Transdiagnostic Cognitive Behavioral Group Interventions: A Systematic Review

BackgroundTransdiagnostic cognitive behavioral therapy (tCBT) has presented itself as an intervention proposal that aims to integrate the common processes of human functioning with the therapeutic strategies of conventional cognitive-behavioral therapy, considered the gold standard for treating numerous disorders.ObjectiveAs far as we know, this review is the first to specifically evaluate transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral interventions in groups. This review aimed to systematically examine the evidence regarding the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral transdiagnostic interventions in groups for the adult population compared to the general interventions or no intervention (control/waiting list).MethodThe report of the systematic review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. PsycINFO, PubMed, and Web of Science databases were searched, obtaining a total of 1,058 records. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 32 articles, published between 2005 and 2022, were selected. Eligible studies were submitted to the assessment of the potential risk of bias through Cochrane's tool for risk assessment of bias (RoB 2).ResultsThe results suggest that transdiagnostic treatments are superior to waiting list conditions and the common treatments, and are at least as effective as active control interventions and specific cognitive-behavioral treatments for diagnosis.