Self‐criticism predicts differential response to treatment for major depression

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Abstract
The authors examined the relationship between self‐criticism, dependency, and treatment outcome for 102 participants who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM‐IV‐TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) criteria for major depressive disorder. The participants were randomly assigned to receive either cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT), interpersonal therapy (IPT), or pharmacotherapy with clinical management (PHT‐CM) and completed the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (Blatt, D'Affilitti, & Quinlan, 1976), a measure of self‐criticism and dependency, as part of a broader research protocol. Regression analyses indicated that among individuals in IPT, self‐criticism predicted poorer treatment outcome based on depressive symptom severity measured using the 17‐item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (Hamilton, 1960, 1967). In addition, there were trends toward dependency predicting worse treatment response in CBT and self‐criticism predicting better treatment response in PHT‐CM. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 64: 231–244, 2008.

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