By the Numbers - Aug. 31, 2015

By the Numbers - Aug. 31, 2015

15.9% 
and 
26.2%

The percentages of clients who drop out of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) during pretreatment and treatment, respectively, according to an article recently published online in the Journal of Clinical & Consulting Psychology -- Meta-Analysis of Dropout From Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Magnitude, Timing, and Moderators. The researchers analyzed "dropout data from 115 primary empirical studies involving 20,995 participants receiving CBT for a range of mental health disorders." They found that:

Dropout was significantly associated with (a) diagnosis, with depression having the highest attrition rate; (b) format of treatment delivery, with e-therapy having the highest rates; (c) treatment setting, with fewer inpatient than outpatient dropouts; and (d) number of sessions, with treatment starters showing significantly reduced dropout as number of sessions increased. Dropout was not significantly associated with client type (adults or adolescents), therapist licensure status, study design (randomized control trial [RCT] vs. non-RCT), or publication recency.