Seeing the complexities: A comment on "combined psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy for mood and anxiety disorders in adults: Review and analysis"

In their comprehensive review of the literature on combined treatments for mood and anxiety disorders in adults, Otto, Smits, and Reese (this issue) suggested that the data do not support the use of combined approaches as the default treatment for these conditions. They advocated a nuanced view of the existing findings and emphasized that much is yet to be discovered about whether and how best to combine psychosocial and pharmacological interventions. An empirical update from several recently completed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining combined treatment is provided here, and points of convergence and divergence between these findings and the broader literature are considered. Additionally, this commentary supplements their discussion by (a) supporting their strong emphasis on interdisciplinary research and creativity in conceptualizing and designing combined treatments, (b) emphasizing the importance of studying predictors of treatment response in adequately powered trials to better clarify which subgroups require the additional expenditure of resources associated with combined treatment, and (c) encouraging the development and empirical evaluation of combined treatments for children and adolescents.