Cost effectiveness of individual vs. group cognitive behavior therapy for problems of depression and anxiety in an...

Randomly assigned 44 outpatient Ss, enrollees of the George Washington University Health Plan, a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO), to one of three treatment modalities: (1) a cognitive behavior therapy group; (2) a traditional process-oriented interpersonal group; and (3) cognitive behavior therapy in an individual format. All Ss were referred by their physicians to the HMO Mental Health Practice for treatment for anxiety and/or depression. Beck's Depression Inventory, Speilberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Gay and Galassi's Adult Self-Expression Scale (an assertion measure) were administered pre- and post-treatment to all Ss. A subsample of these Ss also were rated pre- and post-treatment on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression by experienced clinicians blind to the treatment groups. All three experimental groups significantly improved on all dependent measures from pre- to post-treatment, and no differential treatment effects were found.