Lars-Göran Öst

The efficacy of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis.

Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT) has attracted a lot of interest during the last 10-15 years with a strong increase of the number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The present review and meta-analysis includes 60 RCTs (4234 participants) on psychiatric disorders, somatic disorders, and stress at work. The mean effect size across all comparisons was small (0.42). Compared to the Öst (2008) meta-analysis there was no significant improvement in methodological quality and deterioration in effect size (from 0.68). When ACT was compared to various forms of cognitive or behavioral treatments a small and non-significant effect size of 0.16 was obtained. An evidence-base evaluation showed that ACT is not yet well-established for any disorder. It is probably efficacious for chronic pain and tinnitus, possibly efficacious for depression, psychotic symptoms, OCD, mixed anxiety, drug abuse, and stress at work, and experimental for the remaining disorders.

Internet‐Based Self‐Help Versus One‐Session Exposure in the Treatment of Spider Phobia: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The authors compared guided Internet‐delivered self‐help with one session of live‐exposure treatment in a sample of spider‐phobic patients. A total of 30 patients were included following screening on the Internet and a structured clinical interview. The Internet treatment consisted of five weekly text modules, which were presented on a web page, a video in which exposure was modelled, and support provided via Internet. The live‐exposure treatment was delivered in a 3‐hr session following a brief orientation session. The main outcome measure was the behavioural approach test (BAT), and as secondary measures the authors used questionnaires measuring anxiety symptoms and depression. Results showed that the groups did not differ at posttreatment or follow‐up, with the exception of the proportion showing clinically significant change on the BAT. At posttreatment 46.2% of the Internet group and 85.7% in the live‐exposure group achieved this change. At follow‐up the corresponding figures were 66.7% for the Internet group and 72.7% for the live treatment. Within‐group effect sizes for the spider phobia questionnaire were large (d = 1.84 and 2.58 for the Internet and live‐exposure groups, respectively, at posttreatment). The authors conclude that guided Internet‐delivered exposure treatment is a promising new approach in the treatment of spider phobia.

An effectiveness study of individual vs. group cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders in youth

OBJECTIVEnConducted a randomized controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and compared the relative effectiveness of individual (ICBT) and group (GCBT) treatment approaches for anxiety disorders in children and adolescents.nnnMETHODSnReferred youth (N = 182, M age = 11.5 years, range 8-15 years, 53% girls) with separation anxiety, social phobia, or generalized anxiety disorder were randomly assigned to ICBT, GCBT or a waitlist control (WLC) in community clinics. Pre-, post-, and one year follow-up assessments included youth and parent completed diagnostic interview and symptom measures. After comparing CBT (ICBT and GCBT combined) to WLC, ICBT and GCBT were compared along diagnostic recovery rates, clinically significant improvement, and symptom measures scores using traditional hypothesis tests, as well as statistical equivalence tests.nnnRESULTSnSignificantly more youth lost all anxiety disorders after CBT compared to WLC. Full diagnostic recovery rate was 25.3% for ICBT and 20.5% in GCBT, which was not significantly different. There was continued lack of significant differences between ICBT and GCBT at one year follow-up. However, equivalence between GCBT and ICBT could only be demonstrated for clinical severity rating of the principal anxiety disorder and child reported anxiety symptoms post-treatment.nnnCONCLUSIONnFindings support the effectiveness of CBT compared to no intervention for youth with anxiety disorders, with no significant differences between ICBT and GCBT. However, the relatively low recovery rates highlight the need for further improvement of CBT programs and their transportability from university to community settings.

The Effect of Parent Involvement in the Treatment of Anxiety Disorders in Children: A Meta-Analysis

Among clinicians, it is common practice to include parents in treatment, and it has been taken for granted that parents involvement in their childrens treatment is beneficial for therapy outcome, although research on this issue is far from clear. A meta-analysis was carried out in order to investigate whether parent involvement potentiates the outcome for children with anxiety disorders when treated with cognitive–behavior therapy. Sixteen studies, which directly compared parent-involved treatments with child-only treatments, were included in the meta-analysis. The results showed a small, nonsignificant effect size of − 0.10 in favor of the child-only treatments. There was no indication of publication bias in the analysis. Implications of the results are discussed.

Internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy for children with anxiety disorders : A randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUNDnCognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) has been shown to be an effective treatment for anxiety disorders in children, but few affected seek or receive treatment. Internet-delivered CBT (ICBT) could be a way to increase the availability of empirically supported treatments.nnnAIMSnA randomised controlled trial was conducted to evaluate ICBT for children with anxiety disorders.nnnMETHODnFamilies (Nxa0=xa093) with a child aged 8-12 years with a principal diagnosis of generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder, separation anxiety, social phobia or specific phobia were recruited through media advertisement. Participants were randomised to 10 weeks of ICBT with therapist support, or to a waitlist control condition. The primary outcome measure was the Clinician Severity Rating (CSR) and secondary measures included child- and parent-reported anxiety. Assessments were made at pre-treatment, post-treatment and at three-month follow-up.nnnRESULTSnAt post-treatment, there were significant reductions on CSR in the treatment group, with a large between-group effect size (Cohens dxa0=xa01.66). Twenty per cent of children in the treatment group no longer met criteria for their principal diagnosis at post-treatment and at follow-up this number had increased to 50%. Parent-reported child anxiety was significantly lower in the treatment group than in the waitlist group at post-treatment, with a small between-group effect size (Cohens dxa0=xa00.45). There were no significant differences between the groups regarding child-ratings of anxiety at post-treatment. Improvements were maintained at three-month follow-up, although this should be interpreted cautiously due to missing data.nnnCONCLUSIONSnWithin the limitations of this study, results suggest that ICBT with therapist support for children with anxiety disorders can reduce clinician- and parent-rated anxiety symptoms.nnnTRIAL REGISTRATIONnClinicaltrials.gov: NCT01533402.

Cognitive behavioral and pharmacological treatments of OCD in children: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is ranked by the World Health Organization (WHO) among the 10 most debilitating disorders. The treatments which have been found effective are cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRI). This meta-analysis includes all RCTs of CBT (25) and SRI (9) for OCD in youth using the Childrens Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (C-YBOCS). CBT yielded significantly lower attrition (12.7%) than SRI (23.5%) and placebo (24.7%). The effect sizes for comparisons of CBT with waiting-list (1.53), placebo (0.93), and SRI with placebo (0.51) were significant, whereas CBT vs. SRI (0.22) and Combo (CBT+SRI) vs. CBT (0.14) were not. Regarding response rate CBT (70%) and Combo (66%) were significantly higher than SRI (49%), which was higher than placebo (29%) and WLC (13%). As for remission CBT (53%) and Combo (49%) were significantly higher than SRI (24%), placebo (15%), and WLC (10%), which did not differ from each other. Combo was not more effective than CBT alone irrespective of initial severity of the samples. The randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have a number of methodological problems and recommendations for improving research methodology are discussed as well as clinical implications of the findings.

CBT for Children with Depressive Symptoms: A Meta-Analysis

Pediatric depression entails a higher risk for psychiatric disorders, somatic complaints, suicide, and functional impairment later in life. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is recommended for the treatment of depression in children, yet research is based primarily on adolescents. The present meta-analysis investigated the efficacy of CBT in children aged 8–12 years with regard to depressive symptoms. We included randomized controlled trials of CBT with participants who had an average age of ≤ 12 years and were diagnosed with either depression or reported elevated depressive symptoms. The search resulted in 10 randomized controlled trials with 267 participants in intervention and 256 in comparison groups. The mean age of participants was 10.5 years. The weighted between-group effect size for CBT was moderate, Cohens d = 0.66. CBT outperformed both attention placebo and wait-list, although there was a significant heterogeneity among studies with regard to effect sizes. The weighted within-group effect size for CBT was large, d = 1.02. Earlier publication year, older participants, and more treatment sessions were associated with a larger effect size. In conclusion, the efficacy of CBT in the treatment of pediatric depression symptoms was supported. Differences in efficacy, methodological shortcomings, and lack of follow-up data limit the present study and indicate areas in need of improvement.

Working alliance and competence as predictors of outcome in cognitive behavioral therapy for social anxiety and panic disorder in adults.

