Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24447006›Full record

SynthesisJournal of consulting and clinical psychology2014

Effect of cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders on quality of life: a meta-analysis.

Stefan G Hofmann, Jade Q Wu, Hannah Boettcher

Erratum issuedAbstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 70 papers, 13 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
70citing papers in PubMed, 13 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

70 citing papers in PubMed, 13 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Emotional Eating Interventions for Adults Living With Overweight and Obesity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Behaviour Change Techniques.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2025
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  14. Hope predicts long-term well-being following cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety and related disorders.Psychotherapy research : journal of the Society for Psychotherapy Research · 2026
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  15. Randomized controlled trial of emotion regulation therapy versus cognitive behavioral therapy to address distress in cancer caregivers.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2026
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10 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

  • Erratum issued
5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Stefan G HofmannDepartment of Psychology, Boston University.
Jade Q WuDepartment of Psychology, Boston University.
Hannah BoettcherDepartment of Psychology, Boston University.

Funding

1/2-Yoga For Generalized Anxiety DisorderR01AT007257 · NCCIH · BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS) · PI HOFMANN, STEFAN G. · 2013 to 2017
$2.0M
NCCIH NIH HHS R01 AT007257NCCIH NIH HHS R01AT007257
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveAlthough cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is effective for treating anxiety disorders, little is known about its effect on quality of life. To conduct a meta-analysis of CBT for anxiety disorders on quality of life, we searched for relevant studies in PubMed, PsycINFO, and the Cochrane Library and conducted manual searches.

methodThe search identified 44 studies that included 59 CBT trials, totaling 3,326 participants receiving CBT for anxiety disorders. We estimated the controlled and within-group random effects of the treatment changes on quality of life.

resultsThe pre-post within-group and controlled effect sizes were moderately strong (Hedges's g = 0.54 and Hedges's g = 0.56, respectively). Improvements were greater for physical and psychological domains of quality of life than for environmental and social domains. The overall effect sizes decreased with publication year and increased with treatment duration. Face-to-face treatments delivered individually and in groups produced significantly higher effect sizes than Internet-delivered treatments.

conclusionCBT for anxiety disorders is moderately effective for improving quality of life, especially in physical and psychological domains. Internet-delivered treatments are less effective than face-to-face treatments in improving quality of life.

Indexed as

Cognitive Behavioral TherapyPersonal SatisfactionQuality of LifeAdultAnxietyAnxiety DisordersClinical Trials as TopicHumansReproducibility of ResultsResearch DesignResearch ReportTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID24447006
PMCPMC4029924

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.