Cited by 96Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesPsychotherapy Techniques and ApplicationsDigital Mental Health Interventions

Transdiagnostic treatment of depression and anxiety: a meta-analysis

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Cuijpers, Pim, Miguel, Clara, Ciharova, Marketa, Ebert, David, Harrer, Mathias, Karyotaki, Eirini·2023·Psychological Medicine

Abstract

Abstract Background In the past 10 years an increasing number of randomised trials have examined the effects of transdiagnostic treatments of patients with depression or anxiety. We conducted the first comprehensive meta-analysis of the outcomes of this emerging field. Methods We used the searches in PubMed, PsychINFO, Embase and the Cochrane library of an existing database of randomised trials of psychological interventions for depression to identify studies comparing a transdiagnostic treatment of patients with depression or anxiety with a control group (deadline 1 January 2022). We conducted random-effects meta-analyses and examined the effects on depression and anxiety at the short and longer term. Results We included 45 randomised controlled trials with 51 comparisons between a psychotherapy and a control group and 5530 participants. Thirty-five (78%) studies were conducted in the last 10 years. The overall effect size was g = 0.54 (95% CI 0.40–0.69; NNT = 5.87), with high heterogeneity ( I 2 = 78; 95% CI 71–83), and a broad PI (−0.31–1.39). The effects remained significant in a series of sensitivity analyses, including exclusion of outliers, adjustment for publication bias, for studies with low risk of bias, and in multilevel analyses. The results were comparable for depression and anxiety separately. At 6 months after randomisation the main effects were still significant, but not at 12 months, although the number of studies was small. Conclusions Transdiagnostic treatments of patients with depression or anxiety are increasingly examined and are probably effective at the short term.

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  1. Cuijpers, P., Miguel, C., Ciharova, M., Ebert, D. D., Harrer, M., & Karyotaki, E. (2022a). Transdiagnostic treatment of depression and anxiety: Protocol for a meta-analysis. Retrieved from osf.io/rby7x. PMC10600931 36606456

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Authors
Cuijpers, P., Miguel, C., Ciharova, M., Ebert, D., Harrer, M., & Karyotaki, E.
Affiliations
  • Babeș-Bolyai University (RO)
  • Amsterdam Public Health (NL)
  • Technical University of Munich (DE)
  • Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (DE)
Corresponding author
Cuijpers, Pim
Venue
Psychological Medicine
Published
2023-01-06
Volume
53
Issue
14
Pages
6535-6546
ISSN
  • 0033-2917 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-8978
OpenAlex
W4313655529
Cited by
96
References
49
Citations by year
2026: 31 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 10
FWCI
4.05
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Psychological Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • VU Research Portal (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
Keywords
transdiagnostic treatment, depression, anxiety, psychotherapy, treatment effectiveness, short-term outcomes, long-term outcomes, treatment effect heterogeneity, publication bias
MeSH terms
Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Depressive Disorder, Humans, Psychotherapy, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic

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