COMPETITIVE MEMORY TRAINING (COMET) FOR TREATING LOW SELF-ESTEEM IN PATIENTS WITH DEPRESSIVE DISORDERS: A RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIAL

Abstract

Self-esteem is a major concern in mood disorders. Low self-esteem is a symptom of depressive disorders and is considered by some to be a predictor for relapse, whereas high self-esteem seems to buffer against depression. Recently, Competitive Memory Training (COMET) has shown to be effective for the enhancement of self-esteem in several psychopathological conditions. The current study assesses whether COMET is also an effective intervention for patients with depressive disorders. Sixty-one patients with depressive disorders who were already in therapy in an outpatient mental health institution were randomly assigned to either eight group sessions of COMET in addition to their regular therapy (COMET + therapy as usual [TAU]: the experimental group) or to 8 weeks of ongoing regular therapy (TAU only: the control group). These latter (control) patients received COMET after their TAU only period. All patients in both groups that completed COMET were contacted 3 and 6 months later to assess whether the effects of COMET had remained stable. Compared to the patients who received TAU only, patients in the COMET + TAU condition showed significant improvement with large effect sizes on indices of self-esteem, depression, and depressive rumination. The therapeutic effects of COMET + TAU remained stable after 3 and 6 months on all outcome measures or improved even further. COMET for low self-esteem seems to be an efficacious trans-diagnostic intervention that can relatively easily be added to the regular treatment of patients with depressive disorders.