Recovery from chronic depression and structural change: 5-year outcomes after psychoanalytic and...

Psychotherapy of chronic depression has remained a challenge due to limited prognosis and high rates of recurrence. We present 5-year outcome data from a multicentre trial comparing psychoanalytic (PAT) and cognitive-behavioural (CBT) long-term treatments with randomized and preferred allocations analysing symptom (N = 227) and structural change (N = 134) trajectories.

Self- and blinded expert ratings of depression symptoms were performed at yearly intervals using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms (QIDS-C). Blinded expert ratings of Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnosis (OPD) and the Heidelberg Restructuring Scale (HRS) at baseline, 1, 3, and 5 years assessed structural change in a subsample.

Lasting and comparable symptom changes were achieved by PAT and CBT. However, compared to CBT, PAT was more successful in restructuring, a major goal of long-term psychodynamic treatments with high frequency and duration.

Due to practical reasons, the time criterion for chronic depression of an acute phase had to be defined for over 1 year in the present study, which does not correspond to the DSM-5 criterion of 2 years. Therapy duration and session frequency were not incorporated into the statistical models.

Long-term psychotherapy helps patients with a yearlong history of depression and often multiple unsuccessful treatment attempts to achieve lasting symptom changes. Future follow-up will clarify whether restructuring promotes further sustainable improvements.