The effects of cognitive behavioral therapy designed to manage anxiety in people with Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease is frequently associated with anxiety, which increase cognitive
deterioration. Using anxiety-management cognitive behavioral therapy may help to
halt cognitive decline, but more research needed to prove it. The objective of this
research is assess the impacts of a cognitive behavioral therapy targeting anxiety on
the cognitive deterioration of persons with Alzheimer's disease. Participants randomly
assigned to one of two groups: cognitive behavioral treatment (n = 7) or support group
(n = 9). Both therapies administered once a week for a total of eight weeks. Cognitive
measures (comprehensive cognition, verbal memory, semantic memory, fluency) and
an anxiety measure were used to assess the intervention's effects before (T1) and after
(T2). After 6 months (T3). Between T1 and T2, the results revealed that CBT had a
larger impact on general cognition and anxiety among participants (g = 0.75) than the
control group. Between T2 and T3, the support group had a larger improvement (g =
1.20) in participants' verbal fluency than the cognitive behavioral therapy group