Why is self-help neglected in the treatment of emotional disorders? A meta-analysis

Abstract

Bibliotherapy for clinically significant emotional disorders is more effective than waiting list or no treatment conditions. The dearth of studies on self-help groups for emotional disorders does not permit an evidence-based conclusion concerning the effects of self-help groups. No difference was found between bibliotherapy and psychiatric treatment of relatively short duration.

Mutual Help Groups for Mental Health Problems: A Review of Effectiveness Studies

“…Insert Table 1 about here ____________________ Most prior reviews have focused on a broader range of interventions such as self help, in general, (den Boer, Wiersma, & van den Bosch, 2004;Lewis et al, 2003) or social support interventions (Hogan, Linden, & Najarian, 2002), many of which are professionally led.…”

“…Two reviews (Eysenbach et al, 2004;Ybarra & Eaton, 2005) have focused specifically on online support groups and other online interventions. In terms of target problem, several have included both physical and mental health problems (e.g., Hogan et al, 2002;Levy, 2000), whereas others have focused on specific types of mental health problems (e.g., severe mental illness in Davidson et al,1999 and mood and anxiety disorders in den Boer et al, 2004). The most closely related review (Kyrouz et al, 2002) is an intentionally, informal narrative review, aimed at a general audience, covering mutual help Mutual help groups, p.7 groups for a broad range of psychological and physical health problems.…”

“…mutual-aid/self-help groups (Kyrouz et al, 2002;Levy, 2000), peer support in severe mental illness (Davidson et al, 1999), social support interventions (Hogan et al, 2002), self-help interventions (den Boer et al, 2004;Lewis et al, 2003), and online support groups (Eysenbach et al, 2004). Second, the PsychInfo database from 1989 to May 2006 was searched using the terms Mutual help groups, p.9 "mutual support," "mutual aid," "mutual help," "online support," and "internet support."…”

A self-help behavioral activation treatment for geriatric depressive symptoms

“…In terms of efficacy, psychotherapy and bibliotherapy have both been found to be superior to no treatment at all (e.g., den Boer, Wiersma, & Van Den Bosch, 2004;Scogin et al, 1990;Smith & Glass, 1977). In studies investigating the treatment of late-life depression, the results of bibliotherapy versus psychotherapy have been relatively comparable (e.g., Cuijpers et al, 2006;Floyd, Scogin, McKendree-Smith, Floyd, & Rokke, 2004;Floyd et al, 2006).…”

“…den Boer and colleagues (2004) argue, based on the results of their meta-analysis focusing on selfdirected treatments of emotional disorders, that bibliotherapy exhibits robust effects and more research attention should be directed toward integrating it into medical practice. Others suggest that the duration of treatment is important such that bibliotherapy may be as effective as shortterm treatment (i.e., 4 -20 weeks) that is provided by a professional, but may potentially not be as effective as professional treatment of a longer duration (den Boer et al, 2004).…”