Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-45l2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T19:54:44.725Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The role of brief CBT in the treatment of anxiety and depression for young adults at a UK university: a pilot prospective audit study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 July 2015

Joanne M. Dickson  and
Matthew J. Gullo
Joanne M. Dickson*
Affiliation:
University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
Matthew J. Gullo
Affiliation:
University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia
*
*Author for correspondence: Dr J. M. Dickson, Department of Psychological Sciences, Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L25 3GB, UK (email: j.dickson@liv.ac.uk).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) has rarely been offered to students seeking professional psychological help at universities in the UK. Here, we aimed to investigate whether a brief course of CBT would improve anxious and depressive symptoms. Forty-eight student patients received a brief course of CBT at a university National Health Service, Student Health Centre in England. Patients completed weekly self-report measures of anxiety and depression at the commencement of each CBT session. Student patients receiving CBT showed significant decreases in anxiety and depression. These effects remained after controlling for a range of potential covariates (e.g. primary problem, total time in treatment, therapist qualifications). Findings suggest CBT is effective in reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms in a ‘real-world’ university clinic.

Keywords

Anxietyclinical psychologistscognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)depressionyoung adults
Type
Original Research
Information
the Cognitive Behaviour Therapist , Volume 8 , 2015 , e14
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Recommended follow-up reading

Forand, NR, Evans, S, Haglin, D, Fishman, B (2011). Cognitive behavioral therapy in practice: Treatment delivered by trainees at an outpatient clinic is clinically effective. Behavior Therapy 42, 612–623.Google Scholar
Miller, EJ, Chung, H (2009). A literature review of studies of depression and treatment outcomes among US college students since 1990. Psychiatric Services 60, 1257–1260.Google Scholar
Stewart, R E, Chambless, DL (2009). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for adult anxiety disorders in clinical practice: a meta-analysis of effectiveness studies. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 77, 595–606.Google Scholar

References

APA (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, 4th edn. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
Arnett, JJ (2000). Emerging adulthood. A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Journal of Psychology 55, 469–480.Google Scholar
AUCC (1999). Association for University and College Counselling.Google Scholar
Blackburn, IM, Twaddle, V (1996). Cognitive Therapy in Action. A Practitioner's Handbook, Souvenir Press.Google Scholar
Blackburn, L, James, IA, Milne, DM, Baker, C, Standart, SH, Garland, A, Reichelt, K (2001). The Revised Cognitive Therapy Scale (CTS-R): psychometric properties. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy 29, 431–446.Google Scholar
Grant, JE, Potenza, MN (2010). Young Adult Mental Health. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hox, J (2002). Multilevel Analysis: Techniques and Applications. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Kroenke, K, Spitzer, RL, Williams, JB (2001). The PHQ-9: validity of a brief depression severity measure. Journal of General and Internal Medicine 16, 6066–6130.Google Scholar
Kroenke, K, Spitzer, RL, Williams, JBW, Monahan, PO, Lowe, B (2007). Anxiety disorders in primary care: prevalence, impairment, comorbidity and detection. Annals of Internal Medicine 146, 317–325.Google Scholar
McGinn, LK, Sanderson, WC (2001). What allows cognitive behavioural therapy to be brief: overview, efficacy and crucial factors facilitating brief treatment. Clinical Psychology: Science & Practice 8, 23–37.Google Scholar
NICE (2004 a). Depression: management of depression in primary and secondary care (clinical guideline 23)(www.nice.org). London UK: National Institute for Clinical Excellence.Google Scholar
NICE (2004 b). Anxiety: management of anxiety (panic disorder, with and without agoraphobia and generalised anxiety disorder) in adults in primary, secondary and community care (clinical guidance 22)(www.nice.org). London, UK: National Institute for Clinical Excellence.Google Scholar
NICE (2010). The NICE Guideline on the treatment and management of depression in adults. National Clinical Practice Guideline 90. London. NICE.Google Scholar
Perlick, DA, Hofstein, Y, Michael, LA (2010). Barriers to mental health use in young adulthood. In: Young Adult Mental Health (ed. Grant, J. E. & Potenza, M. N.), pp. 195–205. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Richards, DA, Suckling, R (2008). Improving access to psychological therapy: the Doncaster demonstration site organisational model. Clinical Psychology Forum 181, 9–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Royal College of Psychiatrists (2003). The mental health of students in higher education. Council Report CR112. London: Royal College of Psychiatrists.Google Scholar
Segal, ZV, Swallow, SR, Bizzini, L, Rouget, BW (1996). Who is suitable for cognitive behavioural therapy. British Medical Journal 313, 1051–1053.Google Scholar
Spitzer, RL, Kroenke, R, Williams, JB, Lowe, B (2006). A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7. Archives of Internal Medicine 166, 1092–1097.Google Scholar
Vygotsky, LS (1978) Mind and Society: The Development of Higher Education Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Williams, C, Garland, A (2002). A cognitive-behaviour therapy assessment model for use in everyday clinical practice. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment 8, 172–179.Google Scholar
Zarate, CA Jr. (2010). Psychiatric disorders in young adults: depression assessment and treatment. In: Young Adult Mental Health (ed. Grant, J. E. & Potenza, M. N.), pp. 206–230. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.