Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34951503›Full record

Trial reportDepression and anxiety2022

Group autonomy enhancing treatment versus cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders: A cluster-randomized clinical trial.

Laura E Kunst, Joyce Maas, Anton J L M van Balkom, Marcel A L M van Assen, Brenda Kouwenhoven, Marrie H J Bekker

Open access · hybridAbstract readComparative StudyMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Depression and anxiety, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
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

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Article
  4. Cognitive therapy and research · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Laura E KunstDepartment of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Center of Research on Psychological disorders and Somatic diseases (CoRPS), Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-5992-0528
Joyce MaasDepartment of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Center of Research on Psychological disorders and Somatic diseases (CoRPS), Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-8049-8942
Anton J L M van BalkomDepartment of Psychiatry, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-9171-0208
Marcel A L M van AssenDepartment of Methodology and Statistics, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-7517-6081
Brenda KouwenhovenPEP Noordwijk, Regional Health Organization Rijncoepel, Noordwijk, The Netherlands.
Marrie H J BekkerDepartment of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Center of Research on Psychological disorders and Somatic diseases (CoRPS), Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-8552-975X
Tilburg University · NLGGZ inGeest · NLUtrecht University · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAlthough cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is effective in the treatment of anxiety disorders, few evidence-based alternatives exist. Autonomy enhancing treatment (AET) aims to decrease the vulnerability for anxiety disorders by targeting underlying autonomy deficits and may therefore have similar effects on anxiety as CBT, but yield broader effects.

methodsA multicenter cluster-randomized clinical trial was conducted including 129 patients with DSM-5 anxiety disorders, on average 33.66 years of age (SD = 12.57), 91 (70.5%) female, and most (92.2%) born in the Netherlands. Participants were randomized over 15-week groupwise AET or groupwise CBT and completed questionnaires on anxiety, general psychopathology, depression, quality of life, autonomy-connectedness and self-esteem, pre-, mid-, and posttreatment, and after 3, 6, and 12 months (six measurements).

resultsContrary to the hypotheses, effects on the broader outcome measures did not differ between AET and CBT (d = .16 or smaller at post-test). Anxiety reduction was similar across conditions (d = .059 at post-test) and neither therapy was superior on long term.

conclusionThis was the first clinical randomized trial comparing AET to CBT. The added value of AET does not seem to lie in enhanced effectiveness on broader outcome measures or on long term compared to CBT. However, the study supports the effectiveness of AET and thereby contributes to extended treatment options for anxiety disorders.

Indexed as

Anxiety DisordersCognitive Behavioral TherapyAdultAnxietyFemaleHumansMaleQuality of LifeSelf ConceptTreatment Outcomeanxietyautonomyautonomy-connectednessautonomy enhancing treatmentcognitive behavioral therapytransdiagnostic

Identifiers

PMID34951503
PMCPMC9303809
OpenAlexW4200155114

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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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.