Assessing the marital environment of agoraphobics

The responses of two groups of patients and their spouses on the Family Environment Scale (FES) were compared. One group consisted of 19 patients with panic disorder with agoraphobia, the second group of ten patients with the disorder diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder. The agoraphobic couples reported significantly less family conflict and saw themselves as more cohesive than our comparison group. The agoraphobic couples reported even lower scores on the conflict subscale of the FES than a national non-distressed ("normal") sample. The agoraphobics and their spouses also reported less joint family activity, but reported significantly higher scores in family organization. Implications for the comprehensive evaluation and treatment of agoraphobics and their families are discussed.