A03

• Strengths = research support for behavioural activation

  • there is research support for the idea that the behavioural aspect of CBT is effective in alleviating depression
  • Babyak et al. (2000) studied 156 adult volunteers diagnosed with major depressive disorder
  • they were randomly assigned to a course of aerobic exercise, drug treatment or a combination of the two
  • six months after the end of the study, those in the exercise group had significantly lower relapse rates than those in medication group
  • reveals change in behaviour (i.e. physical activity) can be beneficial in treating depression
• Strength = research support for effectiveness

  • there is extensive research support demonstrating the effectiveness of CBT for depression
  • March et al. (2007) compared effects of CBT with antidepressant drugs and a combination of the two in 327 adolescents with a diagnosis of depression
  • after 36 weeks 81% of CBT group showed improvement and 81% of antidepressant group showed improvement
  • 86% of those who did a combination of CBT and antidepressants showed improvement
  • highlights effectiveness of CBT
• Limitation = relapse rates

  • although CBT is quite effective in tackling the symptoms of depression, there are concerns over how long the benefits last
  • there are very few early studies of CBT for depression which have looked at long-term effectiveness
  • more recent studies suggest that long-term outcomes are not as good as had been assumed
  • e.g. Shehzad et al. (2017) assessed depression in 439 clients every month for 12 months following a course of CBT
  • 42% of the clients relapsed into depression within 6 months of ending treatment and 53% relapsed within a year
  • this suggests that CBT may need to be repeated periodically
• Limitation = success may be due to therapist-patient relationship

  • Rosenzweig (1936) - the differences between different methods of psychotherapy might actually be quite small
  • the aspect that could be resulting in effective treatment is not the cognitive and behavioural basis of the psychotherapies but the therapist-patient relationship
  • it may be the quality of this relationship that determines success rather than any particular technique that is used
  • e.g. many comparative reviews find very small differences between psychotherapies, which supports the view that simply having an opportunity to talk to someone who will listen could be what matters the most.
• What are the strengths of the cognitive approach to treating depression?

  1. Research support for behavioural activation
  2. Research support for effectiveness
• What are the limitations of the cognitive approach to treating depression?

  1. Relapse rates
  2. Success may be due to therapist-patient relationship