Abstract
The promotion of mental health and well-being for the working population is crucial. Several studies have examined the effects of group cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)-based interventions on promoting employees’ mental health, but whether their work performance-related factors also improved has not been studied thoroughly. This systematic review was conducted to summarize and synthesize the effectiveness and characteristics of group CBT-based interventions on improving mental health and enhancing work performance-related factors from previous studies. A systematic search of studies published until November 2019 was performed using the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and MEDLINE. Only ten studies investigated the impact of group CBT-based interventions on both mental health and work performance-related factors in a non-clinical working population using a randomized controlled trial study design. Studies on group CBT-based interventions such as psychosocial skills training and communication skills training were included. Eight studies showed that group CBT-based interventions improved aspects of mental health; ten studies demonstrated that group CBT-based interventions influenced some aspects of work performance-related factors. Overall, the reported effect sizes varied widely, from small to large. This review supports the idea that group CBT-based interventions in a non-clinical working population may partially influence mental health and work performance-related factors. All ten included articles were published after 2015. Additional research on this topic, such as through meta-analysis, is necessary to assess whether group CBT-based intervention is effective for supporting mental health and enhancing work performance-related factors in non-clinical working populations.
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This research is supported by the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Education International Academic Research Grant for Yuko Ihara. Ryu Takizawa is a Newton International Fellow Alumnus funded by the Royal Society and the British Academy (NIFAL19/190011, 190012,190013, 190017), and was also supported by JSPS KAKENHI (JP16H05653, 19 K03278); The funders played no part in the design or conduct of the study, the analysis or interpretation of data, the writing of the article, or the decision to submit it for publication. There are no conflicts of interest to declare.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. The literature search and analysis were performed by Yuko Ihara, Takumu Kurosawa and Tamami Matsumoto. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Yuko Ihara and Takumu Kurosawa, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. Yuko Ihara revised the final manuscript, and all co-authors read and approved.
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The authors of this manuscript are all in the Department of Clinical Psychology, Graduate School of Education, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. Ryu Takizawa is also affiliated to the Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, and MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK.
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Ihara, Y., Kurosawa, T., Matsumoto, T. et al. The effectiveness of preventive group cognitive-behavioral interventions on enhancing work performance-related factors and mental health of workers: a systematic review. Curr Psychol 42, 2797–2810 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01562-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01562-5