One research question was investigated in this study. This research question was as follows: Is the efficacy of treatment for anxiety improved by combining CBT with medication? One hypothesis was tested in relation to this research question. This hypothesis was stated as follows: Subjects treated for anxiety with a combination of medication and CBT will show greater improvement than will subjected treated with medication along. The results of the hypothesis testing are reported in this chapter.
The independent variable in the research hypothesis was "treatment condition." The independent variable was defined operationally as (a) medication only or (b) medication plus CBT. The dependent variable in the research hypothesis was subject change in anxiety level over the period of an intervention. The dependent variable was defined operationally as the pretest-posttest change in subject scores on the "Somatic, Cognitive Behavioral Anxiety Inventory" (SCBAI) instrument. As higher scores on the instrument reflect higher state levels of anxiety, pretest-posttest changes indicating a decrease in subject state level of anxiety support the research hypothesis.
The intervention involved the addition of CBT to the medication treatment for an experimental group of 20 anxiety patients. A control group of 20 anxiety patients received only medication treatment during the period of the intervention.
The hypothesis was tested through the application of analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedures to the data. The hypothesis was tested in its null form, which held that changes in subject scores on the SCBAI did not vary in relation to subject treatment condition. The criterion for the rejection of the null was a finding of statistical significance at a probability level of p<.05.
The research sample consisted of two clusters. Each cluster was comprised of 20 subjects clinically diagnosed as suffering from anxiety and who, at the time of t...