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The Efficacy of Cognitive Therapy in Depression: A Treatment Trial Using Cognitive Therapy and Pharmacotherapy, each Alone and in Combination

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

I. M. Blackburn ,
S. Bishop ,
A. I. M. Glen ,
L. J. Whalley  and
J. E. Christie
I. M. Blackburn
Affiliation:
MRC Brain Metabolism Unit, Thomas Clouston Clinic, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Edinburgh
S. Bishop*
Affiliation:
MRC Brain Metabolism Unit, Thomas Clouston Clinic, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Edinburgh
A. I. M. Glen*
Affiliation:
MRC Brain Metabolism Unit, Thomas Clouston Clinic, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Edinburgh
L. J. Whalley
Affiliation:
MRC Brain Metabolism Unit, Thomas Clouston Clinic, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Edinburgh
J. E. Christie
Affiliation:
MRC Brain Metabolism Unit, Thomas Clouston Clinic, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Edinburgh
*
∗Present address: Centre for Cognitive Therapy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
† Present address: Craig Dunain Hospital, Inverness.
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Summary

We report an extensive study which compares cognitive therapy, antidepressant drugs and a combination of these two, in depressed patients seen either in general practice or an out-patient department. One-hundred and forty patients were screened for primary major depression and 64 patients completed the trial. All were rated on seven measures of mood, including independent observer-rated and self-rated depression and scales of anxiety and irritability. Patients were randomly assigned to cognitive therapy, antidepressants or a combination of the two. The antidepressant drug group did less well in both hospital and general practice and combination treatment was superior to drug treatment in both hospital and general practice. In general practice, cognitive therapy was superior to drug treatment. The presence of endogenous features did not affect response to treatment. The results are discussed in terms of Beck's cognitive theory of depression and factors of presumed causal importance of depression in general practice.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 139 , Issue 3 , September 1981 , pp. 181 - 189
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1981 

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