Trial reportJournal of consulting and clinical psychology2016
Cognitive-behavioral therapy augmentation of SSRI reduces cortisol levels in older adults with generalized anxiety disorder: A randomized clinical trial.
Trial report in Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pituitary gland volumes in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder before and after cognitive-behavioral therapy.Revista brasileira de psiquiatria (Sao Paulo, Brazil : 1999)Trial
- Blunted diurnal cortisol slope as a risk marker for 9-year executive function decline: amplification by daily stress and worry severity.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- Longitudinal Association Between Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Cognitive Change: A Meta-Analysis.Psychiatry investigation · 2026Article
- Effects of long-term mindfulness meditation training on attentional capacity in professional male fencer athletes.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Measuring salivary cortisol in biobehavioral research: A systematic review and methodological considerations.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Review
- Cortisol, cardiovascular risk, and anxiety in full-time workers in Cartagena, Colombia, 2023.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Childhood adversity and the cortisol awakening response in depression: A meta-analysis.Journal of mood and anxiety disorders · 2023Article
- Why Does Psychotherapy Work and for Whom? Hormonal Answers.Biomedicines · 2022Review
- Mindfulness, Education, and Exercise for age-related cognitive decline: Study protocol, pilot study results, and description of the baseline sample.Clinical trials (London, England) · 2020Article
- 17-α-Ethinylestradiol modulates endocrine and behavioral responses to stress in zebrafish.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2020Article
- Does Psychodrama Affect Perceived Stress, Anxiety-Depression Scores and Saliva Cortisol in Patients with Depression?Psychiatry investigation · 2018Article
- Pituitary volume reduction in schizophrenia following cognitive behavioural therapy.Schizophrenia research · 2018Article
- Efficacy and Safety of a Formulated Herbal Granula, Jiu Wei Zhen Xin, for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Meta-Analysis.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2018Article
- Divergent effect of fluoxetine on the response to physical or chemical stressors in zebrafish.PeerJ · 2017Article
- Inflammation, Stress Response, and Redox Dysregulation Biomarkers: Clinical Outcomes and Pharmacological Implications for Psychosis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2017Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesElevated cortisol in stress and aging, such as has been seen in late-life anxiety disorders, is postulated to accelerate cognitive and physiological decline in this large and increasing population. Selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) are both effective treatments for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in older adults. On the other hand, there is very little research examining the effect of combining these therapies on peak cortisol levels. For the current analyses, we examined the effectiveness of CBT augmentation on peak cortisol levels in older adults diagnosed with GAD.
methodsThe sample consisted of 42 individuals with late-life GAD who received an acute course of the SSRI escitalopram and then entered a 16-week randomized phase. Twenty-one participants were randomized to receive 16 sessions of CBT in addition to continuing escitalopram and the remaining 21 participants continued on escitalopram without CBT. Generalized estimating equations were performed to assess the effectiveness of CBT augmentation on peak cortisol levels (30 min after waking).
resultsOlder adults with GAD who received both escitalopram and CBT demonstrated a significant reduction in peak cortisol levels at posttreatment compared to the group who received escitalopram without CBT augmentation.
conclusionsCBT augmentation of SSRI treatment reduced peak cortisol levels for older adults with GAD. Since persistently high cortisol levels in aging are thought to increase age-related cognitive and medical problems, our findings suggest that there may be a benefit to health and cognition of CBT augmentation for late-life anxiety disorders.
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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.