Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Dialectical behavior therapy for depressed older adults: a randomized pilot study.

Thomas R Lynch1, Jennifer Q Morse, Tamar Mendelson

  • 1Duke University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27704, USA. lynch011@mc.duke.edu

The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry : Official Journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry
|January 16, 2003
PubMed
Summary

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Remote delivery of a mindfulness-based intervention for adults with tics: Protocol of a randomized controlled trial.

Contemporary clinical trials·2026
Same author

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder in radically open dialectical behavior therapy for treatment-refractory depression.

Personality disorders·2025
Same author

Micro-randomized pilot trial of an app-based smoking urge reduction intervention for young adults.

mHealth·2025
Same author

Disclosure of direct and witnessed police stops among Black youth in Baltimore City, Maryland: Implications for posttraumatic stress symptoms.

Journal of research on adolescence : the official journal of the Society for Research on Adolescence·2025
Same author

App-Based Smoking Urge Reduction Intervention for Young Adults: Protocol Combining a Microrandomized Trial and Conventional Between-Subject Randomized Trial.

JMIR research protocols·2025
Same author

Positive impacts of a universal trauma-informed intervention on student mental health: The Project POWER trial.

Journal of school psychology·2025

Adding dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills training and telephone coaching to antidepressant medication significantly improved depression remission rates in older adults. This combined approach showed sustained benefits at six-month follow-up.

Area of Science:

  • Geriatric Psychiatry
  • Clinical Psychology

Background:

  • Older adults with depression often show limited response to standard treatments like antidepressants alone.
  • Individual and group psychotherapy show efficacy, but a significant portion remain treatment-resistant.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the benefits of augmenting antidepressant medication with group psychotherapy in older adults with depression.
  • To evaluate the efficacy of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills training combined with telephone coaching.

Main Methods:

  • A pilot study randomized 34 older adults (60+) with chronic depression to 28 weeks of either antidepressant medication plus clinical management (MED) or MED plus DBT skills-training and telephone coaching (MED+DBT).
  • Outcomes were measured using self-rated and interviewer-rated depression scores, remission rates, and changes in dependency and coping mechanisms.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • The MED+DBT group showed significant decreases in self-rated depression scores, unlike the MED-only group.
  • Both groups had similar reductions in interviewer-rated depression, but MED+DBT achieved higher remission rates (71% vs. 47% post-treatment).
  • At 6-month follow-up, MED+DBT maintained higher remission rates (75% vs. 31%), and improved coping and dependency.

Conclusions:

  • Dialectical behavior therapy skills training and telephone coaching show promise as an augmentation strategy for antidepressant medication in older adults with depression.
  • This combined approach may enhance treatment response and improve psychological factors contributing to depression vulnerability.