The efficacy of psychotherapy for social anxiety disorder, a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Given the growth in research examining the effects of psychotherapy on social anxiety disorder (SAD), an up-to-date comprehensive meta-analysis in this field is needed. METHODS: We selected studies from a database of randomized trials (RCTs) on psychotherapies for anxiety disorders (last updated search of PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase, and Cochrane (CENTRAL): 1 January 2024) We included RCTs comparing psychotherapy to a control condition for adults with SAD and conducted random effects meta-analyses to examine the efficacy of psychotherapy compared to control conditions at post-treatment. RESULTS: Sixty-six RCTs were included with 5560 participants and 98 comparisons between psychotherapy and control groups. Psychotherapy was effective in reducing SAD symptoms, with a large effect size (g = 0.88; 95 % CI: 0.76 to 1.0; I2 = 74 %; 95 % CI: 69 to 79, NNT = 3.8). Effects remained robust across sensitivity analyses. However, there was evidence for significant risk of bias in the included trials. The multivariable meta-regression indicated significant differences in treatment delivery formats, type of recruitment strategy, target group, and number of sessions. CONCLUSION: Psychotherapy is an effective treatment for SAD, with moderate to large effect sizes across all treatment types and formats. Future research is needed to determine the long-term effects.

Absolute and relative outcomes of psychotherapies for eight mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Psychotherapies are first-line treatments for most mental disorders, but their absolute outcomes (i.e., response and remission rates) are not well studied, despite the relevance of such information for health care users, providers and policy makers. We aimed to examine absolute and relative outcomes of psychotherapies across eight mental disorders: major depressive disorder (MDD), social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), specific phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and borderline personality disorder (BPD). We used a series of living systematic reviews included in the Metapsy initiative (www.metapsy.org), with a common strategy for literature search, inclusion of studies and extraction of data, and a common format for the analyses. Literature search was conducted in major bibliographical databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase, and the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials) up to January 1, 2023. We included randomized controlled trials comparing psychotherapies for any of the eight mental disorders, established by a diagnostic interview, with a control group (waitlist, care-as-usual, or pill placebo). We conducted random-effects model pairwise meta-analyses. The main outcome was the absolute rate of response (at least 50% symptom reduction between baseline and post-test) in the treatment and control conditions. Secondary outcomes included the relative risk (RR) of response, and the number needed to treat (NNT). Random-effects meta-analyses of the included 441 trials (33,881 patients) indicated modest response rates for psychotherapies: 0.42 (95% CI: 0.39-0.45) for MDD; 0.38 (95% CI: 0.33-0.43) for PTSD; 0.38 (95% CI: 0.30-0.47) for OCD; 0.38 (95% CI: 0.33-0.43) for panic disorder; 0.36 (95% CI: 0.30-0.42) for GAD; 0.32 (95% CI: 0.29-0.37) for social anxiety disorder; 0.32 (95% CI: 0.23-0.42) for specific phobia; and 0.24 (95% CI: 0.15-0.36) for BPD. Most sensitivity analyses broadly supported these findings. The RRs were significant for all disorders, except BPD. Our conclusion is that most psychotherapies for the eight mental disorders are effective compared with control conditions, but absolute response rates are modest. More effective treatments and interventions for those not responding to a first-line treatment are needed.

Amount and frequency of psychotherapy as predictors of treatment outcome for adult depression: A meta-regression analysis.

BACKGROUND: It is not clear whether the amount and frequency of psychotherapy is associated with treatment effects for adult depression. We investigated whether a number of indicators of the amount and frequency of psychotherapy were related to the treatment effects in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing individual, face-to-face psychotherapy to a control group (e.g., care-as-usual [CAU] or waitlist condition [WL]). METHODS: Four databases were systematically searched, and meta-regression analyses conducted to assess the relationship between the effect size (Hedges' g) of the treatment and number of sessions, duration of psychotherapy, total contact time with the therapist, and number of sessions per week. RESULTS: We included 176 studies (210 comparisons) with 15,158 participants. We did not find a relationship between the effect size, and number of sessions, or total contact time. There was a small negative association between duration of treatment and the effect size, an additional week of treatment was related to a 0.014 decrease in the effect size. In addition, there was a strong association between number of sessions per week and the effect size, an increase from one to two sessions per week was related to an effect size higher by 0.596. Both associations were no longer significant when controlling for characteristics of studies. LIMITATIONS: The current findings are correlational, future research should thus address this question in an RCT. CONCLUSIONS: We should deliver brief therapies, and thus shorten waiting lists. More sessions, if necessary, should be delivered with higher frequency and over a shorter period of time.

Baseline depression severity as moderator on depression outcomes in psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Evidence-based treatments for adult depression include psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy, yet little is known about how baseline depression severity moderates treatment outcome. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to compare the effects of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy for adult depression and to examine the association between baseline depression severity and treatment outcome, converting multiple baseline depression measures into the scores of the Beck Depression Inventory, second edition (BDI-II). METHODS: We conducted systematic searches in bibliographical databases up to September 2022 to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in which psychotherapy was compared with pharmacotherapy in the treatment of adult depression. Various meta-regressions using the baseline depression severity as predictor of the relative effects of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy were performed. RESULTS: We identified 65 RCTs including 7250 participants for the meta-analyses and 56 RCTs including 5548 participants for the meta-regression. We found no significant difference between psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy (g = -0.08, 95 % CI: -0.2 to 0.04, p = 0.193) and baseline depression severity was not significantly associated with the relative effects of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy (B = 0.0032, SE = 0.0096, p = 0.74). Results were similar in several sensitivity analyses. LIMITATIONS: Limitations included the low quality of the included studies, and the omission of long-term effects and within-study variability. CONCLUSIONS: We found no indication for a moderation effect of baseline depression severity on the relative effects of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy. Thus, other factors such as availability and patients' preference must be considered when deciding for treatment options.