Comparing treatment efficacy of cognitive-behavior therapy and short-term dynamic psychotherapy in high-quality studies: a systematic review and effect size approach
Comparing treatment efficacy of cognitive-behavior therapy and short-term dynamic psychotherapy in high-quality studies: a systematic review and effect size approach

Summary/Abstract: Purpose: The aim of this article is to compare treatment efficacy of cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) and short-term dynamic psychotherapy (STDP) in high-quality studies. Methods: A systematic review was conducted using Medline and PsycINFO. Effect sizes were calculated. Results: Eleven publications (seven individual studies) respected the inclusion criteria. The results reveal that both CBT and STDP are efficacious treatments. In anxiety disorders, CBT shows a small to moderate advantage over STDP in primary symptoms from pretreatment to post treatment and a negligible to moderate advantage from pretreatment to follow-up. Results are mixed in personality disorders. In depressive disorders, CBT shows a negligible to small advantage from pretreatment to post treatment in primary symptoms, but STDP shows a small advantage from pretreatment to follow-up. In bulimia nervosa, CBT shows a small advantage in primary symptoms from pretreatment to post treatment. Differences are also observed in secondary symptoms for each disorder. Post hoc analyses revealed that STDP shows a negligible to small advantage over CBT from post treatment to follow-up. Conclusion: Differences in treatment efficacy seem to vary according to disorders, type of treatment outcomes (primary or secondary), and measurement time (post treatment or follow-up), but results have to be interpreted cautiously.

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