The DOI matches its Crossref record; 45 of the 45 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Therapist-supported internet-based cognitive behaviour therapy yields similar effects as face-to-face therapy for psychiatric and somatic disorders: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis
Open accessAbstract
Providing therapist-guided cognitive behaviour therapy via the Internet (ICBT) has advantages, but a central research question is to what extent similar clinical effects can be obtained as with gold-standard face-to-face cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). In a previous meta-analysis published in this journal, which was updated in 2018, we found evidence that the pooled effects for the two formats were equivalent in the treatment of psychiatric and somatic disorders, but the number of published randomized trials was relatively low (n=20). As this is a field that moves rapidly, the aim of the current study was to conduct an update of our systematic review and meta-analysis of the clinical effects of ICBT vs. face-to-face CBT for psychiatric and somatic disorders in adults. We searched the PubMed database for relevant studies published from 2016 to 2022. The main inclusion criteria were that studies had to compare ICBT to face-to-face CBT using a randomized controlled design and targeting adult populations. Quality assessment was made using the Cochrane risk of bias criteria (Version 1), and the main outcome estimate was the pooled standardized effect size (Hedges' g) using a random effects model. We screened 5,601 records and included 11 new randomized trials, adding them to the 20 previously identified ones (total n=31). Sixteen different clinical conditions were targeted in the included studies. Half of the trials were in the fields of depression/depressive symptoms or some form of anxiety disorder. The pooled effect size across all disorders was g=0.02 (95% CI: -0.09 to 0.14) and the quality of the included studies was acceptable. This meta-analysis further supports the notion that therapist-supported ICBT yields similar effects as face-to-face CBT.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“over the past two decades, diagnosis-specific internet interventions have been thoroughly investigated, with moderate to large effects [9].”
From Transdiagnostic and tailored internet intervention to improve mental health among university students: Research protocol for a randomized controlled trial (2024) · cites this paper as [9]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Meta-analytic studies have shown that there are no differences between online and face-to-face CBT (Hedman-Lagerlöf et al., 2023).”
From Feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a blended transdiagnostic group CBT for the treatment of emotional disorders (2025) · cites this paper as Hedman-Lagerlöf et al., 2023
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“One way to lower the threshold for access to such treatment is to offer internet interventions, which have shown treatment effects for CBT that are equivalent to face-to-face treatment for diagnosis-specific depression, anxiety, and a variety of other conditions [9].”
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Therapist‐guided internet‐based CBT (ICBT) has demonstrated effects comparable to traditional face‐to‐face CBT, including for PD (Hedman‐Lagerlöf et al. 2023; Pauley et al. 2023).”
From Internet‐Based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy With Interoceptive Exposure for Panic Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial and Working Alliance Analysis. (2026) · cites this paper as Hedman‐Lagerlöf et al. 2023
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Quantifying heterogeneity in a meta‐analysis
Higgins, J. P. T., & Thompson, S. G. (2002) · Statistics in Medicine · doi:10.1002/sim.1186 · Cited by 36,763
Carlbring, P., Andersson, G., Cuijpers, P., Riper, H., & Hedman-Lagerlöf, E. (2018) · Cognitive Behaviour Therapy · doi:10.1080/16506073.2017.1401115 · Cited by 1,232
Self-citationAndersson, G., Cuijpers, P., Carlbring, P., Riper, H., & Hedman, E. (2014) · World Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/wps.20151 · Cited by 1,077
Self-citationInternet-Delivered Psychological Treatments
Andersson, G. (2016) · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-021815-093006 · Cited by 595
Self-citationCuijpers, P., Noma, H., Karyotaki, E., Cipriani, A., & Furukawa, T. A. (2019) · JAMA Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.0268 · Cited by 539
Self-citationDepression in adults: recognition and management
(2017) · Clinical pharmacist · doi:10.1211/cp.2017.20202439 · Cited by 396
Treatment of panic disorder: live therapy vs. self-help via the Internet
Carlbring, P., Nilsson-Ihrfelt, E., Waara, J., Kollenstam, C., Buhrman, M., Kaldo, V., Söderberg, M., Ekselius, L., & Andersson, G. (2005) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2004.10.002 · Cited by 372
Self-citationStein, D. J., Shoptaw, S. J., Vigo, D. V., Lund, C., Cuijpers, P., Bantjes, J., Sartorius, N., & Maj, M. (2022) · World Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/wps.20998 · Cited by 331
Self-citationWagner, B., Horn, A. B., & Maercker, A. (2014) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2013.06.032 · Cited by 311
SPEK, V., NYKLÍČEK, I., SMITS, N., CUIJPERS, P., RIPER, H., KEYZER, J., & POP, V. (2007) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291707000542 · Cited by 307
Self-citationIs internet-based CBT for panic disorder and agoraphobia as effective as face-to-face CBT?
