Dialectical behaviour therapy skills training groups for common mental health disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Context: Emotion regulation deficits are increasingly recognized as an underlying mechanism of many disorders. Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) holds potential as a transdiagnostic treatment for disorders with underlying emotion regulation deficits.Objective: Systematically review the evidence for DBT skills training groups as a transdiagnostic treatment for common mental health disorders via meta-analysis. Study Selection: Randomized control trials (RCTs) of DBT skills training groups for adults with common mental health disorders, and no comorbid personality disorder, were included. Data Synthesis: Twelve RCTs met inclusion criteria (N = 425 participants). DBT had a moderate-to-large effect on symptom reduction (g = 0.79, 95% CI [0.52, 1.06], p < .0001). Improvements in emotion regulation yielded a small-to-moderate effect (g = 0.48, 95% CI [0.22, 0.74], p < .01). Results showed significant effects of DBT on depression (g = 0.50, 95% CI [0.25, 0.75], p = .002), eating disorders (g = 0.83, 95% CI [0.49, 1.17], p = .001) and anxiety (g = 0.45, 95% CI [0.08, 0.83], p = .03).Conclusions: Findings suggest DBT is an effective treatment for common mental health disorders and may be considered as a promising transdiagnostic therapy.