Sampling Method for 65 panic patients with and without agoraphobia. Surprisingly, panic patients with and without agoraphobia did not differ as hypothesized in reported frequencies of visits to public places. Panic subjects with agoraphobia did, however, spend significantly more time at home and with their families than did panic patients without agoraphobia and normal controls. When adjusted for demographic variables such as sex, marital status, family life, and employment, no significant differences between panic patients with and without agoraphobia emerged on the avoidance variables of remaining at home or being with a family member. The lack of discrimination of the diagnosis on these crucial behavioral variables highlights the influence of demographic characteristics and social roles on agoraphobia in daily life. Such findings challenge current diagnostic conceptualizations that rely on retrospective reports by patients of the avoidance of public places. Moreover, reliance on retrospective reports obscured the important role of significant others for understanding etiology and course.

Experience sampling research in psychopathology: opening the black box of daily life

“…Only a few studies have been conducted in the area of anxiety disorders, a domain in which situational triggers are often of importance in eliciting symptoms. Dijkman-Caes et al (1993) compared behavioural aspects of panic disorder patients with and without agoraphobia and, contrary to expectation, found no difference between groups regarding the amount of time spent in public places. Panic subjects with agoraphobia did, however, spend significantly more time at home and with their families than did panic patients without agoraphobia and normal controls.…”

Daily life moment-to-moment variation in coping in people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia: state within trait psychosis

“…This was possible because of the use of the ESM procedure. Previous studies have demonstrated the validity of ESM in psychiatric populations (Barge-Schaapveld, Nicolson, van der Hoop & De Vries, 1995;Delespaul, 1995;Dijkman-Caes, De Vries, Kraan & Volovics, 1993;Kimhy et al, 2009Kimhy et al, , 2006Myin-Germeys et al, 2009Myin-Germeys, van Os, Schwartz, Stone & Delespaul, 2001;Peeters, Berkhof, Delespaul, Rottenberg & Nicolson, 2006; van Os, Linscott, Myin-Germeys, Delespaul & Krabbendam, 2009). …”

Commentary—daily experiences of relationships and illness: Reflecting on our focus.

“…In a study with patients who were diagnosed with panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, the ESM was used to see what their daily lives were like. Neither group differed significantly on the avoidance variables of remaining at home or being with a family member, thus challenging the current diagnostic conceptualizations that rely on patients’ retrospective reports of the avoidance of public places (Dijkman-Caes, DeVries, Kraan, & Volovics, 1993). Mokros (1993) compared adolescents who were diagnosed with depression to a group that was not.…”