Psychotherapy for generalized anxiety disorder.
The present article describes the basic therapeutic techniques used in the cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) of generalized anxiety disorders and reviews the methodological characteristics and outcomes of 13 controlled clinical trials. The studies in general display rigorous methodology, and their outcomes are quite consistent. CBT has been shown to yield clinical improvements in both anxiety and depression that are superior to no treatment and nonspecific control conditions (and at times to either cognitive therapy alone or behavioral therapy alone) at both posttherapy and follow-up. CBT is also associated with low dropout rates, maintained long-term improvements, and the largest within-group and between-group effect sizes relative to all other comparison conditions.
Borkovec
T D
TD
Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802, USA. tdb@psu.edu
Ruscio
A M
AM
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D015897:Comorbidity; D018849:Controlled Clinical Trials as Topic; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010352:Patient Dropouts / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012064:Relaxation Therapy; D012107:Research Design; D016896:Treatment Outcome