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Comparison of cognitive-behaviour therapy with psychoanalytic and psychodynamic therapy for depressed patients - a
Dorothea Huber1, Johannes Zimmermann, Gerhard Henrich
1Klinik und Poliklinik für Psychosomatische Medizin und Psychotherapie, Technische Universität München, D-81545 München, Germany. d.huber@lrz.tum.de
Objective:
The study investigates the effectiveness of long-term psychotherapies. Cognitive-behaviour therapy was compared with psychoanalytic and psychodynamic therapy in the treatment of patients with a primary diagnosis of unipolar depression.
Method:
In a prospective, quasi-experimental design 100 patients were compared at pre- and post-treatment and three-year follow-up. Outcome measures were the Beck Depression Inventory and Global Severity Index for measuring symptoms, the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems and the Social Support Questionnaire for measurement of social-interpersonal functioning, and the INTREX Introject Questionnaire for measuring personality structure. Comparative effectiveness of the experimental groups was analyzed using mixed models.
Results:
We found significant outcome differences between psychoanalytic therapy and cognitive-behaviour therapy in depressive and global psychiatric symptoms, partly social-interpersonal and personality structure at three-year follow-up. Psychodynamic therapy was superior to cognitive-behaviour therapy in the reduction of interpersonal problems.
Conclusion:
Psychoanalytic therapy shows significantly longer-lasting effects compared to cognitive-behaviour therapy three years after termination of treatment, which is discussed as a dose-effect.
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