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Marital Problems and Treatment Outcome in Depressed Women

A Clinical Trial of Social Work Intervention

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Roslyn H. Corney
Roslyn H. Corney*
Affiliation:
General Practice Research Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF
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Abstract

In a clinical trial investigating the effectiveness of social work intervention with depressed women patients in general practice, 80 women were randomly allocated to an experimental group for referral to attached social workers or to a control group for routine treatment by their GPs. They were reassessed at 6 and 12 months. The results indicated that women who had major marital problems were more likely to be depressed at follow-up than those with good relationships. However, patients with marital difficulties in the experimental group made more improvement than the controls. Women initially assessed as suffering from ‘acute on chronic’ depression and having major marital difficulties were found to benefit most from social work intervention.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 151 , Issue 5 , November 1987 , pp. 652 - 659
Copyright
Copyright © 1987 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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