Single studies, even high-profile ones, shouldn't change clinical practice in isolation. Reasons include chance findings, p-hacking, publication bias, replication failure, and the difference between population-level effects and individual treatment decisions.
Why guidelines move slower than headlines
Clinical guidelines move slower than the literature for this reason. Guideline bodies wait for replication and synthesis before changing recommendations.
What a reasonable response to a striking single study looks like
Note it, watch for replication, and don't change a medication or therapy plan on the basis of one paper.
Why this matters for reading research on anxiety
Studies that look definitive often look smaller in the next replication. A pace that waits for confirmation is part of how clinical decision-making manages that pattern.
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