Group Cohesion in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety and Related Disorders

BackgroundGroup cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has facilitated increased accessibility to treatment for anxiety disorders, and previous research shows that group cohesion is an important predictor of group-CBT for social anxiety disorder (SAD). Less is known about the differential effects of group cohesion across treatment for anxiety disorders. We examined the link between group cohesion and posttreatment symptoms across group-CBT for a range of anxiety disorders.MethodsParticipants were adults with a principal diagnosis of SAD (n = 119), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD; n = 162), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD; n = 61), panic disorder or agoraphobia (PDA; n = 56), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; n = 100), who were participating in group CBT for their respective principal diagnosis. Diagnostic status was determined using the Diagnostic Assessment Research Tool (DART), and self-report measures of social anxiety, worry, OCD, panic, and PTSD symptoms were administered at baseline and post-treatment. Group cohesion was assessed at the midpoint of treatment.ResultsGroup cohesion was significantly associated with treatment outcome for SAD, above and beyond baseline symptom severity. Group cohesion was not significantly associated with outcome for participants with GAD, OCD, PDA, or PTSD.ConclusionsConsidering that individuals with SAD are particularly sensitive to scrutiny and evaluation from others, interpersonal processes such as group cohesion may be particularly helpful in facilitating treatment outcomes for this population, relative to other disorders.