Brief dynamic therapy and depression severity: a single-blind, randomized study

Brief dynamic therapy (BDT) has been shown to be effective in treating depressive disorders. Nevertheless, whether its effect is related to the severity of depression is still unknown. The aim of this study was to analyze whether the efficacy of BDT is related to severity of depressive symptoms in patients with mild to moderate unipolar depressive disorders.

A randomized clinical trial compared BDT with brief supportive psychotherapy (BSP) in 88 outpatients with depressive disorders. Two subgroups of patients were considered for statistical analysis: with mild depressive disorders (HAM-D17 baseline score: 8-13) and with moderate depressive disorders (HAM-D17 baseline score: 14-18). Patients were assessed at start of treatment (baseline-T0), at the end of treatment (T1) and at 6-month follow-up (T2).

In the subgroup of patients with mild depressive disorders, no statistically significant differences emerged between the two treatments on all efficacy measures. In the subgroup of patients with moderate depressive disorders, the remission rates of patients treated with BDT were higher than those of patients treated with BSP at 6 month of follow-up (90.5% vs. 34.8%: p<.005).

The sample size was relatively small; a longer follow-up period should be considered to assess the efficacy of BDT in terms of prevention of recurrences.

The efficacy of BDT in treating depressive disorders is higher in moderate than in mild depression.