title: Motivational Interviewing as an Adjunct to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examined the effect of a single session motivational interviewing (MI) intervention on engagement in a 12-week transdiagnostic group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) treatment for anxiety.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were randomized to MI (N = 20) or non-MI (N = 19) conditions before enrolling in a 12-week group CBT program. Participants in the MI condition received an individual 50-minute MI session adapted from the longer MI pretreatment protocol, developed by Westra and Dozois () and Westra ().
  
  
  RESULTS
  Rates of treatment initiation and treatment expectancies were significantly higher among participants who received the MI pretreatment intervention. Results indicate substantial reduction in clinician-rated anxiety severity after transdiagnostic group CBT, with no significant differences between MI and non-MI conditions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that a single MI pretreatment session may have positive effects on proximal measures of treatment engagement, but that these effects may not affect the severity of anxiety symptoms over the course of CBT.
authors.affiliation: VA HSR&D Houston Center of Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center.|Baylor College of Medicine.|VA South Central Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center.
authors.forename: Terri L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Barrera
authors.affiliation: University of Houston.
authors.forename: Angela H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Monash University.
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Norton
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D062405:Motivational Interviewing / Q000379:methods*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
keywords: anxiety; cognitive behavioral therapy; motivational interviewing; treatment engagement