Objective: There is a difference between interventions as planned and as delivered in practice. Unless we know what was actually delivered, we cannot understand "what worked" in effective interventions. This study aimed to (a) assess whether an established taxonomy of 53 smoking cessation behavior change techniques (BCTs) may be applied…

Objective: To examine symptom change over time, the effect of attrition on treatment outcome, and the putative mediators of cognitive therapy (CT) versus behavior therapy (BT) for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) using archival data. Method: Sixty-two adults with OCD were randomized to 20 sessions of CT (N = 30) or BT (N = 32) that consisted of…

Objective: Treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD) is far less effective for those with a co-occurring anxiety disorder. Surprisingly, adding an independent anxiety treatment to AUD treatment does not substantially improve the poor alcohol outcomes of these patients. This may reflect the lack of attention from independent treatments to the…

Objective: It is well known to clinicians and researchers in the field of alcoholism that patients vary with respect to drinking goal. The objective in this study was to elucidate the contribution of drinking goal to treatment outcome in the context of specific behavioral and pharmacological interventions. Method: Participants were 1,226…

Objective: This study examined (a) duration of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) as a moderator of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) versus its components (cognitive therapy and self-control desensitization) and (b) increases in dynamic flexibility of anxious symptoms during the course of psychotherapy as a mediator of this moderation. Degree of…

Objective: Although behavioral weight-loss interventions produce short-term weight loss, long-term maintenance remains elusive. This randomized trial examined whether learning a novel set of "stability skills" before losing weight improved long-term weight management. Stability skills were designed to optimize individuals' current…

Objective: We examined the possibility that maintenance cognitive behavior therapy (M-CBT) may improve the likelihood of sustained improvement and reduced relapse in a multi-site randomized controlled clinical trial of patients who met criteria for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia. Method: Participants were all patients (N = 379) who…

Although associations with outcome have been inconsistent, therapist adherence and competence continues to garner attention, particularly within the context of increasing interest in the dissemination, implementation, and sustainability of evidence-based treatments. To date, research on therapist adherence and competence has focused on average…

Objective: Many trials have demonstrated the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral interventions for alcohol dependence, yet few studies have examined why particular treatments are effective. This study was designed to evaluate whether drink refusal training was an effective component of a combined behavioral intervention (CBI) and whether change…

Objective: There is a growing body of evidence for the effectiveness of trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy (TF-CBT) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but few studies to date have investigated the mechanisms by which TF-CBT leads to therapeutic change. Models of PTSD suggest that a core treatment mechanism is the change in…

Objective: To evaluate measures of cardiac activity and reactivity as prospective biomarkers of treatment response to an empirically supported behavioral intervention for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Method: Cardiac preejection period (PEP), an index of sympathetic-linked cardiac activity, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia…

Objective: The aims were (a) to test the effectiveness of a nurse-led cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) program to assist adjustment in the early stages of multiple sclerosis (MS) and (b) to determine moderators of treatment including baseline distress, social support (SS), and treatment preference. Method: Ninety-four ambulatory people with MS…

Objective: The primary aim of this study was to assess the overall effectiveness of and dropout from individual and group outpatient cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for adults with a primary diagnosis of unipolar depressive disorder in routine clinical practice. Method: We conducted a random effects meta-analysis of 34 nonrandomized…

Objective: Interpersonal theories posit that chronically depressed individuals have hostile and submissive styles in their social interactions, which may undermine their interpersonal effectiveness and maintain their depression. Recent findings support this theory and also show that patients' interpersonal impact messages, as perceived by their…

Objective: The longer term efficacy of medication treatments for binge-eating disorder (BED) remains unknown. This study examined the longer term effects of fluoxetine and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) either with fluoxetine (CBT + fluoxetine) or with placebo (CBT + placebo) for BED through 12-month follow-up after completing treatments.…