Metacognitive Therapy Compared to Cognitive-behavioral Therapy

August 17, 2026 updated by: Benjamin Bohman, Karolinska Institutet

Transdiagnostic Metacognitive Therapy Compared to Disorder-specific Cognitive-behavioral Therapy for Anxiety Disorders: a Qualitative Study

This is a qualitative study of participants who have taken part in a randomized controlled trial comparing transdiagnostic metacognitive therapy and disorder-specific cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety disorders. The purpose of the study is to explore participant perceptions of the respective treatment models to facilitate implementation and dissemination of the treatments.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

30

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Sweden
      • Stockholm, Sweden
        • Recruiting
        • Northern Stockholm Psychiatry Clinic

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 18 years or older,
  • A principal diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, or posttraumatic stress disorder,
  • No change in dose during the last six weeks if on pharmacological treatment, and
  • Ability to read and speak Swedish.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • A current diagnosis of psychotic disorder, bipolar disorder, neurocognitive disorder, or moderate to severe substance use disorder,
  • Acute suicide risk, or
  • Concurrent psychological treatment.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Transdiagnostic metacognitive therapy
Metacognitive therapy in a transdiagnostic format; a single treatment protocol is used for all three anxiety disorders
Behavioral: Transdiagnostic metacognitive therapy
Metacognitive therapy focuses on metacognitions.
Active Comparator: Disorder-specific cognitive-behavioral therapy
Cognitive-behavioral therapy in a disorder-specific format; each of the three anxiety disorders is treated using a separate treatment protocol
Behavioral: Disorder-specific cognitive-behavioral therapy
Cognitive-behavioral therapy focuses on cognitions and/or behaviors.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Qualitative interview data
Time Frame: Up to 13 weeks
Participant responses based on questions posed in an interview
Up to 13 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Karolinska Institutet

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Benjamin Bohman, Karolinska Institutet

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

January 28, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 25, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 25, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

February 2, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 18, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 17, 2026

Last Verified

August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • KI-2025-07875-02

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

The datasets analyzed in this study are not publicly available due to legal and ethical restrictions under Swedish data protection regulations. Requests for access may be directed to the Data Protection Officer at Stockholm Health Care Services, and are subject to approval by the relevant data governance authorities. Requests to access the datasets should be directed to gdpr.slso@regionstockholm.se.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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