This Way Up Review

One study explored the efficacy of internet cognitive behavioral therapy (i CBT) in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). A sample of 588 patients completed at least one i CBT lesson for GAD through CRU f AD clinic ( www.crufadclinic.org). Routine data collection included demographics, GAD symptomatology (GAD ‐7), psychological distress (K ‐10), and disability (WHODAS). The study looked at differences between completers (324 of 588) who completed all 6 lessons in the course, and non-completers. Both conditions resulted in large effect sizes, clinically significant improvements, and high levels of acceptability. These results were drawn outside of the constraints of a more traditional randomized controlled trial (RCT) although it is worth noting that this is also a limitation of the study. (Mewton, L., Wong, N., & Andrews, G. 2012. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/da.21995/abstract)

Another study looked at the differences between the effectivenss of This Way Up when supported by a clinician versus when supported by a technician or coach. 150 participants with GAD were randomized to three groups: Clinician-assisted vs. technician-assisted vs. delayed treatment. Both clinician- and technician-assisted treatment resulted in large effect sizes and clinically significant improvements comparable to those associated with face-to-face treatment, while a delayed treatment/control group did not improve. (Robinson, E., Titov, N., Andrews, G., McIntyre, K., Schwencke, G., & Solley, K. 2010. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2880592/)

A study published in 2009 aimed to determine the efficacy of clinician assisted computerized cognitive behavioral therapy. Forty-eight individuals meeting diagnostic criteria for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) were randomly assigned to the CBT program or to a waitlist control group. The findings indicate that, when disseminated in a clinical setting, iCBT is effective in reducing GAD symptomatology and psychological distress while simultaneously increasing health-related quality of life. Effect sizes for all outcome measures were moderate to large and over 60% of moderate-to-severe GAD cases met criteria for remission upon treatment completion. (Titov, N., Andrews, G., Robinson, E., Schwencke, G., Johnston, L., Solley, K., & Choi, I. 2009. http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00048670903179269)

A study published in 2020 studied the effectiveness of iCBT in routine care. Investigators studied adherence to, and effectiveness of a 6-lesson iCBT program for health anxiety symptoms amongst individuals (n = 391, mean age 41 years, 64% female) who enrolled in the program either self-guided (n = 312) or under the supervision of community clinicians (general practitioners, psychologists and other allied health professionals) (n = 79). Adherence to the iCBT program was modest (45.6% in the clinician-supervised group, 33.0% in the unguided group), but within-subjects effect sizes were large. (Newby, J. M., Haskelberg, H., Hobbs, M. J., Mahoney, A. E., Mason, E., & Andrews, G. 2020. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165032719316489)