Among psychological treatments for panic disorder (PD) with or without agoraphobia, group therapy is an established and cost-effective treatment. The typical review assessing the effects of psychological treatments for PD merges findings from both individual and group formats. What is absent from the literature is a meta-analysis that separately summarizes the efficacy of group treatments. The present meta-analysis addresses this gap by estimating the efficacy of group psychotherapy for PD in adults using randomized, controlled trials (RCTs). More specifically, studies that directly compared the effects of group psychotherapy with control groups or alternative treatments were included. We identified 15 RCTs that yielded 19 comparisons with 864 patients. In most studies, group therapy was based on a cognitive–behavioral approach. Outcomes assessing panic, agoraphobia, depression, and general anxiety symptoms were extracted and between-groups effect sizes (Hedges’ g) calculated using a random-effects model. Results showed large effects for group therapy reducing symptoms of panic and agoraphobia when compared with no-treatment control groups (k = 9; g = 1.08; 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.82, 1.34]; p < .001). However, no significant differences were found when group therapy was compared with alternative treatments (k = 6; g = 0.18; 95% CI [−0.14, 0.49]; p = .264). This review adds support for group psychotherapy (primarily cognitive–behavioral therapy, CBT) being one of several treatment options for PD. Results are discussed with respect to the positive effects of group therapy and the limits of group therapy when compared with alternative treatments such as individual therapy or pharmacotherapy.

中文翻译：

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群体心理治疗对恐慌症的疗效：随机对照试验的荟萃分析。

在有或没有广场恐怖症的恐慌症 (PD) 的心理治疗中，团体治疗是一种既定且具有成本效益的治疗方法。评估心理治疗对 PD 的影响的典型审查合并了来自个人和团体形式的结果。文献中没有单独总结团体治疗效果的荟萃分析。本荟萃分析通过使用随机对照试验 (RCT) 估计团体心理治疗对成人 PD 的疗效来弥补这一差距。更具体地说，包括直接比较团体心理治疗与对照组或替代治疗效果的研究。我们确定了 15 项 RCT，对 864 名患者进行了 19 项比较。在大多数研究中，团体治疗基于认知行为方法。提取评估恐慌、广场恐怖症、抑郁和一般焦虑症状的结果，并使用随机效应模型计算组间效应大小 (Hedges' g)。结果显示，与未治疗的对照组相比，团体治疗对减少恐慌和广场恐惧症的症状有很大影响（k = 9；g = 1.08；95% 置信区间 [CI] [0.82, 1.34]；p < .001）。然而，当团体治疗与替代治疗相比时，没有发现显着差异（k = 6；g = 0.18；95% CI [-0.14, 0.49]；p = .264）。该评价增加了对团体心理治疗（主要是认知行为疗法，CBT）作为 PD 的几种治疗选择之一的支持。