[Typical patterns of depressive disorders during outpatient psychotherapy and their prediction]

Are there typical patterns of outpatient psychotherapy among depressed patients? What characterizes patients with different patterns?

We examined N= 548 patients with primary depressive disorders using a naturalistic design. Using a latent-state-mixture model and depression measures at baseline, therapy end and 1-year follow-up we found a total of five patterns. Subgroups were compared with respect to sociodemographic and treatment-related variables.

Responders with moderate depressive symptoms at baseline and responders with severe symptoms at baseline were most common (54% and 25% of the sample, respectively) compared to late responders (9 %), small-response patients (9 %) and recidivists (4 %). Patterns of change were related to symptom intensity at baseline and ratings of perceived helpfulness at the end of treatment.

Since psychometric scales better predicted change pattern than sociodemographic characteristics, primary and secondary diagnoses, psychometric assessments and feedback systems could be a useful supplement to traditional quality assurance procedures.