Mental Health Locus of Control in Agoraphobia and Depression: A Longitudinal Study of Inpatients

Abstract

This study represents a longitudinal extension for 75 inpatients of a previous cross-sectional study, wherein agoraphobic inpatients, both depressed and nondepressed, attributed mental health locus of control more to chance than non-anxious depressed inpatients. This difference regarding chance locus of control persisted across posttest and one-year follow-up. At pre- and posttest, but not at follow-up, the group differences regarding externality to chance could be reduced to differences in reported fear of fear. Mental health locus of control scores exhibited moderate to high stability across assessments. Pretreatment level and during-treatment change of externality to chance did not predict proneness to relapse after treatment. Both a vulnerability model and a symptom model of the relation between externality to chance and agoraphobia received some support. On the other hand, reductions in internality during treatment predicted posttreatment relapse. Locus of control variables were also associated with effectiveness of treatment and posttreatment course, both with respect to fear of fear and to depression.

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