Comparative effects of cognitive-behavioral and brief psychodynamic psychotherapies for depressed family caregivers. A pilot randomised controlled trial of a brief cognitive behavioural group intervention to reduce recurrence rates in late life depression. A randomized trial of the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy and supportive counseling for anxiety symptoms in older adults. Weekly ECT in Geriatric Depression. Randomized trial of a brief depression prevention program: an elusive search for a psychosocial placebo control condition. Controlled trial of a brief cognitive-behavioural intervention in adolescent patients with depressive disorders. Cognitive therapy for depression: a comparison of individual psychotherapy and bibliotherapy for depressed older adults. A group cognitive behaviour therapy programme with metastatic breast cancer patients.
Clinically depressed family caregivers (N = 66) of frail, elderly relatives were randomly assigned to 20 sessions of either cognitive-behavioral (CB) or brief psychodynamic (PD) individual psychotherapy. At posttreatment, 71% of the caregivers were no longer clinically depressed according to research diagnostic criteria (RDC), with no differences found between the 2 outpatient treatments. The results suggested therapy specificity; there was an interaction between treatment modality and length of caregiving on symptom-oriented measures. Clients who had been caregivers for a shorter period showed improvement in the PD condition, whereas those who had been caregivers for at least 44 months improved with CB therapy. These findings suggest that patient-specific variables should be considered when choosing treatment for clinically depressed family caregivers. To standardise the delivery of a brief group cognitive behaviour therapy intervention (CBT-G). To apply the intervention in a research setting and to estimate its effect on recurrence rates in recently depressed older adults, in preparation for a definitive study.
                A CBT-G therapy manual was produced and the Cognitive Therapy Rating Scale (CTS-R) modified to assess therapy delivery. Forty-five adults aged 60 and over who had met ICD-10 criteria for major depression in the previous year and were still taking antidepressant medication were randomly allocated to CBT-G/antidepressant combination or antidepressant alone. Depression severity was measured at baseline, randomisation and 6 and 12 months after start of CBT-G using the Montgomery Asberg Rating Scale for Depression (MADRS).
                One-year recurrence rates on the MADRS were encouragingly lower in participants receiving CBT-G [5/18 (27.8%)] compared with controls [8/18 (44.4%)] although this did not achieve statistical significance (adjusted RR 0.70 [95% CI 0.26-1.94]). In contrast, overall scores on the secondary outcome measure, the Beck Depression Inventory, increased in participants receiving CBT-G. The CBT-G manual was successfully implemented and therapy delivery achieved an overall satisfactory level of competence. We believe that evaluation of this promising intervention in a full-scale trial is warranted.
                (c) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. The authors used a randomized trial to compare cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and supportive counseling (SC) in the treatment of anxiety symptoms in older adults who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.: American Psychiatric Association, 1994) criteria for anxiety disorders. Both conditions had a 6-week baseline no-treatment phase. Treatment was delivered primarily in patients' own homes and in an individual format. Outcomes were assessed at posttreatment and at 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups. There was no spontaneous improvement during the baseline phase. Both groups showed improvement on anxiety measures following treatment, with a better outcome for the CBT group on self-rating of anxiety and depression. Over the follow-up period, the CBT group maintained improvement and had significantly greater improvement than the SC group on anxiety and 1 depression measure. Treatment response for anxiety was also superior for the CBT group, although there was no difference between groups in endstate functioning. Fifteen elderly depressed psychiatric inpatients were randomly assigned to receive either standard three-times-weekly electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) or once-weekly ECT. Outcome measures included cognitive assessment and antidepressant response. Although both groups improved with treatment, the three-times-weekly group improved substantially more quickly. There was no difference in cognitive effect between the two groups. We conclude that the traditional three-times-weekly schedule of ECT may optimally balance speed of antidepressant response and cognitive impairment. This trial compared a brief group cognitive-behavioral (CBT) depression prevention program to a waitlist control condition and four placebo or alternative interventions. High-risk adolescents with elevated depressive symptoms (N=225, M age=18, 70% female) were randomized to CBT, supportive-expressive group intervention, bibliotherapy, expressive writing, journaling, or waitlist conditions and completed assessments at baseline, termination, and 1- and 6-month follow-up. All five active interventions showed significantly greater reductions in depressive symptoms at termination than waitlist controls; effects for CBT and bibliotherapy persisted into follow-up. CBT, supportive-expressive, and bibliotherapy participants also showed significantly greater decreases in depressive symptoms than expressive writing and journaling participants at certain follow-up points. Findings suggest there may be multiple ways to reduce depressive symptoms in high-risk adolescents, although expectancies, demand characteristics, and attention may have contributed to the observed effects. Fifty-three child and adolescent psychiatric patients with depressive disorders were randomly allocated to brief cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) or to a control treatment, relaxation training. Forty-eight patients completed the treatment phase of the trial, which comprised 5-8 treatment sessions. Post-treatment assessments showed a clear advantage of CBT over relaxation on measures of both depression and overall outcome. However, there were no significant differences between the treatments on comorbid anxiety and conduct symptoms. At follow-up, the differences between the groups were reduced, partly because of a high relapse rate in the DTP group and partly because subjects in the relaxation group continued to recover. Thirty-one community-residing older adults age 60 or over either received 16 sessions of individual cognitive psychotherapy (Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979) or read Feeling Good (Bums, 1980) for bibliotherapy. Posttreatment comparisons with the delayed-treatment control indicated that both treatments were superior to a delayed-treatment control. Individual psychotherapy was superior to bibliotherapy at posttreatment on self-reported depression, but there were no differences on clinician-rated depression. Further, bibliotherapy participants continued to improve after posttreatment. and there were no differences between treatments at 3-month follow-up. Results suggest that bibliotherapy and that individual psychotherapy are both viable treatment options for depression in older adults. One-hundred and twenty-four patients with metastatic breast cancer were randomised to either a group Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) intervention, or to a no-therapy control group condition. Both groups received standard oncological care; however, therapy recipients also attended eight weekly sessions of group CBT, followed by a family night, and three further monthly sessions. Patients completed the 'Profile of Mood States' (POMS) and the Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory (CSI) before and after therapy, and at 3 and 6 month follow-up periods. Outcome data in the period following therapy showed reduced depression and total mood disturbance, as well as improved self-esteem amongst therapy participants, relative to a no-therapy control group. These improvements were no longer evident at the 3 or 6 month follow-up assessments. We also report on the difficulties associated with conducting a group intervention with this patient cohort.
Only a small number of studies and patients were included in the meta-analysis. If taken on their own merit, the findings do not provide strong support for psychotherapeutic treatments in the management of depression in older people. However, the findings do reflect those of a larger meta-analysis that included patients with broader age ranges, suggesting that CBT may be of potential benefit.