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Published on: August 1, 2019
The Effect of Interpersonal Counseling for Subthreshold Depression in Undergraduates: An Exploratory Randomized
Ami Yamamoto1, Emi Tsujimoto1, Reiko Taketani1
1Department of Psychological Science, Graduate School of Humanities, Kwansei Gakuin University, 1-155 Uegahara Ichibancho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 662-8501, Japan.
Background:
Subthreshold depression and poor stress coping strategies are major public health problems among undergraduates. Interpersonal counseling (IPC) is a brief structured psychological intervention originally designed for use in primary care to treat depressive patients whose symptoms arose from current life stress.
Objectives:
This study examined the efficacy of IPC in treating subthreshold depression and coping strategies among undergraduates in school counseling.
Materials And Methods:
We carried out an exploratory randomized controlled trial comparing the efficacy of IPC with counseling as usual (CAU). Participants were 31 undergraduates exhibiting depression without a psychiatric diagnosis.
Results:
The Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale total score decreased significantly in the IPC group (n = 15; Z = -2.675, p = .007), but not in the CAU group (n = 16). The task-oriented coping score of the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations showed a tendency towards a greater increase in the IPC group than in the CAU group (t = 1.919, df = 29, p = .065).
Conclusions:
The IPC might be more useful for student counseling because it can teach realistic coping methods and reduce depressive symptoms in a short period. Further studies using more participants are required.
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