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. 2021 Jan-Apr;21(1):100203.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijchp.2020.11.002. Epub 2020 Nov 30.

Brief psychological treatments for emotional disorders in Primary and Specialized Care: A randomized controlled trial

Jorge Corpas  1 , Juan A Moriana  1 , Jose F Venceslá  1 , Mario Gálvez-Lara  1
Affiliations

Brief psychological treatments for emotional disorders in Primary and Specialized Care: A randomized controlled trial

Jorge Corpas et al. Int J Clin Health Psychol. 2021 Jan-Apr.

Abstract
in English, Spanish

Background/Objective Brief transdiagnostic psychotherapies are a possible treatment for emotional disorders. We aimed to determine their efficacy on mild/moderate emotional disorders compared with treatment as usual (TAU) based on pharmacological interventions. Method: This study was a single-blinded randomized controlled trial with parallel design of three groups. Patients (N = 102) were assigned to brief individual psychotherapy (n = 34), brief group psychotherapy (n = 34) or TAU (n = 34). Participants were assessed before and after the interventions with the following measures: PHQ-15, PHQ-9, PHQ-PD, GAD-7, STAI, BDI-II, BSI-18, and SCID. We conducted per protocol and intention-to-treat analyses. Results: Brief psychotherapies were more effective than TAU for the reduction of emotional disorders symptoms and diagnoses with moderate/high effect sizes. TAU was only effective in reducing depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Brief transdiagnostic psychotherapies might be the treatment of choice for mild/moderate emotional disorders and they seem suitable to be implemented within health care systems.

Antecedentes/Objetivo: Las psicoterapias breves son un posible tratamiento para los trastornos emocionales. Nuestro propósito fue determinar su eficacia en los trastornos emocionales leves/moderados en comparación con el tratamiento habitual basado en intervenciones farmacológicas. Método: Este estudio fue un ensayo clínico aleatorizado simple ciego con diseño paralelo de tres grupos. Los pacientes (N = 102) fueron asignados a psicoterapia breve individual (n = 34), psicoterapia breve grupal (n = 34) o tratamiento habitual (n = 34). Los participantes fueron evaluados antes y después del tratamiento con los siguientes instrumentos: PHQ-15, PHQ-9, PHQ-PD, GAD-7, STAI, BDI-II, BSI-18 y SCID. Se realizaron análisis por protocolo y por intención de tratar. Resultados: Las psicoterapias breves fueron más efectivas que el tratamiento habitual para la reducción de síntomas y diagnósticos de los trastornos emocionales. El tratamiento habitual solo fue efectivo en reducir los síntomas depresivos. Conclusiones: Las psicoterapias breves pueden ser el tratamiento de elección para los trastornos emocionales leves/moderados y podrían implementarse en los sistemas de salud.

Keywords: Brief psychotherapies; Emotional disorders; Experiment.; Randomized controlled trial; Transdiagnostic treatment.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow CONSORT diagram. Note. ED = Emotional Disorder; ITT = Intention-to-Treat; PP = Per Protocol; TAU = Treatment as Usual.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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