OBJECTIVEnThe research on the association between the working alliance and therapist competence/adherence and outcome from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is limited and characterized by inconclusive findings. This study investigates the working alliance and competence/adherence as predictors of outcome of CBT for social anxiety disorder (SAD) and panic disorder (PD).nnnMETHODnEighty-two clinically referred patients (58.5% female; age: Mxa0=xa033.6 years, SDxa0=xa010.3) with PD (nxa0=xa031) or SAD (nxa0=xa051) were treated with 12 sessions of manualized CBT by 22 clinicians with limited CBT experience in a randomized controlled effectiveness trial. Independent assessors rated the CBT competence/adherence of the therapists using a revised version of the Cognitive Therapy Adherence and Competence Scale, and the patients rated the quality of the working alliance using the Working Alliance Inventory-short form in therapy sessions 3 and 8. The outcome was assessed by independent assessors as well as by patients self-report. A total of 20.7% of the patients (27.5% SAD, 9.7% PD) dropped out during treatment. The association between the alliance, competence/adherence, outcome and dropout was investigated using multiple regression analyses.nnnRESULTSnHigher therapist competence/adherence early in the therapy was associated with a better outcome among PD patients, lower competence/adherence was associated with dropout among SAD patients. Higher rating of the alliance late in the therapy was associated with a better outcome, whereas lower alliance rating late in the therapy was associated with dropout.nnnCONCLUSIONnThe findings indicate that the therapist competence/adherence and the working alliance have independent contributions to the outcome from CBT for anxiety disorders, but in different phases of the treatment.

Internet-Based Exposure Treatment Versus One-Session Exposure Treatment of Snake Phobia: A Randomized Controlled Trial

In this study, the authors compared guided Internet-delivered self-help with one-session exposure treatment (OST) in a sample of snake phobic patients. A total of 30 patients were included following a screening on the Internet and a structured clinical interview. The Internet treatment consisted of four weekly text modules which were presented on a web page, a video in which exposure was modelled, and support provided via Internet. The OST was delivered in a three-hour session following a brief orientation session. The main outcome was the behavioural approach test (BAT), and as secondary measures questionnaires measuring anxiety symptoms and depression were used. Results showed that the groups did not differ at post-treatment or follow-up, with the exception of a significant interaction for the BAT in favour of the OST. At post-treatment, 61.5% of the Internet group and 84.6% of the OST group achieved a clinically significant improvement on the BAT. At follow-up, the corresponding figures were 90% for the Internet group and 100% for the OST group (completer sample). Within-group effect sizes for the Snake Phobia Questionnaire were large (d = 1.63 and d = 2.31 for the Internet and OST groups, respectively, at post-treatment). It is concluded that guided Internet-delivered exposure treatment is a potential treatment option in the treatment of snake phobia, but that OST probably is better.

Brief, intensive and concentrated cognitive behavioral treatments for anxiety disorders in children : A systematic review and meta-analysis

Anxiety disorders are among the most common disorders affecting youths in the general population, with up to 10% of children and 20% of adolescents meeting criteria for an anxiety disorder at any one point in time. Cognitive-behavior therapies (CBT), varying between 9 and 18 weeks of treatment, are considered evidence-based for the treatment of anxiety disorders in youth. During the last two decades treatments that are brief, intensive, or concentrated (BIC) have been developed and this meta-analysis includes 23 RCTs of these new approaches across the anxiety disorders. BIC yielded a lower attrition (2.3%) than standard CBT (6.5%). The effect sizes (ES) for comparison of BIC with waiting-list (1.47) and placebo (0.91) were significant, whereas that with standard CBT (0.01) was not. Regarding remission at post/recovery at follow-up BIC (54%/64%) and standard CBT (57%/63%) were comparable and both were significantly higher than placebo (26%/35%), which was higher than WLC (7%/9%). Within-group ES at post and follow-up were 1.50 and 1.53 for BIC, and 0.98 and 1.05 for standard CBT, indicating maintenance of the effects up to 12 months after therapy. Advantages and disadvantages of BIC are discussed and we suggest that BIC-interventions represent a paradigm shift in the delivery of services for youth with anxiety disorders.