Resilience and coping strategies in cognitive behavioral group therapy for patients with panic disorder.

Background: Although resilience and coping are important factors associated with mental health, they are rarely investigated in the treatment of patients with panic disorder (PD).
Objective: To evaluate the response to four resilience and coping strategy sessions added to the standard cognitive behavioral group therapy (CBGT) protocol for PD.
Design: Controlled clinical trial.
Methods: The control group (n = 50) attended 12 CBGT sessions, while the intervention group (n = 50) received four additional resilience and coping strategy sessions, i.e., 16 in total. Symptom severity, resilience, coping strategies, and quality of life were assessed at baseline and post-CBGT.
Results: Symptom severity and maladaptive coping strategies decreased significantly in both groups. However, the intervention group had increased resilience and improvement in the environment domain of quality of life.
Conclusions: Additional sessions have potential benefits for coping skills and resilience in PD patients, but these benefits should be evaluated in further long-term studies.
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