THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS FOR ANXIETY DISORDERS: AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW

Abstract

Backgroud: Anxiety disorders are characterized by excessive emotional responses that generate major disturbances, causing cognitive and behavioral changes and triggering somatic manifestations. Therapeutic interventions show relevance and significant results for the treatment of anxiety. Aim: To identify therapeutic interventions used in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Method: A search for publications indexed in three electronic databases was conducted from January to March 2021. Titles, abstracts, and full-text reading by two independent reviewers were analyzed and classified by level of evidence developed by the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. Results: It resulted in 27 studies that observed the following therapeutic interventions: Psychoeducation; Mindfulness; Evidence-Based Behavioral Therapy; Applied Relaxation; Transdiagnostic CBT; Dialectical Behavioral Therapy; Positive Activity Techniques; Individual and Group CBT; Transcendence Technique Multifaceted Spiritually Based Intervention; Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders; Positive Activity Intervention Protocol; and Art Therapy. Conclusions: Of the therapeutic interventions used for the treatment of anxiety disorders, Mindfulness and Psychoeducation were the interventions of greater choice among the studies, which bring large benefit and autonomy to patients, considering that the implementation of these interventions can be performed by nurses and a multidisciplinary team in primary care services, also enabling the reduction of costs to the health system.