A one year follow-up is reported of a randomized clinical trial with
generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in which the main comparison was between
analytic psychotherapy (AP) and cognitive therapy (CT), each delivered at
weekly or fortnightly intervals over a six month period. CT was found to be
significantly more effective than AP. However, GAD is a chronic and
relapsing condition and follow-up data are needed to assess the durability
of improvement and the possibility that the benefits of analytic
psychotherapy may be more apparent over the longer term. Data were
collected in three areas: (1) symptomatology and overall improvement;
(2) medication usage and contact with GPs; and (3) attitudes to therapy. CT
was clearly superior to AP on the main outcome measures and only a minority
of AP patients made significant improvements. CT but not AP was associated
with significant reductions in medication usage, and patients receiving CT
were generally more positive about treatment received. Differences between
treatments were less evident in the less intensive treatment condition where
overall results were relatively poor. The most positive outcomes were
achieved in the more intensive CT condition in which approximately two-thirds of patients achieved clinically significant improvements.