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Published on: August 2, 2021
Effects of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy on Depressive Symptoms and Executive Functioning in Major
Bita Ajilchi1, Vahid Nejati, Joel M Town
1*Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human Science, Sciences & Research Branch, Islamic Azad University (IAU); †Department of Psychology, Faculty of Human Science, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran; and ‡Department of Psychiatry, and §Centre for Emotions & Health, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.
Abstract:
This study examined the efficacy of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP) on depressive symptoms and executive functioning in patients with major depression. We examined pretest, posttest, and follow-up depression scores as well as pretest-posttest executive functioning scores between 16 participants receiving ISTDP and 16 allocated to wait-list control. Participants in each group were matched according to age, sex, and educational level. Mixed-models analyses demonstrated significant interaction effects of group and time on depression scores when the group ISTDP was compared with the wait-list control group; participants receiving ISTDP had significantly reduced depression severity both after treatment and at follow-up. Next, a series of hierarchical regression models demonstrated modest improvements on most tests of executive functioning in participants receiving ISTDP. Depressed patients receiving ISTDP show a sustained reduction in depression severity after treatment and after 12-month follow-up and improvements in executive functioning after treatment compared with a wait-list control.
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