Generalized anxiety disorder: A comparison of symptom change in adults receiving cognitive-behavioral therapy or applied relaxation.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is characterized by excessive worry and somatic symptoms of anxiety (e.g., restlessness, muscle tension). Several psychological treatments lead to significant reductions in GAD symptoms by posttreatment. However, little is known about how GAD symptoms change over time. Our main goal was to examine how GAD symptoms changed in relation to one another during 2 distinct but efficacious psychological treatments: cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and applied relaxation (AR). Specifically, we asked whether change in worry accounted for change over time in somatic anxiety (or the reverse) to the same degree in CBT and AR. METHOD: We examined data from 57 individuals with GAD enrolled in a randomized controlled trial. Self-report measures of worry and somatic anxiety were obtained daily during treatment. RESULTS: Although the direction of influence between changes in worry and somatic anxiety was bidirectional to some extent in both treatments, a significant difference was also observed: Change in worry accounted for subsequent change in somatic anxiety to a greater extent in CBT than in AR. CONCLUSIONS: These findings allowed us to identify differences in a mechanism of change in GAD symptoms during 2 treatments and to provide some support for the idea that similarly efficacious treatments may produce symptom change via different mechanisms in a manner that is consistent with the theoretical rationales on which the treatments are based.
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Donegan and Dugas (2012) demonstrated a bidirectional relationship between the cognitive and somatic features of GAD.
“Our findings complement the work of Donegan and Dugas (2012), who demonstrated a bidirectional relationship between the cognitive and somatic features of GAD.”
From The Mediating Relationship between Maladaptive Behaviours, Cognitive Factors, and Generalised Anxiety Disorder Symptoms (2018) · cites this paper as Donegan and Dugas (2012)
A number of studies have investigated the potential for internet-delivered treatments for GAD and reported significant post-treatment and follow-up gains similar to those found in face-to-face treatment studies.
“a number of studies have investigated the potential for internet-delivered treatments for GAD and they have reported significant post-treatment and follow-up gains [33,48-51] similar to those found in face-to-face treatment studies [52].”
From Low-intensity internet-delivered treatment for generalized anxiety symptoms in routine care: protocol for a randomized controlled trial (2014) · cites this paper as [52]
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- Authors
- Donegan, E., & Dugas, M. J.
- Affiliations
- Concordia University (CA)
- Venue
- Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
- Published
- 2012
- Volume
- 80
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 490-496
- ISSN
- 0022-006X (ISSN-L)
- 1939-2117
- OpenAlex
- W2073820664
- Cited by
- 44
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 3
- FWCI
- 4.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- 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 › Clinical Psychology › Psychological Treatments and Assessments
- Keywords
- generalized anxiety disorder, cognitive behavioral therapy, applied relaxation, worry, somatic anxiety, mechanisms of change, symptom change over time
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Relaxation Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Treatment Outcome
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