The efficacy of group and individual cognitive therapy for mild depression

Abstract

Eighteen mildly depressed subjects were randomly assigned to group or individual cognitive therapy. Twenty mildly depressed subjects were later recruited to serve as delayed treatment controls. Beck's cognitive therapy of depression was provided in a 6-week format by five graduate student therapists. Subjects were assessed before and after the 6-week treatment or waiting period using the Beck Depression Inventory, the D30 Depression Scale, the Brief Symptom Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Tennessee Self Concept Scale. A repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance determined that there was a significant treatment by time interaction. Subjects who received individual therapy improved more than subjects in the group and delayed treatment conditions. There were no statistically significant differences between subjects in the group and delayed treatment conditions, though subjects who received group therapy tended to show greater improvement than the controls..