The effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy for generalized anxiety disorder in a frontline service setting
Abstract
The goal of the current study was to test the generalizability of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in a frontline service setting. Twenty-nine patients who presented to treatment clinics with problematic worry were provided CBT for GAD. Among the intent-to-treat sample, there were no significant changes in worry or depression from pre- to posttreatment. Treatment completers showed significant pre- to posttreatment reductions on measures of worry and depression. The magnitude of change was smaller than has been reported in randomized control trials (RCTs). Although the frontline service setting differed from RCT settings in multiple ways, treatment completers nonetheless achieved moderate to large decreases in self-reported worry and depression.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
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?
Individual CBT leads to moderate to large improvements in chronic worry severity, GAD symptom severity, and depression symptom severity in frontline settings.
“there is promising support that individual CBT leads to moderate to large improvements in chronic worry severity, GAD symptom severity, and depression symptom severity (e.g. Hirsch et al ., 2019; Kehle, 2008)”
From Effectiveness and predictors of group cognitive behaviour therapy outcome for generalised anxiety disorder in an out-patient hospital setting (2024) · cites this paper as Kehle, 2008
Cites
Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences
Muller, K. E., & Cohen, J. (1989) · Technometrics · doi:10.2307/1270020 · Cited by 99,588 · see citing works
Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences
Cohen, J. (1990) · Computers Environment and Urban Systems · doi:10.1016/0198-9715(90)90050-4 · Cited by 65,406 · see citing works
An inventory for measuring depression
BECK, A. T. (1961) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1961.01710120031004 · Cited by 38,032 · see citing works
Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.).
Lachenbruch, P. A., & Cohen, J. (1989) · Journal of the American Statistical Association · doi:10.2307/2290095 · Cited by 37,385 · see citing works
Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
(2018) · Journal of Clinical Psychiatry · doi:10.5505/kpd · Cited by 13,703 · see citing works
Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory: Twenty-five years of evaluation
Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Carbin, M. G. (1988) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/0272-7358(88)90050-5 · Cited by 11,696 · see citing works
Development and validation of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire
Meyer, T. J., Miller, M. L., Metzger, R. L., & Borkovec, T. D. (1990) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/0005-7967(90)90135-6 · Cited by 5,099 · see citing works
Defining empirically supported therapies.
Chambless, D. L., & Hollon, S. D. (1998) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-006x.66.1.7 · Cited by 3,067 · see citing works
Westen, D., Novotny, C. M., & Thompson-Brenner, H. (2004) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.130.4.631 · Cited by 1,212 · see citing works
Foa, E. B., Hembree, E. A., Cahill, S. P., Rauch, S. A. M., Riggs, D. S., Feeny, N. C., & Yadin, E. (2005) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.73.5.953 · Cited by 931 · see citing works
PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE BECK DEPRESSION INVENTORY
Richter, P., Hseerlein, A., Kick, H., & Biczo, P. (1994) · IX World Congress of Psychiatry · doi:10.1142/9789814440912_0055 · Cited by 885 · see citing works
Clinical Handbook of Psychological Disorders: A Step-by-Step Treatment Manual
Barlow, D. H. (2001) · Cited by 782 · see citing works
Borkovec, T. D., & Costello, E. (1993) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.61.4.611 · Cited by 756 · see citing works
Borkovec, T. D., Newman, M. G., Pincus, A. L., & Lytle, R. (2002) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.70.2.288 · Cited by 565 · see citing works
Empirically supported individual and group psychological treatments for adult mental disorders
DeRubeis, R. J., & Crits-Christoph, P. (1998) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.66.1.37 · Cited by 486 · see citing works
Franklin, M. E., Abramowitz, J. S., Kozak, M. J., Levitt, J. T., & Foa, E. B. (2000) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.68.4.594 · Cited by 387 · see citing works
Behar, E., Alcaine, O., Zuellig, A. R., & Borkovec, T. D. (2003) · Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0005-7916(03)00004-1 · Cited by 373 · see citing works
Butler, G., Fennell, M. J. V., Robson, P., & Gelder, M. (1991) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-006x.59.1.167 · Cited by 365 · see citing works
Butler, G., Fennell, M., Robson, P., & Gelder, M. (1991) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.59.1.167 · Cited by 365 · see citing works
(2001) · PubMed · Cited by 332 · see citing works
Wade, W. A., Treat, T. A., & Stuart, G. L. (1998) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-006x.66.2.231 · Cited by 292 · see citing works
Toward a more clinically valid approach to therapy research.
Goldfried, M. R., & Wolfe, B. E. (1998) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.66.1.143 · Cited by 273 · see citing works
Wade, W. A., Treat, T. A., & Stuart, G. L. (1998) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.66.2.231 · Cited by 226 · see citing works
Behavioral treatment of generalized anxiety disorder
Barlow, D. H., Rapee, R. M., & Brown, T. A. (1992) · Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7894(05)80221-7 · Cited by 221 · see citing works
Addis, M. E. (2002) · Clinical Psychology Science and Practice · doi:10.1093/clipsy.9.4.367 · Cited by 190 · see citing works
Westbrook, D., & Kirk, J. (2005) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2004.09.006 · Cited by 183 · see citing works
Effects of psychotherapy on comorbid conditions in generalized anxiety disorder.
