Changes in fear versus avoidance ratings with behavioral treatments for agoraphobia

There is a general agreement that fear and avoidance should be assessed separately, especially when evaluating treatment efficacy, but there is little empirical research on this topic. A frequently used measure of agoraphobia, the Fear Questionnaire ( Marks & Mathews, 1979) was revised into two separate fear and avoidance scales and administered in random order to two samples of patients with agoraphobia before and after behavior therapy. Fear and avoidance ratings were very highly correlated at baseline and at posttreatment. Both components improved significantly with treatment, and there were no significant interaction effects. These results do not support the notion that it is necessary always to assess fear and avoidance separately.