Unipolar Depression
Conditions
Keywords
depressive episode, psychotherapy, cognitive therapy, emotional processing, RCT, exposure, dual process model, Implicit Association Test, mechanism of change
Brief summary
The purpose of this study is to investigate, if exposure-based cognitive therapy (EBCT) is at least as effective as the established cognitive-behavioral therapy and more effective in its long-term efficacy. Moreover the mechanisms of change of the EBCT are investigated.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALCognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Depression
22 weekly sessions and 2 booster session of face to face outpatient psychotherapy; focus on cognitive restructuring without emotion-focused interventions
BEHAVIORALExposure-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression
22 weekly sessions and 2 booster session of face to face outpatient psychotherapy; focus on emotion-focused interventions
Sponsors
University of Zurich
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Major Depressive Disorder according to DSM-IV as main diagnosis * minimum standardized depression scores (BDI \>= 17; HAMD \>=13) * minimum age of 18 years * informed consent to participate voluntarily in the study * sufficient German language skills
Exclusion criteria
* acute suicidality * depressive disorder with mood-incongruent psychotic features * chronic depressive disorder * organic cause of depression * drug-induced depression * bipolar disorder * diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizophreniform, schizoaffective disorders, and/or psychosis NOS * comorbid dysthymia, psychotic disorder (acute or anamnestic), dementia, substance dependence, schizotypal/ borderline/ or antisocial personality disorder * psychopharmacological treatment other than antidepressants * antidepressant medication, if it is changed within one month prior to the beginning of psychotherapy * other simultaneous psychological treatments
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| severity of depressive symptoms measured by the Beck-Depression-Inventory (BDI-II) | end of therapy, 6 month after end of therapy (follow up) |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| quality of life measured by the WHO Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) | end of therapy, 6-month follow-up |
| interpersonal problems measured by the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP) | end of therapy, 6-month follow-up |
| avoidance measured by the Cognitive-Behavioral Avoidance Scales (CBAS) | end of therapy, 6-month follow-up |
| resources measured by the Bernese Inventory of Resources (RES-K) | end of therapy, 6-month follow-up |
| symptom impairment measured by the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) | end of therapy, 6-month follow up |
| implicit self-esteem measured by the Self-Esteem Implicit Association Test (SE-IAT) | end of therapy |
| goal attainment measured by Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) | end of therapy |
| avoidance motivation measured by the Inventory of Approach and Avoidance Motivation (IAAM) | end of therpy, 6-month follow-up |
| motivational incongruence measured by The Incongruence Questionnaire (INC) | end of therapy, 6-month follow-up |
| explicit self-esteem measured by the Rosenberg self-esteem scale (RSES) | end of therapy, 6-month follow up |
Countries
Switzerland
Outcome results
None listed