Borkovec, T. D., Abel, J. L., & Newman, H. (1995) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-006x.63.3.479 · Cited by 165 · see citing works
Effects of psychotherapy on comorbid conditions in generalized anxiety disorder.
Borkovec, T. D., Abel, J. L., & Newman, H. (1995) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.63.3.479 · Cited by 165 · see citing works
Effectiveness of an empirically supported treatment for social phobia in the field.
Lincoln, T., Rief, W., Hahlweg, K., Frank, M., von Witzleben, I., Schroeder, B., & Fiegenbaum, W. (2003) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/s0005-7967(03)00038-x · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Clinical handbook of psychological disorders: A step-by-step treatment manual, 3rd ed.
Barlow, D. H. (2001) · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Stuart, G. L., Treat, T. A., & Wade, W. A. (2000) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.68.3.506 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Short- and long-term effectiveness of an empirically supported treatment for agoraphobia.
Hahlweg, K., Fiegenbaum, W., Frank, M., Schroeder, B., & von Witzleben, I. (2001) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.69.3.375 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Short- and long-term effectiveness of an empirically supported treatment for agoraphobia.
Hahlweg, K., Fiegenbaum, W., Frank, M., Schroeder, B., & von Witzleben, I. (2001) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-006x.69.3.375 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Kopta, S. M., Lueger, R. J., Saunders, S. M., & Howard, K. I. (1999) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.50.1.441 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Psychological Clinical Science
(2007) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203810019 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
Addis, M. E. (2002) · Clinical Psychology Science and Practice · doi:10.1093/clipsy/9.4.367 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Evidence-based treatment and therapist drift
Waller, G. (2009) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2008.10.018 · Cited by 359 · see citing works
van der Heiden, C., Muris, P., & van der Molen, H. T. (2012) · Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.brat.2011.12.005 · Cited by 265 · see citing works
Gersh, E., Hallford, D. J., Rice, S. M., Kazantzis, N., Gersh, H., Gersh, B., & McCarty, C. A. (2017) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2017.10.001 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Hirsch, C. R., Beale, S., Grey, N., & Liness, S. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00796 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Psychotherapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Don't Worry, It Works!
Hoyer, J., & Gloster, A. T. (2009) · Psychiatric Clinics of North America · doi:10.1016/j.psc.2009.05.002 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Montel, S. (2010) · Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy · doi:10.1002/cpp.682 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Spas, J. J., Ramsey, S. E., Paiva, A. L., & Stein, L. A. R. (2012) · Substance Abuse Research and Treatment · doi:10.4137/sart.s10389 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Ekberg, J., Timpka, T., Bång, M., Fröberg, A., Halje, K., & Eriksson, H. (2011) · BMC Medical Research Methodology · doi:10.1186/1471-2288-11-3 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
“Reviews of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of CBT for anxiety disorders have reported large pre- to post-treatment within-group effect sizes on measures of anxiety when supplied in therapist consultations [6,7], in computer-supported sessions at practices [8,9], and over the Internet [10,11].”
BackgroundInfluentialHealth and ill health in working women – balancing work and recovery
Schwarz, U. V. T. (2008) · KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Malivoire, B. L., Stewart, K. E., Cameron, D., Rowa, K., & McCabe, R. E. (2024) · Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1017/s1352465823000632 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“…studies that have investigated the effectiveness of CBT for GAD in frontline settings, there is promising support that individual CBT leads to moderate to large improvements in chronic worry severity, GAD symptom severity, and depression symptom severity (e.g. Hirsch et al ., 2019; Kehle, 2008).”
Krzikalla, C., Morina, N., Andor, T., Nohr, L., & Buhlmann, U. (2023) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0282902 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
On the Diagnosis, Assessment, and Treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder
van der Heiden, C. (2011) · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Ouimet, A. J., Covin, R., & Dozois, D. J. A. (2012) · doi:10.1002/9781118156391.ebcp002028 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Ingulli, K. M. (2014) · CommonKnowledge Research Repository (Pacific University Oregon)
Pachankis, J. E., Chiaramonte, D. M., Baldwin, H. T., Prachniak, C., Levine, D. S., Van, S., Hobbs, R. J., Ankrum, H., Wilkins, L. J., Harvey, T. D., et al. (2025) · BMC Health Services Research · doi:10.1186/s12913-025-13136-3
“LGBTQ-affirma-tive CBT also lends itself to implementation in frontline settings given that it is skills based, present focused, and time limited [43–47].”
The effects of a cognitive behavioral computer based program on depressed inpatients
Dorfman, L. (2012) · Rutgers University Community Repository (Rutgers University) · doi:10.7282/t3w094ww
“Kehle (2008) conducted a study with patients experiencing debilitating worry.”
BackgroundInfluential
- Authors
- Kehle, S. M.
- Affiliations
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kehle, Shannon M.
- Venue
- Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2008-09
- Volume
- 37
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 192-198
- ISSN
- 1650-6073 (ISSN-L)
- 1651-2316
- OpenAlex
- W2086778409
- Cited by
- 16
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 3.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychological Treatments and Assessments
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- cognitive behavioral therapy, generalized anxiety disorder, worry, depression, treatment completion
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Ambulatory Care Facilities, Anxiety Disorders, Depressive Disorder, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Inservice Training, Male, Personality Inventory, Psychometrics, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Treatment Outcome, Benchmarking
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