This study aimed to provide the first comprehensive evidence on the prevalence and predictors of dropout in psychological interventions for pathological health anxiety. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
Study of the effects of psychoanalytic therapy versus cognitive–behavioural therapy for chronic depression in adults with a history of childhood trauma. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
The current study aims to examine the efficacy of CBT delivered via videoconferencing (VCBT) for GAD using a randomized controlled trial design comparing an immediate treatment group to a waitlist control. Open access article - no login required
This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates the possibilities and effects of imagery-based interventions that explicitly target negative images in (sub)clinical social anxiety. Open access article - no login required.
This trial found greater intensity of psychotherapy leads to better outcomes of both depression and personality status in people with comorbid depression and personality disorder. Open access article - no login required.
Patients showed a stronger preference for CAT-GSH, compared to CBT-GSH, and CAT-GSH participants were found to be more likely to complete full treatment. However, findings seem to indicate that preference accommodation did not have an impact on clinical outcomes, and the two GSH versions evaluated were found to be equally effective treatment options for the treatment of anxiety. Hence, CAT-GSH may represent an effective and well-tolerated option that could be offered to anxious patients in primary care settings.
Although this study suggested that long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy in combination with treatment as usual was not cost-effective compared with TAU, there may be more explanations to this. Given the sustained long-term effects over the follow-up period and the trajectory of treatment benefits in the LTPP+TAU group, it seems plausible that the timescale of this study was too short to accurately portray the long-term benefits of LTPP.
Bouldering psychotherapy (BPT) for depression has proven effective, but nothing is known about its potential predictors of response. This study should identify predictors of response to BPT, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and an active control (home-based exercise programme; EP) using a literature-based model.
The review showed that robust evidence for the effectiveness of iCBT as an add-on to TAU is still limited, with results not necessarily generalisable to people from different backgrounds based on age, gender, education, and mental healthcare settings. Clearly more research is needed, as remotely delivered, self-guided iCBT has the promise to increase accessibility and be more cost-effective.
To manage ‘treatment-resistant depression’, research has demonstrated that a multidisciplinary approach should be utilised (i.e., administration of medication as well as psychological support). In the current study, psilocybin was administered during a single session of psychological support. More research needs to be conducted to investigate the effectiveness of using psilocybin alongside a course of psychological support (e.g., Cognitive Behavioural Therapy).
Overall, this research brings to light many ways in which access can be improved. However, as the authors mention, it is important to keep in mind that the process of improving access is not a “one size fits all” approach. Instead, programs that aim to improve access should carefully consider their target audience and combine a variety of complementary strategies. In conclusion, the authors talk about practice guidelines. They suggest that each category of healthcare providers would benefit from specific guidelines on improving access to CBT through their specific roles.
Despite limitations, the findings from this study have important clinical and research implications for treating adolescent depression.
For clinicians, it may be beneficial at the beginning of a case of treatment for adolescent depression to develop a set of personalised outcome goals with the patient, with recognition that this is likely to vary greatly between individuals. Treatment could then be jointly chosen by the patient and clinician to ensure these priorities are addressed. This approach could also take into account what the patient thinks their key problem areas are, and what they consider to be valuable improvements. This would also provide a good framework when reviewing clinical decisions of whether to continue or change treatments.
The provision of cCBT through the NHS could help some young people who need support for anxiety and depression to access the treatment they need more easily. This could be of particular benefit to young people who would not otherwise be able to access traditional face-to-face therapies or who would prefer something remote. However, this review makes it clear that the evidence base for cCBT is currently weak and that high-quality future research is needed, so caution needs to be taken by practitioners before recommending cCBT programs.
Personality traits underlying both anxiety disorders and depression are more malleable than previously presumed. This study examined associations between changes in personality traits (i.e. negative affectivity and detachment) and alleviation of anxiety and depression symptoms following cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT).
Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide that negatively impacts quality of life. Talk therapy such as cognitive behavioural therapy is an effective treatment for depression. The Internet is an important tool for mental healthcare delivery. Internet-delivered or online talk therapy interventions are associated with lower costs and improved accessibility.
Current reviews do not address the effectiveness of Internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT) on quality of life (QoL). To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
It is really encouraging that CBT performs better than control conditions for reducing depression symptoms up to 12 months later and across many different formats and populations. CBT has been well tested for depression, and whilst there is still much room for improvement (e.g., the effect sizes are much more modest for child and adolescent trials than for trials in adults), we can be reasonably confident, given these findings, that CBT is worth investing in as a treatment approach. That said, one size doesn’t fit all, and again, it is encouraging that self-help CBT, even without human support input, was at least moderately good at reducing depression symptoms.
Unfortunately, there are no implications for clinical practice just yet. Nonetheless, this line of research does have the potential to help detect those patients who might benefit from a particular form of treatment. Crucially, for the goal of precision medicine to be realised, we need to be able to detect not only who will respond to CBT, but who will respond to other treatments
Numerous randomized controlled trials have shown cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) to be effective in treating social anxiety disorder (SAD). Yet, less is known about the effectiveness of CBT for SAD conducted by psychotherapists in training in routine clinical practice. In this study, 231 patients with SAD were treated with CBT under routine conditions and were examined at pre- and post-treatment as well as at 6 and 12 months follow-up.