Exploring the relationship between the acceptability of a Flying phobia treatment delivered via the Internet and clinical outcomes

Abstract

Acceptability (i.e. patients' expectation and satisfaction with the treatment) is claimed as an important and additional criterion besides efficacy. Nevertheless, the literature addressing this issue in the field of Interet-based treatments for specific phobias is scarce, and no studies for Flying Phobia (FP) are available. This study aims to explore the relationship between expectations and satisfaction with treatment and clinical variables in patients who have received an Intemet-based treatment for FP (NO-FEAR Airlines). The sample included 46 participants from a randomized controlled trial. Clinical measures were: Fear of Flying Questionnaire-II, Fear of Flying scale, Fear and Avoidance Scales, Clinician Severity Scale, and Patient's Improvement Scale. Results showed significant correlations between expectations, satisfaction and the change on different clinical variables. Patients' expectations significantly correlated and predicted satisfaction with the treatment. Results also revealed that satisfaction with the treatment remained as a significant predictor of the change on all clinical variables. In sum, this study offers data on the relationship between acceptability measurements and clinical variables in patients receiving an Internet-based treatment for FP.