Grant: Doctoral Research Award - Priority Announcement: Clinical Research

Anxiety disorders are among the most common psychiatric disorders, affecting over 1.2 million Canadians per year; however, many of those affected, particularly those in rural or underserved communities, do not receive evidence-based treatments. Although effective psychological treatments are available, many mental health care providers are unable to learn independent therapy protocols for each anxiety diagnosis throughout the course of their training; therefore, the availability of therapists who can provide such treatments is limited. In addition, over half of anxiety patients report symptoms of at least one additional mood or anxiety disorder, suggesting that current treatments are only targeting some of the difficulties that people are experiencing. To address these concerns, new transdiagnostic treatments are being developed which target the common underlying features of anxiety disorders, rather than disorder-specific symptoms. These treatments provide people with strategies that they can use for a wide range of anxiety and mood problems, potentially reducing treatment duration and the need to seek subsequent therapy for other anxiety disorders. They also allow individuals with different anxiety disorders to receive treatment in the same groups, which is more cost-effective, efficient, and may reduce wait times. While initial evidence is promising, research has yet to examine whether transdiagnostic protocols are as effective as disorder-specific treatments. Therefore, this study will be one of the first randomized controlled trials to compare transdiagnostic treatment for Panic Disorder to cognitive behavioural therapy. Before we can recommend these new protocols above the current treatment of choice, studies, such as the one proposed, are necessary to provide empirical support for their effectiveness. Given the practical benefits, transdiagnostic interventions have the potential to greatly improve the provision of mental health care services in Canada.