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Problem solving therapies for depression: A meta-analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

Pim Cuijpers ,
Annemieke van Straten  and
Lisanne Warmerdam
Pim Cuijpers*
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081BTAmsterdam, The Netherlands
Annemieke van Straten
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081BTAmsterdam, The Netherlands
Lisanne Warmerdam
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081BTAmsterdam, The Netherlands
*
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +31 20 598 8757; fax: +31 20 598 8758. E-mail address: [email protected] (P. Cuijpers).
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Abstract

Purpose

In the past decades, the effects of problem-solving therapy (PST) for depression have been examined in several randomized controlled studies. However, until now no meta-analysis has tried to integrate the results of these studies.

Methods

We conducted a systematic literature search and identified 13 randomized studies examining the effects of PST, with a total of 1133 subjects. The quality of studies varied.

Results

The mean standardized effect size was 0.34 in the fixed effects model and 0.83 in the random effects model, with very high heterogeneity. Subgroup analyses indicated significantly lower effects for individual interventions in studies with subjects who met criteria for major depression, studies in which intention-to-treat analyses were conducted instead of completers-only analyses, and studies with pill placebo and care-as-usual control groups. Heterogeneity was high, and the subgroup analyses did not result in clear indications of what caused this high heterogeneity. This indicates that PST has varying effects on depression, and that it is not known to date what determines whether PST has larger of smaller effects.

Conclusion

Although there is no doubt that PST can be an effective treatment for depression, more research is needed to ascertain the conditions and subjects in which these positive effects are realized.

Keywords

Problem-solving therapyDepressionMeta-analysis
Type
Therapy of Depression
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , January 2007 , pp. 9 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier Masson SAS 2007

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