Objective  To investigate the effects of short-term group cognitive behavioral therapy (GCBT) combined with a serotonin reuptake inhibitor (sertraline) on executive function in patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

Methods  85 patients with GAD who were hospitalized in the Department of Clinical Psychology of Guizhou Provincial Second People’s Hospital from April 2023 to April 2024 were enrolled. Patients were assigned to an intervention group (4-week short-term GCBT plus sertraline, n = 43) and a control group (4-week sertraline alone, n = 42) according to a random number table. The two groups were assessed using the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), and Stroop Color-Word Test (SCWT) before treatment and at 1 week and 4 weeks after treatment. The normally distributed measurement data of two groups were compared by t test. The non-normally distributed measurement data of two groups were compared by Mann-Whitney U test. Categorical variables of two groups were compared by χ² test. The treatment effects of the two groups across time points were analyzed by repeated-measures analysis of variance.

Results  After 4 weeks of treatment, the clinical cure rate and clinical effective rate based on HAMA scores were lower in the intervention group than those in the control group (P ＜ 0.05). After 4 weeks, the intervention group achieved higher score than the control group on WCST indices such as response administered, number of categories completed, number of correct responses, response correct%, perseverative responses, and number of correct responses (all P ＜ 0.05), and scored lower on indices such as response errors, number of trials to complete the first category, number of perseverative errors, response perseverative errors%, non-response perseverative errors, learning to learn (all P ＜ 0.05). After 4 weeks of treatment, the differences in the mean reaction time, the mean correct reaction time, the number of correct responses and detection time on SCWT indices between two groups were statistically significant (all P ＜ 0.05).

Conclusion Short-term GCBT can effectively improve anxiety symptoms and executive function in patients with GAD and has important clinical application value.