The following is a summary of “Behavioral activation for depression in groups embedded in psychosomatic rehabilitation inpatient treatment: A quasi-randomized controlled study,” published in the April 2024 issue of Psychiatry by Melicherova et al.
Prior research has explored the effectiveness of behavioral activation (BA) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression in outpatient settings.
They randomly assigned 375 inpatients, 174 in the BA group and 201 in the CBT group. Depression levels were measured during treatment and follow-up (4 to 6 months) using scales like BDI-II, QIDS, and BADS. Disability-related functioning was assessed using the Mini-ICF-APP, based on ICF. Multilevel models were used to analyze group changes over time.
The results showed notable decreases in depressive symptoms at the end of treatment (effect size [d] = 0.83 for BA, 1.08 for CBT; measured by BDI-II) and at 4 to 6 months follow-up (d = 0.97 for BA, 1.33 for CBT; BDI-II, and d = 1.17 for BA, 1.09 for CBT; QIDS). No significant differences were found between the treatments. More than 50% of participants in both groups experienced symptom reduction (53.7% for BA and 54.2% for CBT). Activation levels rose from pre- to post-treatment (d = 0.76 for BA, 0.70 for CBT), but this increase was not sustained between the treatment end and follow-up (d = 0.28 for BA, 0.29 for CBT).
Investigators concluded that while both BA and CBT demonstrated effectiveness, further research is needed to determine if one modality is superior in this inpatient setting.
Source: frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1229380/abstract