Efficacy of group psychotherapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

• We reviewed 12 RCTs to evaluate the efficacy of group psychotherapy for OCD.
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy was the most frequently examined group approach.
• Group therapy is highly efficacious compared to no-treatment control groups.
• Effects of group therapy are comparable to other established treatments.

The present meta-analysis evaluates the efficacy of group psychotherapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) compared against wait-list control groups, individual psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, and common factor control groups examined in randomized-controlled trials. Electronic databases were searched for eligible studies. Between-group effect sizes (Hedges’ g) were calculated and analyses were performed assuming a random-effects model. We identified 12 studies including 16 comparisons and 832 patients. The majority of studies examined group CBT. Effect size estimates suggest that group psychotherapy is highly efficacious in improving obsessive-compulsive symptoms in comparison to wait-list control groups (g=0.97, 95%CI 0.58; 1.37, p<0.001, k=4). No significant differences were found between group psychotherapy and active control groups, such as individual psychotherapy (g=−0.23, 95%CI −0.62; 0.15, p=.232, k=5), pharmacotherapy (g=0.18, 95%CI −0.07; 0.44, p=0.156, k=3), or common factor control groups (g=0.05, 95%CI −0.36; 0.45, p=0.813, k=2). Our findings underline the value of group therapy as an efficacious treatment for patients suffering from OCD. Although the results are promising, further studies examining other group approaches than CBT as well as head-to-head comparisons to other formats are needed to strengthen the evidence.