Doherty, A., Benedetto, V., Harris, C. · BMC Psychiatry · 2021
Across 22 included RCTs (one using EFT specifically), meta-analyses found a significant benefit for managing depression and anxiety, while the effect on stress was equivocal (SMD 0.16, 95% CI -0.19 to 0.51).
Picture the next pandemic: healthcare workers running on fumes, and millions of people stuck at home with no therapist available and clinics overwhelmed. If a dedicated tool like tapping proves out in this setting, it could be one of the few interventions that scales to a population-wide mental health crisis — something people learn once, from a video or app, and then use themselves indefinitely, without needing a single additional clinician.
Because only one of the 22 trials in this review actually used EFT, the more useful next step is a dedicated tapping trial embedded in a real outbreak response, rather than folding it into a review of 22 different interventions. Pairing self-report stress measures with cortisol, heart-rate variability, or actigraphy-tracked sleep would help clarify whether the equivocal stress finding here reflects tapping specifically or is just diluted by averaging across such a varied set of approaches — and testing app or video delivery would matter given how isolated people are during a pandemic.
| Design | Systematic review |
|---|---|
| Participants | 22 studies pooled |
| Population | general population and healthcare workers exposed to mass infectious disease outbreaks |
| Comparison group | varied (no intervention, usual care, and other active interventions) |
| Outcome measures | depression measures, anxiety measures, stress measures |
| Journal | BMC Psychiatry |
| Year | 2021 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Method | EFT / tapping |
| Publication type | Review or meta-analysis |
| Verification | ✓ Confirmed against the primary source |
Doherty, A., Benedetto, V., & Harris, C. (2021). The effectiveness of psychological support interventions for those exposed to mass infectious disease outbreaks: a systematic review. BMC Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-021-03602-7
This record is part of the Tapping Evidence Base — an openly-sourced, fully-referenced directory of the research on EFT/tapping. Explore more studies on Anxiety · Depression
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