Development and validation of instruments for the evaluation of therapeutic adherence and competence in the treatment of panic disorders
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Entwicklung und Validierung von Instrumenten zur Überprüfung der therapeutischen Adhärenz und Kompetenz bei der Behandlung der Panikstörung
Background: The quality of preparing exposure interventions can be considered an important factor for the successful treatment of panic disorder with agoraphobia. However, appropriate instruments are missing to investigate this. Objective: The study’s aim is the construction and validation of scales to evaluate the therapeutic adherence and competence of preparing exposure interventions. Method: Four experts were used for content validation. The further verification of reliability and validity was made on the basis of 84 psychotherapeutic treatments of patients with panic disorder and agoraphobia. Results: The interrater agreement for the adherence and competence scale was high and there were clear indications for their validity. Conclusion: The developed instruments can be used meaningfully in clinical research as well as for therapist training.