{ "schema_version": "1.0", "id": "cbt-cards-monthly-practice-watch-v1", "canonical": "https://cbt-cards.github.io/data/practice-watch.json", "human_url": "https://cbt-cards.github.io/research/practice-watch/", "schema_url": "https://cbt-cards.github.io/schemas/practice-watch-v1.schema.json", "updated": "2026-09-05", "purpose": "Monthly research-to-practice watch for CBT Cards. It records new evidence and intervention signals without automatically publishing them as reviewed CBT Cards practices.", "publication_boundary": "Inclusion in this watch is not clinical validation, treatment advice, or publication in the reviewed /practice/ layer. Candidate wording is original CBT Cards editorial prototyping and is not the studied intervention unless explicitly stated.", "cadence": { "frequency": "monthly", "target_run_day": 5, "coverage_rule": "Review the previous calendar month. Record both first-online and issue-publication dates. An item can enter on either date, but the freshness basis must be explicit and DOI/PMID must be deduplicated across future editions." }, "editions": [ { "id": "practice-watch-2026-08", "label": "August 2026", "run_date": "2026-09-05", "coverage": { "from": "2026-08-01", "to": "2026-08-31" }, "selection_note": "Selected high-signal peer-reviewed studies relevant to CBT/ACT mechanisms, brief interventions, just-in-time support, behavioral activation, delivery models, or digital-practice design. This is a curated watch, not a claim of an exhaustive systematic search.", "highlights": [ "Imagery-enhanced activity scheduling is the clearest candidate mechanism for a future CBT Cards micro-practice, but the trial used a four-session depression intervention and a wait-list control.", "Single-session CBT and ACT both reduced short-term procrastination in students; intervention details are not sufficiently exposed in the abstract to create a faithful practice card yet.", "A micro-randomized just-in-time study suggests that gratitude, savoring, and acceptance may have different short-term fit depending on the moment; this is a routing signal, not proof of a universal sequence.", "A large behavioral-activation meta-analysis strengthens the evidence context for existing activity-planning content rather than requiring a new practice.", "An online group Unified Protocol pilot is a delivery-model signal, not a self-help card.", "Adding an app to homework after one-session treatment for childhood phobias did not improve outcomes or at-home practice, a useful negative product-design signal." ], "items": [ { "id": "watch-2026-08-wimba-imagery-ba", "title": "Imagery-enhanced behavioral activation (WIMBA)", "signal_type": "candidate_mechanism", "freshness_basis": "issue_publication", "first_online_date": "2026-04-13", "issue_publication_date": "2026-08-15", "journal": "Journal of Affective Disorders", "evidence_type": "randomized controlled trial", "sample": "168 adults in Germany meeting criteria for a major depressive episode", "studied_format": "Four brief unguided online sessions with psychoeducation, imagery-enhanced activity scheduling, and personalized feedback versus wait-list.", "finding": "Behavioral activation increased more in WIMBA from session 3 through follow-up, and depressive symptoms decreased more than wait-list. The authors call for further trials including an active control.", "cbt_cards_decision": "prototype_candidate", "candidate": { "working_title": "Preview One Reward", "status": "editorial_prototype_not_reviewed", "prompt": "Before a safe planned activity, picture yourself doing it for about 30 seconds. Notice one concrete sensory detail and one realistically rewarding part, then take the smallest start step.", "micro_action": "Choose one already-planned safe activity, imagine one rewarding detail briefly, then begin for two minutes.", "boundary": "Do not present this as a depression treatment or as the WIMBA protocol. Do not use imagery to override real danger, professional instructions, or required safety steps." }, "limitations": [ "Clinical depression sample; general-wellness use is an extrapolation.", "Wait-list rather than active-control comparison.", "The CBT Cards prototype is not the tested four-session WIMBA intervention." ], "reviewed_practice_status": "not_reviewed_not_published_as_practice", "sources": [ { "kind": "pubmed", "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41985751/", "pmid": "41985751" }, { "kind": "doi", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2026.121794", "doi": "10.1016/j.jad.2026.121794" } ] }, { "id": "watch-2026-08-concras-procrastination-ssi", "title": "Single-session CBT and ACT for procrastination (CONCRAS)", "signal_type": "brief_intervention_signal", "freshness_basis": "first_online", "first_online_date": "2026-08-10", "issue_publication_date": null, "journal": "Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics", "evidence_type": "randomized controlled trial", "sample": "151 students with recurrent procrastination and a currently postponed task", "studied_format": "Approximately 60-minute face-to-face CBT or ACT single-session intervention versus no-intervention control, with 2-week follow-up.", "finding": "Both CBT and ACT single-session interventions reduced state procrastination more than control, with no significant difference between CBT and ACT. Similar short-term patterns appeared for task anxiety/doubt and several secondary outcomes.", "cbt_cards_decision": "needs_intervention_detail_before_candidate_card", "candidate": null, "limitations": [ "Short 2-week follow-up.", "Student sample and face-to-face 60-minute sessions.", "The abstract does not expose enough intervention procedure detail to derive a faithful CBT Cards micro-practice without inventing content." ], "reviewed_practice_status": "not_reviewed_not_published_as_practice", "sources": [ { "kind": "pubmed", "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42574294/", "pmid": "42574294" }, { "kind": "doi", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1159/pps/aemag001", "doi": "10.1159/pps/aemag001" } ] }, { "id": "watch-2026-08-alert-jitai", "title": "Just-in-time ecological momentary interventions (ALERT)", "signal_type": "context_routing_signal", "freshness_basis": "issue_publication", "first_online_date": "2026-03-23", "issue_publication_date": "2026-08-01", "journal": "Journal