EMDR for Depression: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review

Abstract

The literature on the efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) for treating depression is heterogeneous due to research design, quality issues, and trials methodology. The current meta-analysis seeks to examine EMDR for depression with the aim of answering the aforementioned limitations. Thirty-nine studies were included for analysis after a review of the relevant literature. Univariate meta-regressions were run to examine dose-response and the effect of moderating variables. Subanalysis for primary and secondary depression showed a large, significant, and heterogeneous effect-size estimates, where EMDR significantly improved symptoms of depression in contrast to all control types. At post hoc, data were reexamined and a significant and large, yet heterogeneous, effect-size estimate emerged between the EMDR and control arm after the removal of two outliers [Hedges' g = 0.70, 95% CI =0.50–0.89, p-value