Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) based stress management interventions (SMIS): Investigating the mechanisms of change

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. E. Flaxman ◽  
F. W. Bond
Author(s):  
Georges Raad ◽  
Judy Tanios ◽  
Joseph Azoury ◽  
Alain Daher ◽  
Chadi Fakih ◽  
...  

Abstract BACKGROUND Infertility is defined as the failure to achieve clinical pregnancy after 12 months of regular unprotected intercourse. It could be due to male or female factors, each requiring different treatment options. ART treatment exposes couples to numerous psychological stressors. Therefore, it has been recommended by the ESHRE Psychology and Counselling Guideline Development Group recently that psychosocial support should be offered as a complementary therapy during infertility treatments. In this context, the efficiency of different psychological interventions, such as cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), deep breathing (DB), and progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), was evaluated in several clinical trials in terms of couples’ mental health and pregnancy outcomes. OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE The neurophysiology of CBT, DB and PMR, which are used in interventional studies, in both men and women undergoing ART, has not yet been fully elucidated. This review represents a comprehensive report, aiming to collate novel insights into the neurobiological processes and physiological mechanisms that occur during the practice of CBT, DB and PMR. SEARCH METHODS PubMed, Google Scholar and Cochrane Library were interrogated to conduct this comprehensive literature review. The search was carried out using combinations of MeSH terms and keywords: infertility, assisted reproductive techniques, IVF, ICSI, emotions, psychological stress, cognitive behavioural therapy, mind-body therapies and relaxation. Relevant information related to the mechanism of action of stress management techniques were obtained from original articles and reviews published in English without taking into consideration the time of publication. Moreover, as it was not the major focus of the review, only recent systematic reviews (2015–2019) pinpointing the effects of psychological interventions on infertility treatment outcomes were also retrieved from the above-mentioned databases. OUTCOMES CBT, DB and PMR may modify the activity of stress-related brain regions such as the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hypothalamus and hippocampus, as demonstrated by functional MRI and electroencephalogram studies. Furthermore, applying these techniques was associated with mood improvements and a decline in stress biomarkers, and, hypothetically, reducing stress biomarkers attenuates the stress-induced effects on ART outcomes. WIDER IMPLICATIONS Increasing the knowledge of fertility staff, researchers and physicians regarding the mechanisms of action of these stress management techniques has several advantages. For instance, understanding the underlying neurophysiological pathways would assist practitioners to engage ART couples in the practice of these techniques. Also, it may enhance the quality of the support programmes and psychological research. Accordingly, this will ensure that these interventions reach their full potential and therefore improve clinical outcomes.


2014 ◽  
Vol 205 (4) ◽  
pp. 307-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Hedman ◽  
Erland Axelsson ◽  
Anders Görling ◽  
Carina Ritzman ◽  
Markus Ronnheden ◽  
...  

BackgroundExposure-based cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) delivered via the internet has been shown to be effective for severe health anxiety (hypochondriasis) but has not been compared with an active, effective and credible psychological treatment, such as behavioural stress management (BSM).AimsTo investigate two internet-delivered treatments – exposure-based CBTv.BSM – for severe health anxiety in a randomised controlled trial (trial registration: NCT01673035).MethodParticipants (n= 158) with a principal diagnosis of severe health anxiety were allocated to 12 weeks of exposure-based CBT (n= 79) or BSM (n= 79) delivered via the internet. The Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI) was the primary outcome.ResultsInternet-delivered exposure-based CBT led to a significantly greater improvement on the HAI compared with BSM. However, both treatment groups made large improvements on the HAI (pre-to-post-treatment Cohen'sd: exposure-based CBT, 1.78; BSM, 1.22).ConclusionsExposure-based CBT delivered via the internet is an efficacious treatment for severe health anxiety.Declarations of interestNone.


2006 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Granath ◽  
Sara Ingvarsson ◽  
Ulrica von Thiele ◽  
Ulf Lundberg

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 645-658
Author(s):  
Asala Halaj ◽  
Nitzan Yekutiel ◽  
Asher Y. Strauss ◽  
Jonathan D. Huppert

AbstractBackground:Research has long investigated the cognitive processes in the treatment of depression, and more recently in panic disorder (PD). Meanwhile, other studies have examined patients’ cognitive therapy skills in depression to gain insight into the link between acquiring such skills and treatment outcome.Aims:Given that no scale exists to examine in-session patient use of panic-related cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) skills, the aim of this study was to develop a new measure for assessing patients’ cognitive and behavioural skills in CBT for PD.Method:This study included 20 PD patients who received 12 weekly individual therapy sessions. The Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Panic Skills (CBTPS) rating system was developed. Three independent raters coded tapes of therapy sessions at the beginning and end of treatment.Results:The coefficient alphas and inter-rater reliability were high for the cognitive and behavioural subscales. Improvement in the patients’ CBTPS scores on both subscales indicated overall symptom improvement, above improvement in anxiety sensitivity.Conclusion:To our knowledge, this is the first study examining the impact of patient acquisition of CBT PD skills on treatment outcome. A new measure was developed based on the observations and was deemed reliable and valid. The measure facilitates the examination of the mechanisms of change in treatment for PD. An in-depth examination of the CBTPS may refine our understanding of the impact of each skill on PD treatment outcome. Further research relating to acquiring CBT skills could shed light on the mechanisms of change in treatment.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document