Trial reportJournal of consulting and clinical psychology2015
Decentering as a potential common mechanism across two therapies for generalized anxiety disorder.
Trial report in Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Mindfulness- and acceptance-based interventions for music performance anxiety: a three-level meta-analysis of therapeutic effects, mechanisms, and boundary conditions.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Do treatment responders maintain their gains following a randomized clinical trial comparing an acceptance-based behavior therapy to applied relaxation for generalized anxiety disorder?Cognitive behaviour therapy · 2025Trial
- Do older veterans experience change in posttraumatic cognitions following treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder?Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy · 2022Trial
- A randomized controlled trial of a smartphone-based application for the treatment of anxiety.Psychotherapy research : journal of the Society for Psychotherapy Research · 2021Trial
- Reductions in experiential avoidance as a mediator of change in symptom outcome and quality of life in acceptance-based behavior therapy and applied relaxation for generalized anxiety disorder.Behaviour research and therapy · 2016Trial
- Relationships among adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and psychopathology during the treatment of comorbid anxiety and alcohol use disorders.Behaviour research and therapy · 2015Trial
- Interpersonal Problems, Mindfulness, and Therapy Outcome in an Acceptance-Based Behavior Therapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder.Cognitive behaviour therapy · 2015Trial
- A digitally embedded intervention to enhance psychological decentering and reduce depression severity in at-risk adolescents: a randomised controlled trial of the 'One Step Back' programme.EClinicalMedicine · 2026Article
- Frequent loving kindness meditation relates to lower anxiety in long term practitioners through higher self compassion and cognitive flexibility.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Cognitive, behavioral, and affective mechanisms underlying the efficacy of Applied Relaxation in reducing psychopathological symptoms: A randomized controlled trial.Journal of mood and anxiety disorders · 2024Article
- Decentering from Emotions in Daily Life: Dynamic Associations with Affect, Symptoms, and Wellbeing.Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2023Article
- Assessing Decentering Capacity in Athletes: A Moderated Mediation Model.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Comparing the Effectiveness of Virtual and In-Person Delivery of Mindfulness-Based Skills Within Healthcare Curriculums.Medical science educator · 2022Article
- Decentering predicts attenuated perseverative thought and internalizing symptoms following stress exposure: A multi-level, multi-wave study.Behaviour research and therapy · 2022Article
- Article
- Decentering as a core component in the psychological treatment and prevention of youth anxiety and depression: a narrative review and insight report.Translational psychiatry · 2021Review
- Examining the Potential Synergistic Effects Between Mindfulness Training and Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Review
- Investigating the Role of Interpretation Bias in Mindfulness-Based Treatment of Adults With Generalized Anxiety Disorder.Frontiers in psychology · 2020Article
- A Perspective on the Similarities and Differences Between Mindfulness and Relaxation.Global advances in health and medicine · 2020Article
- Changes in Decentering and Reappraisal Temporally Precede Symptom Reduction During Emotion Regulation Therapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder With and Without Co-Occurring Depression.Behavior therapy · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe purpose of this study was to examine decentering as a potential mechanism of action across 2 treatments for generalized anxiety disorder: an acceptance-based behavioral therapy (ABBT) and applied relaxation (AR).
methodSixty-four individuals who completed at least half of the 16 total sessions of either ABBT or AR (65.6% female; 79.7% identified as White; average age = 34.41 years) completed measures of decentering (Experiences Questionnaire) and of symptoms of anxiety (Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-Stress subscale) at 5 time points over the course of therapy, and a measure of worry (Penn State Worry Questionnaire) at pre- and posttreatment.
resultsInitial growth curve models showed that decentering increased significantly over therapy (z = 7.09), and this increase was associated with a decrease in worry symptoms (Penn State Worry Questionnaire) at posttreatment (z = -8.51). The rate of change did not significantly vary across treatments, Δχ2/Δdf = 0.16/1, p = .69. Further, a series of bivariate latent difference score models indicated that the best-fitting model was one in which decentering was a leading indicator of change in symptoms (DASS-Stress). Allowing this coupling to vary across treatments did not significantly improve the fit of the model, Δχ2/Δdf = 0.71/1, p = .40.
conclusionsIn this sample, results suggest that increased decentering was associated with decreases in anxiety and that changes in decentering appear to precede changes in symptoms within both ABBT and AR, indicating that decentering may be an important common mechanism of action. (PsycINFO Database Record
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.