Social support and agoraphobia: A review

Past investigations into the role that personal factors, particularly relationship difficulties, have in the development and maintenance of agoraphobic behaviour focus almost exclusively on the agoraphobicʹs marital relationship. The vast majority of those treatment methodologies that have addressed this issue included the spouse as a co-therapist, without considering the agoraphobicsʹ wider social support framework. The present article reviews difficulties in conceptual clarification of the term social support, and presents a brief review of the literature about the marital relationship and agoraphobia, focusing on the efficacy of spouse aided therapy. Social support and agoraphobia treatment outcome are reviewed, highlighting the quality, types of other social support sought and elicited, and familial aspects of agoraphobia. Evidence of how other social support variables are emphasised and included in the successful treatment of mental health disorders is reviewed in relation to agoraphobia. The conclusion reached was that treatment procedures for agoraphobia have largely ignored the large body of growing evidence that social variables are strongly implicated in the development and maintenance of agoraphobia.