Kiropoulos, L. A., Klein, B., Austin, D. W., Gilson, K., Pier, C., Mitchell, J., & Ciechomski, L. (2008) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2008.01.008 · Cited by 290
Hedman, E., Andersson, G., Ljótsson, B., Andersson, E., Rück, C., Mörtberg, E., & Lindefors, N. (2011) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018001 · Cited by 285
Self-citationCompen, F., Bisseling, E., Schellekens, M., Donders, R., Carlson, L., van der Lee, M., & Speckens, A. (2018) · Journal of Clinical Oncology · doi:10.1200/jco.2017.76.5669 · Cited by 248
Ljótsson, B., Hedman, E., Andersson, E., Hesser, H., Lindfors, P., Hursti, T., Rydh, S., Rück, C., Lindefors, N., & Andersson, G. (2011) · American Journal of Gastroenterology · doi:10.1038/ajg.2011.139 · Cited by 218
Self-citationBergström, J., Andersson, G., Ljótsson, B., Rück, C., Andréewitch, S., Karlsson, A., Carlbring, P., Andersson, E., & Lindefors, N. (2010) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/1471-244x-10-54 · Cited by 202
Self-citationAndersson, G., Hesser, H., Veilord, A., Svedling, L., Andersson, F., Sleman, O., Mauritzson, L., Sarkohi, A., Claesson, E., Zetterqvist, V., et al. (2013) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2013.08.022 · Cited by 195
Self-citationSchover, L. R., Canada, A. L., Yuan, Y., Sui, D., Neese, L., Jenkins, R., & Rhodes, M. M. (2012) · Cancer · doi:10.1002/cncr.26308 · Cited by 193
Lancee, J., van Straten, A., Nexhmedin Morina, B., Kaldo, V., & Kamphuis, J. H. (2015) · SLEEP · doi:10.5665/sleep.5344 · Cited by 180
Ben-Zeev, D., Brian, R. M., Jonathan, G., Razzano, L., Pashka, N., Carpenter-Song, E., Drake, R. E., & Scherer, E. A. (2018) · Psychiatric Services · doi:10.1176/appi.ps.201800063 · Cited by 173
Blom, K., Tillgren, H. T., Wiklund, T., Danlycke, E., Forssén, M., Söderström, A., Johansson, R., Hesser, H., Jernelöv, S., Lindefors, N., et al. (2015) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2015.05.002 · Cited by 172
Self-citationAn internet-based self-help treatment for fear of public speaking: a controlled trial.
