The Relative Efficacy of CBT and Applied Relaxation for GAD

generalized anxiety disorder

quite prevalent, and uncontrollable worry is important symptom (6% lifetime prevalence)
No prior meta-analysis on GAD specifically from post-treatment to follow-up

Absolute efficacy

Study in which you are making a comparison between an active psychotherapy group to a control group that is not receiving treatment

relative efficacy

Compare active treatment to another active treatment group

aims

Compare bona fide treatments of GAD

Compare relaxation to CBT without relaxation

Compare CBT to augmented integrative CBT

literature search

terms included GAD, psychotherapy, etc.

inclusion criteria

GAD diagnosis, randomized trial, published between 1987 and 2021, bona fide psychotherapy, adult sample, not focused on prevention

Ultimately ended up with 23 trials

70% female, average age 39

results for aim 1

when you compare bona fide treatments, there are NO differences in primary (anxiety) outcomes. There were some differences in secondary (depression) outcomes. Hedges g = .23

results for aim 2

When you compare Relaxation to CBT (w/o relaxation), there are no differences

results for aim 3

small differences in favor of integrative CBT in comparison to well-established CBT

Overall, effect size data in the small range, with some data not meeting clinical threshold of effectiveness (g = .25)

Something can be statistically significant but not clinically meaningful

discussion

Applied relaxation is not inferior to CBT without relaxation

Small advantages to integration

Importance of thinking about integration

Strengths and limitations