of Affective Disorders", "evidence_type": "micro-randomized trial", "sample": "72 people at increased risk for mental disorders", "studied_format": "16 days with four daily assessments; two assessments per day were followed by randomized momentary interventions based on gratitude, savoring, cognitive restructuring, or acceptance.", "finding": "Thirty minutes later, gratitude, savoring, and acceptance improved positive affect; gratitude and savoring reduced negative affect; acceptance reduced negative affect particularly during higher-distress moments. Cognitive reappraisal did not improve affect in this trial.", "cbt_cards_decision": "prototype_routing_rule", "candidate": { "working_title": "Match the Micro-Practice to the Moment", "status": "editorial_product_prototype_not_reviewed", "prompt": "If the moment is safe and you want to amplify something already okay, try a brief savoring or gratitude cue. If distress is high, try making room for the feeling before choosing the next safe action.", "micro_action": "Choose one context-matched 30–60 second cue instead of opening a long menu of techniques.", "boundary": "This is a routing prototype, not an individualized treatment rule. High distress can also signal genuine danger or need for qualified support; do not use acceptance to delay urgent action." }, "limitations": [ "Small sample and short intervention period.", "No inactive control for distal pre/post changes, so longer-term changes cannot be attributed cleanly to the momentary interventions.", "One null result for cognitive reappraisal does not establish that cognitive restructuring is generally ineffective." ], "reviewed_practice_status": "not_reviewed_not_published_as_practice", "sources": [ { "kind": "pubmed", "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41881110/", "pmid": "41881110" }, { "kind": "doi", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2026.121661", "doi": "10.1016/j.jad.2026.121661" } ] }, { "id": "watch-2026-08-ba-meta", "title": "Behavioral activation for depression: comprehensive meta-analysis", "signal_type": "evidence_refresh", "freshness_basis": "issue_publication", "first_online_date": "2026-07-22", "issue_publication_date": null, "journal": "Clinical Psychology Review", "evidence_type": "systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials", "sample": "105 trials, 13,933 patients", "studied_format": "Behavioral activation across age groups, settings, and comparators.", "finding": "For adult outpatients, behavioral activation outperformed control conditions on average, with substantial heterogeneity; it did not significantly differ from other therapies. Self-guided behavioral activation showed a smaller but significant average effect.", "cbt_cards_decision": "refresh_existing_activity_planning_evidence", "candidate": null, "limitations": [ "The source used assigns the article to the August 2026 issue but does not state an exact issue-publication day.", "Too few trials for strong estimates in children/adolescents or versus pharmacotherapy.", "This updates mechanism-level evidence; it does not validate any exact CBT Cards card or worksheet." ], "reviewed_practice_status": "not_a_new_practice", "sources": [ { "kind": "pubmed", "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42492146/", "pmid": "42492146" }, { "kind": "doi", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2026.102783", "doi": "10.1016/j.cpr.2026.102783" } ] }, { "id": "watch-2026-08-unified-protocol-argentina", "title": "Online group Unified Protocol pilot in Argentina", "signal_type": "delivery_model_signal", "freshness_basis": "first_online", "first_online_date": "2026-08-25", "issue_publication_date": null, "journal": "Cognitive Behaviour Therapy", "evidence_type": "controlled randomized pilot study", "sample": "39 adults in Argentina with various emotional disorders", "studied_format": "Ten 90-minute online group Unified Protocol sessions versus wait-list.", "finding": "The intervention group improved across the reported post-treatment outcomes versus wait-list, with high satisfaction and perceived usefulness.", "cbt_cards_decision": "record_as_delivery_model_signal_not_card", "candidate": null, "limitations": [ "Small pilot sample.", "Clinical transdiagnostic group treatment, not a self-guided micro-practice.", "Wait-list comparison and one national/cultural context.", "The abstract reports 39 participants while the stated randomized group counts are 22 and 23; this internal source inconsistency should be checked against the full paper before reuse." ], "reviewed_practice_status": "not_reviewed_not_published_as_practice", "sources": [ { "kind": "pubmed", "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42639813/", "pmid": "42639813" }, { "kind": "doi", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1080/16506073.2026.2720138", "doi": "10.1080/16506073.2026.2720138" } ] }, { "id": "watch-2026-08-phobia-app-homework", "title": "App-supported homework after one-session treatment for childhood phobias", "signal_type": "negative_product_signal", "freshness_basis": "first_online", "first_online_date": "2026-08-20", "issue_publication_date": null, "journal": "Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry", "evidence_type": "randomized controlled trial", "sample": "172 children aged 7–14 with specific phobias", "studied_format": "Standard one-session treatment followed by therapist-provided homework versus an app-supported homework program.", "finding": "Both groups improved, but the app-supported homework program did not improve outcomes or at-home practice; families reported higher satisfaction with the app condition.", "cbt_cards_decision": "retain_as_product_warning_against_appification_assumption", "candidate": null, "limitations": [ "Child clinical phobia treatment context; not directly generalizable to CBT Cards users.", "The result tests one specific app-supported homework implementation, not apps in general." ], "reviewed_practice_status": "not_a_practice_candidate", "sources": [ { "kind": "pubmed", "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42624399/", "pmid": "42624399" }, { "kind": "doi", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2026.08.007", "doi": "10.1016/j.jaac.2026.08.007" } ] } ] } ] }