Sustainability of Treatment Success 5 Years after Exposure-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety Disorders

作者：Andre Pittig, Ingmar Heinig, Volker Arolt, Christina Bartnick, Udo Dannlowski, J. Deckert, Katharina Domschke, Thomas Fydrich, Stephan Goerigk, Alfons O. Hamm, Maike Hollandt, Tilo Kircher, Katja Koelkebeck, Ulrike Lueken, Jürgen Margraf, Peter Neudeck, Paul Pauli, Jan Richter, Isabelle C. Ridderbusch, Winfried Rief, Silvia Schneider, Benjamin Straube, Andreas Ströhle, Yunbo Yang, Hans‐Ulrich Wïttchen, Jürgen Hoyer · 发表于：Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1159/000549073 · 被引用次数：3 · 研究领域：Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes、Digital Mental Health Interventions、Treatment of Major Depression

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 5 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 pretreatment, posttreatment, 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 posttreatment 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 asses...