Baseline patient characteristics as predictors of remission in interpersonal psychotherapy for depression

Abstract

We examined patient characteristics as remission predictors in interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) for depression (n=95). Four characteristic domains (sociodemographic, clinical/diagnostic, interpersonal, cognitive) were analyzed using receiver operating characteristic analysis. Remission was defined two ways: (a) posttreatment BDI-II beyond population-based cut-scores for reliable and clinically significant change, and (b) posttreatment BDI-II≤10. Across both definitions, patients most likely to remit had lower mean item ratings (<3.75 and<3.25, respectively) on the fearful attachment dimension of the Relationship Scales Questionnaire (χ 2 =7.172, p<.01 and χ 2 =7.792, p<.01, respectively). For the second definition only, more fearfully attached patients who were≤25 years of age at index depression onset were more likely to remit (χ 2 =7.617, p<.01) than those>25. The findings contribute to the scant literature on patient factors related to remission following IPT.