ReviewBMC psychology2023
Why is it so hard to identify (consistent) predictors of treatment outcome in psychotherapy? - clinical and research perspectives.
Review in BMC psychology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Predictors of Symptom Reduction and Remission Among People with Anxiety: Secondary Analyses from a Randomized Controlled Trial.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2024Trial
- Predictors and Moderators of Post-Treatment Depression Severity After Hypnotherapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in an RCT for Mild-to-Moderate Depression.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- A Scoping Review of Amenable Patient-Specific Predictors of Treatment Failure in the Treatment of Anxiety and Depressive Disorders.Clinical psychology in Europe · 2026Review
- Predictors of Change in Treatment Response to Group-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Adolescents with Social Anxiety Disorder.Child psychiatry and human development · 2026Article
- Fostering therapeutic relationships in brief interventions: an exploratory qualitative study of the Ensemble program for informal caregivers of adults with psychiatric disorders.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Simulated virtual reality experiences for predicting early treatment response in panic disorder.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Article
- Transcriptomics and psychotherapy: An integrative review.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2024Review
- Predicting anxiety treatment outcome in community mental health services using linked health administrative data.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Assessing uptake of the core outcome set in anxiety disorder clinical trials: a cross-sectional analysis.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAnxiety and depression are two of the most debilitating psychological disorders worldwide today. Fortunately, effective treatments exist. However, a large proportion of patients do not recover from treatment, and many still have symptoms after completing treatment. Numerous studies have tried to identify predictors of treatment outcome. So far, researchers have found few or no consistent predictors applicable to allocate patients to relevant treatment.
methodsWe set out to investigate why it is so hard to identify (consistent) predictors of treatment outcome for psychotherapy in anxiety and depression by reviewing relevant literature.
resultsFour challenges stand out; a) the complexity of human lives, b) sample size and statistical power, c) the complexity of therapist-patient relationships, and d) the lack of consistency in study designs. Together these challenges imply there are a countless number of possible predictors. We also consider ethical implications of predictor research in psychotherapy. Finally, we consider possible solutions, including the use of machine learning, larger samples and more realistic complex predictor models.
conclusionsOur paper sheds light on why it is so hard to identify consistent predictors of treatment outcome in psychotherapy and suggest ethical implications as well as possible solutions to this problem.
Indexed as
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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.