A Randomized Control Trial of Enhanced Cognitive Behavioural Group Therapy for Older Adults with Depression: Efficacy Across Older Age-Groups

Status

Not yet recruiting

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT06894641

Enrollment

Registered

2025-03-25

Start date

2025-07-31

Completion date

2027-08-31

Last updated

2025-03-25

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Major Depression

Keywords

CBT, CBT-OA, Depression, Major Depression, Major Depressive Disorder, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Older Adults

Brief summary

This study is on a type of psychotherapy to treat depression in older adults called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT-OA). CBT is based on the idea that changing thoughts and behaviours can improve mood. CBT has been shown to treat depression in many types of people. CBT-OA changes the usual approaches used for older adults and offers the therapy in a group settings for 8 weeks, for 2 hours a week. Participants will be randomly (by chance) placed into one of two study groups. One group will receive CBT-OA treatment right away. The other group (Treatment As Usual) will receive standard care from their doctor during the 12-week study period. Both groups will be closely monitored during the study period. The standard care group will be offered CBT-OA in a future session outside of the study.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALCognitive Behavior Therapy for Older Adults (CBT-OA)

CBT-OA integrates modifications to standard CBT to consider age-related physical, cognitive and psychological changes. CBT-OA also integrates positive psychiatry principles for older adults to promote behavioural change and health attitude change.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE (Caregiver, Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

65 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Ambulatory patients 65+ years of age and diagnosed with MDE per DSM-V criteria by a geriatric psychiatrist using a standard clinical biopsychosocial assessment and a Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) of \>12.

Exclusion criteria

* Patients with psychosis, those undergoing acute inpatient care or electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), those with dementia (Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) score of \< 26), and those with chronic personality disorders

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II)	12 weeks	The primary outcome measure will be patient-rated depression on the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), a standardized patient-report scale commonly used in CBT depression intervention research.

Contacts

Primary ContactKeri-Leigh Cassidy, M.D.

keri-leigh.cassidy@nshealth.ca(902) 473-7799

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026