Direct comparisons of cognitive-behavioral treatments and bona fide non-cognitive-behavioral treatments for adult anxiety disorders: A meta-analysis

Despite growing evidence that all treatments intended to be therapeutic (i.e., bona fide treatments) are equally efficacious, the question of relative efficacy persists. In fact, cognitivebehavioral treatments (CBT) have gained a more favorable status over non-CBT treatments for adult anxiety disorders. However, the assertion that CBT treatments are superior is premature due to conceptual and methodological issues affecting the extant CBT research. This metaanalysis addressed these limitations by consensually identifying CBT treatments and determining the true relative efficacy of bona fide CBT and bona fide non-CBT treatments for adult anxiety disorders. The study employed strict inclusion criteria to identify randomized clinical trials that contained at least one direct comparison of a bona fide CBT treatment and a bona fide non-CBT treatment. Additionally, 91 CBT experts from the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapists (ABCT) were surveyed to identify the bona fide treatments as CBT or non-CBT. Thirteen clinical trials met inclusion criteria. CBT treatments and non-CBT treatments were found to be equally efficacious across targeted and non-targeted outcome measures. Additional analyses revealed that researcher allegiance did not account for the significant heterogeneity. The results are consistent with the increasing evidence for uniform efficacy among treatments intended to be therapeutic, and stand in contrast to assertions for the superiority of CBT treatments for adult anxiety. This meta-analysis contributes to the growing body of research revealing that a particular therapeutic approach is not more effective than another treatment when intended to be therapeutic.

Dissertation/Thesis

English

Timothy P. Baardseth

Baardseth, T. P. (2012, May). Direct comparisons of cognitive-behavioral treatments and bona fide non-cognitive-behavioral treatments for adult anxiety disorders: A meta-analysis. University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI