Supplementary Material for: Sustainability of treatment success five years after exposure-based cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders
Introduction: Achieving sustainable success in the treatment of anxiety disorders remains a central objective in mental health care. Although research has demonstrated the short-term efficacy of psychotherapy, evidence regarding long-term sustainability is limited. This study examined treatment outc...
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2025
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| 总结: | Introduction: Achieving sustainable success in the treatment of anxiety disorders remains a central objective in mental health care. Although research has demonstrated the short-term efficacy of psychotherapy, evidence regarding long-term sustainability is limited. This study examined treatment outcomes five years after prediction-error-based exposure therapy. Methods: For 355 patients (616 eligible; 58% follow-up rate), newly collected follow-up data on anxiety symptoms and psychosocial functioning were compared to pre-treatment, post-treatment, and 6-month follow-up data from a multicenter clinical trial characterized by high treatment fidelity. Results: Improvements in anxiety symptoms and psychosocial functioning that were evident at post-treatment and 6-month follow-up were largely preserved after 5 years. No significant differences emerged between randomized groups of temporally intensified and non-intensified exposure. From 6 months to 5 years, overall remission rates remained stable, with the majority of patients exhibiting no reliable change in symptom severity. Reliable relapse occurred in 4.9% and reliable new remission in 6.5%. Most patients (63.4%) did not seek additional treatment. Among those who did, depression (64.2%) and anxiety (60.5%) were the most frequently cited reasons, although only a minority (6.0%) sought further treatment exclusively for anxiety. Additional treatment during the follow-up period was associated with higher symptom severity throughout assessments. Conclusion: These findings highlight the sustainability and long-term public health benefits of exposure-based CBT for anxiety disorders. Most patients do not need additional treatments for mental disorders even five years after treatment. Nevertheless, further efforts are needed to optimize interventions for those patients who do not achieve remission or experience relapse. |
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