Botella, C., Gallego, M. J., Garcia-Palacios, A., Guillen, V., Baños, R. M., Quero, S., & Alcañiz, M. (2010) · Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking · doi:10.1089/cyber.2009.0224 · Cited by 169
Halladay, C. W., Trikalinos, T. A., Schmid, I. T., Schmid, C. H., & Dahabreh, I. J. (2015) · Journal of Clinical Epidemiology · doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2014.12.017 · Cited by 166
Kaldo, V., Levin, S., Widarsson, J., Buhrman, M., Larsen, H.-C., & Andersson, G. (2008) · Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.beth.2007.10.003 · Cited by 162
Self-citationde Zwaan, M., Herpertz, S., Zipfel, S., Svaldi, J., Friederich, H.-C., Schmidt, F., Mayr, A., Lam, T., Schade-Brittinger, C., & Hilbert, A. (2017) · JAMA Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.2150 · Cited by 153
Andrews, G., Davies, M., & Titov, N. (2011) · Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.3109/00048674.2010.538840 · Cited by 152
Lappalainen, P., Granlund, A., Siltanen, S., Ahonen, S., Vitikainen, M., Tolvanen, A., & Lappalainen, R. (2014) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2014.07.006 · Cited by 138
Jasper, K., Weise, C., Conrad, I., Andersson, G., Hiller, W., & Kleinstäuber, M. (2014) · Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics · doi:10.1159/000360705 · Cited by 126
Self-citationAxelsson, E., Andersson, E., Ljótsson, B., Björkander, D., Hedman-Lagerlöf, M., & Hedman-Lagerlöf, E. (2020) · JAMA Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.0940 · Cited by 125
Self-citationPaxton, S. J., McLean, S. A., Gollings, E. K., Faulkner, C., & Wertheim, E. H. (2007) · International Journal of Eating Disorders · doi:10.1002/eat.20446 · Cited by 111
Zerwas, S. C., Watson, H. J., Hofmeier, S. M., Levine, M. D., Hamer, R. M., Crosby, R. D., Runfola, C. D., Peat, C. M., Shapiro, J. R., Zimmer, B., et al. (2016) · Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics · doi:10.1159/000449025 · Cited by 102
Andersson, G., Waara, J., Jonsson, U., Malmaeus, F., Carlbring, P., & Öst, L. (2009) · Cognitive Behaviour Therapy · doi:10.1080/16506070902931326 · Cited by 101
Self-citationClark, D. M., Wild, J., Warnock-Parkes, E., Stott, R., Grey, N., Thew, G., & Ehlers, A. (2023) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291722002008 · Cited by 88
Landry, E. C., Sandoval, X. C. R., Simeone, C. N., Tidball, G., Lea, J., & Westerberg, B. D. (2020) · Otology & Neurotology · doi:10.1097/mao.0000000000002472 · Cited by 82
Bisson, J. I., Ariti, C. A., Cullen, K., Kitchiner, N., Lewis, C., Roberts, N. P., Simon, N. A., Smallman, K., Addison, K., Bell, V., et al. (2022) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj-2021-069405 · Cited by 82
Lundström, L., Flygare, O., Andersson, E., Enander, J., Bottai, M., Ivanov, V. Z., Boberg, J., Pascal, D., Mataix-Cols, D., & Rück, C. (2022) · JAMA Network Open · doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.1967 · Cited by 78
Gollings, E. K., & Paxton, S. J. (2006) · Eating Disorders · doi:10.1080/10640260500403790 · Cited by 72
Milgrom, J., Danaher, B., Seeley, J., Holt, C. J., Holt, C., Ericksen, J., Tyler, M. S., Gau, J. M., & Gemmill, A. W. (2020) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/17185 · Cited by 69
Vallejo, M. A., Ortega, J., Rivera, J., Comeche, M. I., & Vallejo-Slocker, L. (2015) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2015.06.006 · Cited by 68
Papola, D., Ostuzzi, G., Tedeschi, F., Gastaldon, C., Purgato, M., Giovane, C. D., Pompoli, A., Pauley, D., Karyotaki, E., Sijbrandij, M., et al. (2021) · The British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.2021.148 · Cited by 63
Self-citationAndersson, G., Waara, J., Jonsson, U., Malmaeus, F., Carlbring, P., & Öst, L.-G. (2013) · Cognitive Behaviour Therapy · doi:10.1080/16506073.2013.844202 · Cited by 59
Self-citationEsfandiari, N., Mazaheri, M. A., Akbari-Zardkhaneh, S., Sadeghi-Firoozabadi, V., & Cheraghi, M. (2021) · International Journal of Preventive Medicine · doi:10.4103/ijpvm.ijpvm_208_21 · Cited by 45
