Comparing Two Psychotherapies for Chronic Depression
Author Information
Author(s): Elisabeth Schramm, Martin Hautzinger, Ingo Zobel, Levente Kriston, Mathias Berger, Martin Härter
Primary Institution: University Medical Center Freiburg
Hypothesis
CBASP is more effective in reducing depressive symptoms than supportive psychotherapy.
Conclusion
The study aims to determine if a specific psychotherapy for chronic depression is more effective than a general supportive therapy.
Supporting Evidence
- Chronic depression is a common and disabling disorder that often begins early in life.
- CBASP has shown promise in previous studies for treating chronic depression.
- Supportive psychotherapy has been used as a control in other trials but is less specific.
Takeaway
This study is trying to find out if a special kind of therapy helps people with long-term depression better than a regular supportive therapy.
Methodology
A multisite parallel-group randomized controlled trial comparing CBASP and supportive psychotherapy over 20 weeks of treatment.
Potential Biases
Potential risks include therapist allegiance and the challenge of blinding evaluators to treatment assignments.
Limitations
The study does not include a pharmacological placebo arm, which may limit the generalizability of the findings.
Participant Demographics
Participants are early-onset chronically depressed outpatients aged 18 to 65, with a DSM-IV diagnosis.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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