Effectiveness of matched, mismatched, and package treatments of depression

The three purposes of this study were: (a) to determine if treatment that is matched to a depressed subject's problematic behavioral response class (irrational cognitions, social skills problems, few pleasant events) is more effective in alleviating depression than is mismatched treatment; (b) to determine if a package treatment is as effective as or more effective than a matched treatment and more effective than a mismatched treatment in alleviating depression; and (c) to determine if a specific treatment produces more changes in its logically-related response class than in logically-unrelated response classes. Nine depressed women were assigned to one of three multiple baseline designs across subjects; subjects in each design received, respectively, matched, mismatched, or a package treatment. Results strengthened two hypotheses, that matched treatment and package treatment are both effective in alleviating depression. Specific treatments did not, however, differentially affect their logically-related response classes.