Positive and negative affect change following psychotherapeutic treatment for anxiety-related disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Anxiety-related disorders feature elevated negative affect (NA), and in some cases, diminished positive affect (PA). It remains unclear how well extant psychotherapies for anxiety-related disorders improve PA versus NA. We systematically searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, P...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of affective disorders 2024-03, Vol.349, p.358-369
Main Authors: Hoffman, Samantha N., Rassaby, Madeleine M., Stein, Murray B., Taylor, Charles T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Agoraphobia - therapy
Anxiety
Anxiety Disorders - drug therapy
Humans
Meta-analysis
Negative affect
Phobic Disorders - therapy
Positive affect
Psychotherapeutic interventions
Psychotherapy - methods
Psychotropic Drugs - therapeutic use
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Summary:Anxiety-related disorders feature elevated negative affect (NA), and in some cases, diminished positive affect (PA). It remains unclear how well extant psychotherapies for anxiety-related disorders improve PA versus NA. We systematically searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, PsychInfo, and Web of Science databases. Records included studies involving (1) patients with a principal or co-principal diagnosis of at least one anxiety-related disorder (i.e., generalized anxiety, social anxiety, panic, agoraphobia, health anxiety, specific phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or posttraumatic stress disorder), and (2) pre- and post-treatment PA and NA scores or a change index between pre- and post-treatment PA and NA scores. Effect sizes were calculated for meta-analyses. Fourteen studies with 1001 adults with an anxiety-related disorder were included. Psychotherapeutic interventions included cognitive behavioral, present-centered, and imagery-based approaches. Treatments reduced NA (g = −0.90; 95%CI [−1.19, −0.61]) to a greater extent than they improved PA (g = 0.27; 95%CI [0.05, 0.59]), Z = −5.26, p 
ISSN:0165-0327
1573-2517
1573-2517
DOI:10.1016/j.jad.2024.01.086