Article2010

Is there a dose–effect relationship between the number of psychotherapy sessions and improvement of social functioning?

Pieter J. Molenaar · Yvette Boom · Jaap Peen · Robert A. Schoevers · Rien Van · Jack Dekker

96 citations0/0 files storedBritish Journal of Clinical Psychology

No readable copy stored yet — this record is metadata only.

No open-access location is known for this record yet.

Literature note Cite in a project Citation map

Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes Treatment of Major Depression

Abstract

OBJECTIVES AND DESIGN This study describes a randomized controlled trial which aimed to evaluate whether 16 sessions of psychotherapy combined with pharmacotherapy is more effective in relieving depression and improving social functioning than 8 sessions of psychotherapy combined with pharmacotherapy. METHODS. Randomized controlled trial comparing two treatment conditions with different psychotherapy dosages in out-patients with major depression. All patients studied had a baseline score of at least 14 points on the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS). The two conditions consisted of 8- or 16-session short psychodynamic supportive psychotherapy, both in combination with pharmacotherapy. Efficacy was assessed using the 17-item HDRS, the clinical global impression of severity and of improvement, the depression subscale of the Ninety Symptom Checklist, the Quality of Life Depression Scale, and the Groningen Social Disability Schedule. RESULTS. Social functioning improved significantly in both groups. No significant differences were found between 8 and 16 sessions with regard to social functioning. A significant advantage is found for patients in remission on 5 of the 11 dimensions in social functioning over patients not in remission. CONCLUSIONS. At the end of treatment, no clear differences are found between 8 or 16 sessions of psychotherapy - both combined with pharmacotherapy - with regard to severity of depression and social functioning. It is thus still unknown if patients with major depression show more improvement in social functioning and less symptoms of depression after 16 sessions of combined therapy than after 8 sessions. Currently, it seems that for major depression 8 sessions of combined therapy are equally effective as 16 sessions.

Paper brief

Loading…

Cite this work

Citation unavailable for this work.

BibTeX RIS CSL-JSON

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Citations in this library

Citation map →

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 96 citations exist upstream.

References

2003Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV)1976ECDEU Assessment Manual for Psychopharmacology 1967Development of a Rating Scale for Primary Depressive Illness 1980The benefits of psychotherapy 1995Functioning and Well-being Outcomes of Patients With Depression Compared With Chronic General Medical Illnesses 1978SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT BY SELF-REPORT IN A COMMUNITY SAMPLE AND IN PSYCHIATRIC OUTPATIENTS 1994Effects of treatment duration and severity of depression on the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic-interpersonal psychotherapy.1994Patterns of symptomatic recovery in psychotherapy.

Explore the map →

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.

Imported from OpenAlex (CC0) — nothing here is generated.