Congruence between reasons for depression and motivations for specific interventions

Abstract

The reasons depressed clients report for their depression are thought to be important predictors of therapy process and outcome, but few studies have so far examined whether particular reasons are systematically associated with client motivations to engage with reason-matching interventions. We hypothesized that the congruence between reasons and interventions would predict higher levels of treatment motivation. Ninety-seven adult out-patients from the UK completed the Reasons for Depression (RFD) questionnaire (Addis, Truax, & Jacobson, 1995) and a newly developed Motivations for Interventions questionnaire that examined the extent to which patients would prefer to receive a type of therapy that targets their perceived reasons for depression. The results generally supported the reasons-interventions congruence hypothesis, but more so for certain specific reasons. For example, clients who believed that their depression was caused primarily by unresolved childhood issues or by biological predispositions were relatively specifically motivated to engage with treatments that target these domains. In general, clients who endorsed interpersonal reasons tended to be specifically motivated for interpersonally orientated interventions, and those who endorsed autonomous depression reasons tended to be specifically motivated to engage with autonomy-facilitative interventions. The study also introduces a new subscale for the RFD questionnaire - the cognitive reasons scale. Implications for theory development and treatment planning are discussed.