Scale up task-sharing of psychological therapies
Patel, V. (2021) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(21)02736-7 · Cited by 45
Mathiasen, K., Andersen, T. E., Lichtenstein, M. B., Ehlers, L. H., Riper, H., Kleiboer, A., & Roessler, K. K. (2022) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/36577 · Cited by 34
Self-citationYing, Y., Ji, Y., Kong, F., Wang, M., Chen, Q., Wang, L., Hou, Y., Yu, L., Zhu, L., Miao, P., et al. (2022) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291722000599 · Cited by 31
Gieselmann, A., & Pietrowsky, R. (2019) · Sleep Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2019.03.024 · Cited by 27
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2011, Generalised anxiety disorder and panic disorder (with or without agoraphobia) in adults
- Higgins JPT, 2011, Cochrane handbook for systematic reviews of interventions. Version 5.1.0
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Linardon, J., Torous, J. B., Firth, J., Cuijpers, P. J., Messer, M., & Fuller‐Tyszkiewicz, M. (2024) · World Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/wps.21183 · Cited by 260
“Empirically validated components of psychological interventions that were once delivered solely in-person have now been translated for delivery via low-cost, private and scalable digital tools 10,11 .”
MethodSelf-citationDigital interventions in mental health: An overview and future perspectives
Löchner, J., Carlbring, P., Schuller, B. W., Torous, J. B., & Sander, L. (2025) · Internet Interventions · doi:10.1016/j.invent.2025.100824 · Cited by 182
“…meta-analyses have been conducted, particularly of iCBT (internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy) and self-help interventions, which have shown the equivalence of face-to-face therapies (Andersson et al., 2014; Hedman-Lagerl ¨ of et al., 2023; Cuijpers et al., 2019; Hennemann et al., 2018).”
Self-citationA new era in Internet interventions: The advent of Chat-GPT and AI-assisted therapist guidance
Carlbring, P., Hadjistavropoulos, H. D., Kleiboer, A. M., & Andersson, G. (2023) · Internet Interventions · doi:10.1016/j.invent.2023.100621 · Cited by 140
Self-citationDigital mental health interventions for the treatment of depression: A multiverse meta-analysis
Plessen, C. Y., Panagiotopoulou, O. M., Tong, L., Cuijpers, P., & Karyotaki, E. (2025) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2024.10.018 · Cited by 53
Self-citationThe Artificial Third: Utilizing ChatGPT in Mental Health
Tal, A., Elyoseph, Z., Haber, Y., Angert, T., Gur, T., Simon, T., & Asman, O. (2023) · The American Journal of Bioethics · doi:10.1080/15265161.2023.2250297 · Cited by 47
Metadata
- Authors
- Hedman‐Lagerlöf, E., Carlbring, P., Svärdman, F., Riper, H., Cuijpers, P., & Andersson, G.
- Affiliations
- Karolinska Institutet (SE)
- Stockholm University (SE)
- Amsterdam Public Health (NL)
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
- Linköping University (SE)
- Venue
- World Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2023-05-09
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 305-314
- ISSN
- 1723-8617 (ISSN-L)
- 2051-5545
- PMC
- PMC10168168
- OpenAlex
- W4376133551
- Cited by
- 259
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 82 · 2025: 86 · 2024: 58 · 2023: 32
- FWCI
- 8.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- World Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Amsterdam UMC (VU Amsterdam) - Institutional Repository (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Yale University
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation
- Keywords
- internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy, digital mental health interventions, depression, anxiety disorders, somatic diseases, treatment efficacy comparison, adults
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
