Outcomes of People of Color in an Efficacy Trial of Cognitive-Behavioral Treatments for Anxiety, Depression, and Related Disorders: Preliminary Evidence

J Nerv Ment Dis. 2023 Sep 1;211(9):711-720. doi: 10.1097/NMD.0000000000001692. Epub 2023 Jul 10.

Abstract

Although evidence-based psychological treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) have strong empirical support for reducing anxiety and depression symptoms, CBT outcome research often does not report race and ethnicity variables, or assess how well CBT works for people from historically excluded racial and ethnic groups. This study presents post hoc analyses comparing treatment retention and symptom outcomes for participants of color ( n = 43) and White participants ( n = 136) from a randomized controlled efficacy trial of CBT. χ 2 tests and one-way ANCOVA showed no observable differences between the two samples on attrition or on clinician-rated measures of anxiety and depression at posttreatment and follow-up. Moderate to large within-group effect sizes on anxiety and depression were found for Black, Latinx, and Asian American participants at almost all time points. These preliminary findings suggest that CBT for anxiety and comorbid depression may be efficacious for Black, Asian American, and Latinx individuals.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01243606.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Anxiety* / therapy
  • Asian
  • Black or African American
  • Cognition
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy*
  • Depression* / therapy
  • Hispanic or Latino
  • Humans
  • Treatment Outcome
  • White

Associated data

  • ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT01243606