COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL GROUP INTERVENTION AS A MEANS OF TERTIARY PREVENTION IN DEPRESSED-PATIENTS - ACCEPTANCE AND SHORT-TERM EFFICACY

This paper describes the implementation and evaluation of the Coping w ith Depression (CWD) course in a sample of patients, who were pretreat ed for clinical depression on a psychiatric in- or outpatient basis. B ased on a psychoeducational approach, the CWD integrates elements of c ognitive-behavior therapy, which have proven effective in dealing with problems associated with the development and maintenance of-depressio n, such as relaxation, training of social skills, increasing pleasant activities, and constructive thinking. The present results suggest tha t, through a process of self-selection, the program appealed especiall y to those patients, who still displayed extensive depressive symptoms after discharge or who had experienced an early relapse into the depr essive episode. By strictly matching CWD participants and nonparticipa nts on illness-related characteristics at pretreatment, if was found t hat the group intervention was mainly effective in preventing short-te rm relapses during the 6-month period under treatment.