Treating treatment non-responders: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled psychotherapy trials
Summary & key facts
About one third of people with anxiety or mood problems do not get better from their first treatment. The authors collected and combined results from many carefully controlled studies where people who had not improved were given a different psychotherapy. Overall, switching to psychotherapy helped these non-responders with a medium to large benefit, and the gains stayed when people were checked later. The researchers say psychotherapy is a reasonable option for people who did not improve before, but there are not enough high-quality trials yet and more research is needed.
Key facts:
- About one third of patients with mood or anxiety problems do not respond to their first treatment.
- The researchers looked at randomized, carefully controlled trials where people who had not improved were given a new psychotherapy.
- When the results of those trials were combined, psychotherapy produced a medium to large improvement for treatment non-responders, which means a noticeable to substantial benefit on average.
- There were no clear differences in how well different psychotherapy types worked, or differences across the specific mood and anxiety disorders that were studied.
- The improvements from psychotherapy were still present at later follow-up checks, so benefits were not just short lived.
- The number of high-quality trials for this specific group of non-responders is small, so the authors say more and better research is needed before strong conclusions can be made.
Topics
Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications Treatment of Major DepressionCategories
Clinical Psychology Psychology Social SciencesTags
Anxiety Clinical psychology Internal medicine Law Medicine MEDLINE Meta-analysis Mood Political science Psychiatry Psychology Psychotherapist Randomized controlled trial Systematic reviewConditions & symptoms
Anxiety Anxiety or worry Sadness or low moodSummaries and links are for general information and education only. They are not a substitute for reading the original publication or for professional medical, legal, or other advice. Always refer to the linked source for the full study.
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Expert-Reviewed by:
Laurin Angermeier
