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Patient interpersonal and cognitive changes and their relation to outcome in interpersonal psychotherapy for
Samantha L Bernecker1, Michael J Constantino, Angela M Pazzaglia
1University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Objective:
Despite interpersonal psychotherapy's (IPT) efficacy for depression, little is known about its change-promoting ingredients. This exploratory study examined candidate change mechanisms by identifying whether patients' interpersonal and cognitive characteristics change during IPT and whether such changes relate to outcomes.
Method:
Patients were 95 depressed adults receiving manualized IPT. We used multilevel modeling to assess the relation between change in each interpersonal and cognitive domain and outcome.
Results:
Across all interpersonal and cognitive variables measured, patients showed significant improvement. Unexpectedly, reduced romantic relationship adjustment was related to posttreatment depression reduction (β = 2.028, p = .008, self-rated; β = 1.474, p = .022, clinician-rated). For the other measured domains, change was not significantly associated with outcome (though changes in some interpersonal variables evidenced a trend-level relation to outcome).
Conclusions:
Possible reciprocal influences among IPT, depression, and romantic relationship functioning are discussed, as are implications for future research.
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