Three hundred sixty-two adult patients were administered the Diagnostic Interview for Anxiety, Mood, and OCD and Related Neuropsychiatric Disorders (DIAMOND). Of these, 121 provided interrater reliability data, and 115 provided test-retest reliability data. Participants also completed a battery of self-report measures that assess symptoms of anxiety, mood, and obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. Interrater reliability of DIAMOND anxiety, mood, and obsessive-compulsive and related diagnoses ranged from very good to excellent. Test-retest reliability of DIAMOND diagnoses ranged from good to excellent. Convergent validity was established by significant between-group comparisons on applicable self-report measures for nearly all diagnoses. The results of the present study indicate that the DIAMOND is a promising semistructured diagnostic interview for DSM-5 disorders.

Many treatment outcome studies are abstinence-based and rely on achieved abstinence as an indicator of success, making the implicit assumption that participants have an abstinence goal. However, it is often the case that participants self-select controlled drinking goals, even in the context of an abstinence-based treatment. The current study explored the use of an outcome variable, percent weeks meeting goal (PWMG), which takes into account individual goal choice at baseline. The sample consisted of 57 women who participated in a cognitive–behavioral therapy treatment for alcohol dependence and were followed for 18 months after baseline. Twenty-two (39%) women self-selected controlled drinking goals, and 35 (61%) self-selected an abstinence goal at baseline. A repeated measures analysis of variance with PWMG as the dependent variable revealed that both goal groups were equally successful in meeting their goals during the 6-month treatment period. After treatment, participants with a goal of abstinence had more PWMG than did participants with a self-selected controlled drinking goal, but the difference was significant at a trend level. The two goal groups did not differ in outcome when the authors compared them using more traditional measures of outcome, percent days abstinent and percent heavy drinking days.

Objective: Hoarding disorder (HD) is a common and potentially debilitating psychiatric disorder. Thus far, psychological treatments have yielded modest effects and/or were time-consuming and costly to deliver. The aim of the present study was to test the efficacy of a brief group cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for adults with HD and to test hypothesized mediators of treatment outcome. Method: Eighty-seven adults with a primary diagnosis of HD were randomized to either immediate CBT or wait list. CBT consisted of 16 weekly, 90-min group sessions that emphasized in-session practice of discarding and refraining from acquiring, decision-making and problem-solving training, emotional distress tolerance, motivational interviewing strategies, and contingency management. Participants were assessed at pretreatment, midtreatment, and posttreatment by an independent evaluator unaware of treatment condition. Results: CBT was efficacious for the symptoms of HD compared with wait list. Saving-related cognitions, but not subjective cognitive impairment, partially mediated treatment outcomes. Conclusion: Brief Group CBT is an efficacious and feasible treatment for adults with HD, and is partially mediated by reductions in maladaptive beliefs about possessions. Superiority trials comparing CBT to active treatments, and additional research into mechanisms of treatment outcome, are warranted. What is the public health significance of this article?Hoarding disorder (HD) is a common and often severe psychiatric illness. As a new diagnosis, it has received less research attention than many other disorders. Treatment efficacy for HD also lags behind that of many other psychiatric disorders. This study suggests that a relatively brief (16session) Group CBT is efficacious for adults with HD, with 83% of patients classified as improved. These results support the consideration of Group CBT as a first-line treatment for HD.

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Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an empirically-supported treatment for hoarding disorder (HD). However, meta-analytic studies suggest that CBT is only modestly effective, and a significant number of individuals with HD remain symptomatic following treatment. To inform the development of more effective and targeted treatments, it will be important to clarify the mechanisms of treatment response in CBT for HD. To this end, the current study examined whether change in maladaptive saving beliefs mediated symptom change in CBT for HD. Sixty-two patients with primary HD completed measures of maladaptive saving cognitions and hoarding severity at pre-, mid-, and post-CBT. Results showed that change in saving cognitions mediated change in all three domains of HD symptoms (i.e., acquiring, difficulty discarding, and excessive clutter), suggesting that cognitive change may be a mechanism of treatment response in CBT. The findings indicate that cognitive change may have an impact on treatment outcomes, and are discussed in terms of cognitive-behavioral theory of HD and potential ways in which to enhance belief change in treatment.