Psychotherapy Research

Transdiagnostic treatment of depression and anxiety: a meta-analysis

BackgroundIn the past 10 years an increasing number of randomised trials have examined the effects of transdiagnostic treatments of patients with depression or anxiety. We conducted the first comprehensive meta-analysis of the outcomes of this emerging field.MethodsWe used the searches in PubMed, PsychINFO, Embase and the Cochrane library of an existing database of randomised trials of psychological interventions for depression to identify studies comparing a transdiagnostic treatment of patients with depression or anxiety with a control group (deadline 1 January 2022). We conducted random-effects meta-analyses and examined the effects on depression and anxiety at the short and longer term.ResultsWe included 45 randomised controlled trials with 51 comparisons between a psychotherapy and a control group and 5530 participants. Thirty-five (78%) studies were conducted in the last 10 years. The overall effect size was g = 0.54 (95% CI 0.40–0.69; NNT = 5.87), with high heterogeneity (I2 = 78; 95% CI 71–83), and a broad PI (−0.31–1.39). The effects remained significant in a series of sensitivity analyses, including exclusion of outliers, adjustment for publication bias, for studies with low risk of bias, and in multilevel analyses. The results were comparable for depression and anxiety separately. At 6 months after randomisation the main effects were still significant, but not at 12 months, although the number of studies was small.ConclusionsTransdiagnostic treatments of patients with depression or anxiety are increasingly examined and are probably effective at the short term.

Comparative effectiveness of group v. individual trauma-focused treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder in veterans

BackgroundCognitive processing therapy (CPT) and prolonged exposure (PE) delivered in an individual setting are efficacious and effective treatments for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Group CPT has been shown to be less efficacious than individual CPT, however, evidence regarding real-world effectiveness is limited.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective, observational, comparative effectiveness study including veterans that received at least eight sessions of group CPT, individual CPT, or individual PE, and were discharged from PTSD residential treatment at the Department of Veterans Affairs between 1 October 2015, and 30 September 2020. PTSD symptom severity was assessed with the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) and treatments delivered in a group (CPT) or individual (CPT or PE) setting were compared at discharge and 4-month post-discharge follow-up.ResultsOf 6735 veterans, 3888 [653 women (17%), median (IQR) age 45 (35–55) years] received individual and 2847 [206 women (7.2%), median (IQR) age 42 (34–54)] received group therapy. At discharge, improvement in PTSD severity was statistically greater among those treated individually (mean difference on the PCL-5, 2.55 (95% CI 1.61–3.49); p =

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