Trial reportPsychology and psychotherapy2026
Does remote match reality? Comparing the effectiveness of a self-help app for panic disorder and agoraphobia to face-to-face CBT.
Trial report in Psychology and psychotherapy, 2026. 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 1 paper.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Does remote match reality? Comparing the effectiveness of a self-help app for panic disorder and agoraphobia to face-to-face CBT.Psychology and psychotherapy · 2026Trial
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundExposure-based CBT is highly effective in treating patients with panic disorder and agoraphobia; however, access to such treatments is often limited. Smartphone-based self-management apps offer a promising low-threshold treatment alternative to face-to-face therapy. Although such health apps have shown to be effective in reducing anxiety symptoms, comparisons to active treatments are still scarce. Therefore, this study compared the effectiveness of a self-help app to an established face-to-face CBT intervention for panic and agoraphobia.
methodThe present study conducts a post hoc comparison of two independent RCTs examining participants with panic disorder and/or agoraphobia. Interventions in both studies were based on the same CBT manual. Study 1 (n = 138) included face-to-face CBT; Study 2 addressed the effects of a digital self-help intervention (n = 57). Main outcomes comprised symptoms of both panic disorder and agoraphobia, depressive symptoms and agoraphobic avoidance. Data were analysed using linear mixed models in intent-to-treat and completer data sets.
resultsLinear mixed models showed that face-to-face treatment was superior to app treatment in reducing panic and agoraphobic symptoms (R DISCUSSION: Although a smartphone-based CBT intervention was effective in reducing symptoms of panic and agoraphobia, its efficacy was significantly below the effects of the same intervention delivered in face-to-face format. Thus, digital interventions might be most suitable within a stepped-care approach or to bridge waiting times for psychotherapy.
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Registered trials
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