Perceived Control is a Transdiagnostic Predictor of Cognitive–Behavior Therapy Outcome for Anxiety Disorders
Open accessAbstract
Perceived control has been proposed to be a general psychological vulnerability factor that confers an elevated risk for developing anxiety disorders, but there is limited research examining perceived control during cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBT). The present study examined whether treatment resulted in improvements in perceived control, and the indirect effects of CBT on changes in symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, and panic disorder via changes in perceived control. Participants (n = 606) were a large clinical sample presenting for treatment at an outpatient anxiety disorders clinic. Participants completed a series of self-report questionnaires and a structured clinical interview at an intake evaluation and at two follow-up assessments 12 and 24 months later, with the majority of participants initiating CBT between the first two assessments. Results of latent growth curve models indicated that individuals initiating CBT subsequently reported large increases in perceived control and significant indirect effects of treatment on intraindividual changes in each of the four anxiety disorders examined via intraindividual changes in perceived control. These results suggest that the promotion of more adaptive perceptions of control is associated with recovery from anxiety disorders. Furthermore, the consistent finding of indirect effects across the four anxiety disorders examined underscores the transdiagnostic importance of perceived control in predicting CBT outcomes.
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Diminished perceived sense of control has been linked to high anxiety and high anterior insula activity.
“Diminished perceived sense of control has been linked to high anxiety and high anterior insula activity.”
From Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal (2023) · cites this paper as [56]
The Results section (“Perceived Control and Anxiety at Intake”; page unavailable) reports significant negative associations between perceived control and four anxiety-disorder measures, supporting the anxiety part of the claim. Our copy does not report anterior insula activity or link it to perceived control. (LLM, conf=0.90)
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- Authors
- Gallagher, M. W., Naragon-Gainey, K., & Brown, T. A.
- Affiliations
- Boston University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Gallagher, Matthew W.
- Venue
- Cognitive Therapy and Research
- Published
- 2013-10-15
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 10-22
- ISSN
- 0147-5916 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-2819
- PMC
- PMC3927880
- OpenAlex
- W2014194869
- Cited by
- 93
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 4
- FWCI
- 6.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Cognitive Therapy and Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH039096)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychological Treatments and Assessments
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- perceived control, cognitive behavioral therapy, anxiety disorders, transdiagnostic factors, treatment outcomes, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, psychological vulnerability, latent growth curve models, indirect effects
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