Levels of perceived control and treatment response in a brief partial hospital setting

Background

Perceived internal and external control have long been theorized to relate to development and maintenance of anxiety (Barlow, 2002) and depression (Seligman, 1975). Experimental research studies investigating perceived control have largely focused on anxiety within cross-sectional samples and have shown that low levels of perceived internal and external control are associated with higher levels of anxiety (Gallagher et al., 2014) and depression (Brown & Siegel, 1988; Wardle et al., 2004). The majority of previous research has looked at the combined effects of perceived internal and external control and has not investigated these constructs as potential treatment targets in intensive, short-term clinical settings.

Methods

The current study examined the associations of perceived internal and external control as they relate to anxiety and depression symptom change in a partial hospital sample.

Results

Both perceived internal and external control increased significantly over brief, intensive treatment. Further, greater gains in internal perceived control were related to greater reductions in anxiety and depression symptoms.

Discussion

Our study was limited in that it did not include a control group or follow-up data. This study provides evidence that perceived internal control is related to change in symptoms in a diagnostically diverse and severe population, after very brief intensive treatment. Future studies should investigate if perceived internal control is a mechanism of change in treatment and explore how to maximize the development of perceived internal control in treatment, to maximize reduction in symptoms.