Emotional Freedom Techniques for Anxiety: A Systematic Review With Meta-analysis

The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
Morgan Clond

Abstract

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) combines elements of exposure and cognitive therapies with acupressure for the treatment of psychological distress. Randomized controlled trials retrieved by literature search were assessed for quality using the criteria developed by the American Psychological Association's Division 12 Task Force on Empirically Validated Treatments. As of December 2015, 14 studies (n = 658) met inclusion criteria. Results were analyzed using an inverse variance weighted meta-analysis. The pre-post effect size for the EFT treatment group was 1.23 (95% confidence interval, 0.82-1.64; p < 0.001), whereas the effect size for combined controls was 0.41 (95% confidence interval, 0.17-0.67; p = 0.001). Emotional freedom technique treatment demonstrated a significant decrease in anxiety scores, even when accounting for the effect size of control treatment. However, there were too few data available comparing EFT to standard-of-care treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy, and further research is needed to establish the relative efficacy of EFT to established protocols.

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Citations

Sep 20, 2016·The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine : Research on Paradigm, Practice, and Policy·Amy H Gaesser, Orv C Karan
Jun 7, 2018·Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services·Gail Van Kanegan, Julie Worley
Feb 20, 2019·Journal of Evidence-based Integrative Medicine·Donna BachDawson Church
Nov 26, 2019·The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine : Research on Paradigm, Practice, and Policy·Peta StapletonEmma Sparenburg
Sep 6, 2020·Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings·Carol Cronin Weisfeld, Kim Dunleavy
Mar 5, 2019·Global Advances in Health and Medicine : Improving Healthcare Outcomes Worldwide·Garret YountIppolito Cardonna
Sep 10, 2019·British Journal of Community Nursing·Lynn Harbottle
Jul 3, 2019·British Journal of Community Nursing·Lynn Harbottle
Nov 24, 2020·BMC Neuroscience·Dina WittfothMatthias Wittfoth
Jan 28, 2021·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·Aitana Fernández-SogorbCarolina Gonzálvez
Feb 23, 2021·Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing : Official Publication of the Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nurses, Inc·Beverly Waldman Rich, Sharon L Stager
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May 21, 2021·Journal of Complementary & Integrative Medicine·Asieh MehdipourMaryam Dastoorpoor
Oct 6, 2021·Perspectives in Psychiatric Care·Nazife BakırGülşah Körpe
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