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The Therapeutic Alliance and CBASP-Specific Skill Acquisition in the Treatment of Chronic Depression

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Abstract

This study examined the influences of proposed specific and common psychotherapeutic factors in a sample of chronically depressed adult outpatients. Participants (N = 324) were drawn from a multi-site clinical trial that compared the efficacies of the cognitive behavioral analysis system of psychotherapy (CBASP), nefazodone, and their combination. This report is limited to patients receiving CBASP alone or combination treatment. A series of regression analyses were performed to test whether: (1) the ability to utilize the skills taught in CBASP mediated the relationship between the early therapeutic alliance and endpoint depression, and (2) the therapeutic alliance moderated the relationship between skill utilization and endpoint depression. Neither model was supported. Instead, each of these factors contributed independently and additively to alleviation of depressive symptoms.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Janice A. Blalock

    Present address: M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, USA

  2. Rachel Manber

    Present address: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-2500

    Neil J. Santiago, Daniel N. Klein & Dina Vivian

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford

    Bruce A. Arnow

  3. Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston

    Janice A. Blalock

  4. Department of Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical College, USA

    James H. Kocsis & John C. Markowitz

  5. Department of Psychiatry, University of Arizona School of Medicine, USA

    Rachel Manber

  6. Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, USA

    Lawrence P. Riso

  7. Department of Psychiatry, Emory University School of Medicine, USA

    Barbara O. Rothbaum

  8. Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas

    A. John Rush

  9. Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, USA

    Michael E. Thase

  10. Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA

    James P. McCullough Jr.

  11. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University School of Medicine, Providence

    Martin B. Keller

Authors
  1. Neil J. Santiago
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  2. Daniel N. Klein
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  4. Bruce A. Arnow
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  6. James H. Kocsis
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  7. John C. Markowitz
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  8. Rachel Manber
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  9. Lawrence P. Riso
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  10. Barbara O. Rothbaum
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  11. A. John Rush
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  13. James P. McCullough Jr.
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  14. Martin B. Keller
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel N. Klein.

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Santiago, N.J., Klein, D.N., Vivian, D. et al. The Therapeutic Alliance and CBASP-Specific Skill Acquisition in the Treatment of Chronic Depression. Cogn Ther Res 29, 803–817 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-005-9638-5

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