Abstract

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is the first line of treatment indicated for a wide range of mental health disorders. This approach reflects Western values, and it is necessary to take into account the fact that the culture of every person also shapes the perception of health, beliefs about the causes of difficulties and the access to the treatment thereof. For that reason, cultural adaptation of psychological treatments is recommended. Despite this, empirical analyses on the effectiveness of such treatments are still scarce. The aim of this review paper is to synthesize evidence on the effectiveness of culturally adapted cognitive-behavioral therapy in comparison to standard form in an outpatient context as well as to evaluate the quality of these studies. The study was conducted in accordance with PRISMA-P guidelines and presents randomised controlled trials published in English. We have included studies that examined the effectiveness of culturally adapted and standard forms of CBT, regardless of the implementation modality or the type of difficulty. To identify studies, the electronic bibliographic databases psychINFO and PubMed, primary study registers, Cochrane Library CENTRAL and Gov.Trial database, and selected grey literature sources www.opengrey.eu and DART were screened. Web of Science was also included in the screening process. Despite a limited number of studies that met the inclusion criteria and methodological deficiencies, the findings of this study support the effectiveness of culturally adapted CBT treatment in comparison with the standard one. PREGLED