Cognitive-behavioural, Pharmacological and Psychosocial Predictors of Outcome During Tapered Discontinuation of Benzodiazepine

Eighty-six participants wishing to stop benzodiazepine and who met DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. American Psychological Association, 1994) criteria for anxiety disorder or insomnia were assessed pre- and post-taper on clinical, pharmacological and psychosocial measures. An initial cohort of 41 participants received treatment as usual (taper only) plus physician counselling in the same clinic setting. A second cohort of 45 participants were randomly allocated to group cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) plus taper, or group support (GS) plus taper. At 3 months follow-up, the outcomes in both the CBT and the GS subgroups were equivalent. Intention to treat analysis revealed a slight advantage to the CBT over the GS group and the CBT group showed higher self-efficacy post-taper.Over all 86 participants, a high-baseline level of psychological distress, anxiety and dosage predicted a poor outcome, but increase in self-efficacy contributed to a successful outcome particularly in those with initially poor baseline predictors. Although there was a decrease in positive affect during preliminary stages of tapered discontinuation compared to baseline, there was no significant overall increase in negative affect.