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The Effects of Psychotherapy for Major Depressive Disorder on Daily Mood and Functioning: A Longitudinal Experience Sampling Study

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Abstract

Experience sampling methodology (ESM) was used in a randomized controlled trial of short-term therapy to examine changes in daily affect and reactivity to daily event appraisals among depressed patients. Fifty-five depressed adults (mean age 37 years, 80 % female) were randomly assigned to one of two therapy conditions. Using an interactive voice response system, participants rated activities and emotional functioning eight times per day for 7 days. Twenty-nine participants completed treatment and repeated ESM at post-treatment. Broad improvements in mood, cognition, and physical functioning were similar across treatment conditions, with the largest improvements for markers of positive affect. Participants demonstrated increased resilience, i.e., diminished reactivity to stressors, at post-treatment. Changes in reactivity to positive daily situations were minimal. Findings underscore the utility of ESM in psychotherapy research and the importance of including measures of both positive and negative affect and experiences.

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Notes

  1. Of the 44 exclusions, 38 % had an exclusionary diagnosis (e.g., bipolar); 35 % had subclinical depressive symptoms; 27 % had other exclusionary concerns (e.g., taking antidepressants, unable to follow through with study procedures).

  2. Specifically, at baseline, people who were assigned to CBT had lower values (M = 4.34) than people assigned to SST (M = 4.84), but the means were similar post-treatment (CBT M = 4.78, SST M = 4.60).

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Award Number R21MH090414 from the National Institute of Mental Health (Trial Registration Number NCT02134678). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Mental Health or the National Institutes of Health. We thank Tamara E. Foxworth and Ariana Hoet for their assistance with data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, P.O. Box 26170, Greensboro, NC, 27402-6170, USA

    Kari M. Eddington, Paul J. Silvia, Niloofar Fallah, Catherine Majestic & Thomas R. Kwapil

  2. Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, TN, USA

    Chris J. Burgin

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  1. Kari M. Eddington
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  2. Chris J. Burgin
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Correspondence to Kari M. Eddington.

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Kari M. Eddington, Chris J. Burgin, Paul J. Silvia, Niloofar Fallah, Catherine Majestic and Thomas R. Kwapil declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (national and institutional). Informed consent was obtained from all individual subjects participating in the study.

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Eddington, K.M., Burgin, C.J., Silvia, P.J. et al. The Effects of Psychotherapy for Major Depressive Disorder on Daily Mood and Functioning: A Longitudinal Experience Sampling Study. Cogn Ther Res 41, 266–277 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-016-9816-7

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