BEHAVIOR THERAPY 30, 209-222, 1999 The Limits of Bibliotherapy: A Study of the Differential Effectiveness of Self-Administered Interventions in Individuals with Panic Attacks GREG A. R. FEBBRARO National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center Medical University of South Carolina GEORGE A. CLUM Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University ALLISON A. ROODMAN University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign JOSEPH H. WRIGHT Center for Cognitive Therapy~University of Pennsylvania The present study compared the differential effectiveness of bibliotherapy with no therapist contact (bibliotherapy alone), and bibliotherapy plus daily self-monitoring and self-administered feedback (bibliotherapy plus monitoring), to daily self-moni- toring and self-administered feedback (monitoring alone) and wait-list controls, in individuals with panic attacks. A repeated-measures MANOVA revealed no Condi- tion × Time interaction or condition effect. However, a main effect for time across conditions emerged. Univariate tests revealed significant reductions from pre- to post- treatment for all groups for full-blown panic attacks, avoidance, panic cognitions, and panic symptoms. The results of this study cast doubt on the efficacy of biblio- therapy and self-monitoring interventions when utilized absent from contact with a professional who conducts the assessment and monitors treatment compliance. Bibliotherapy has become very popular in the past decade and is used increasingly as an adjunctive treatment by mental health professionals (Rior- This article is based on a doctoral dissertation by Greg A. R. Febbraro completed under the direction of George A. Clum at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacks- burg, VA. Address correspondence to Greg A. R. Febbraro, National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, Medical University of South Carolina, 165 Cannon St., P.O. Box 250852, Charleston, SC 29425. This article was originally accepted under the editorship of Frank Andrasik, Ph.D. 209 005-7894/99/0209--022251. (30/0 Copyright 1999 by Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy All rightsfor reproductionin any formreserved.