A Comparative Study of Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Retraining Treatment in Depressive Disorder

Abstract

Mood disorders are recurrent or episodic with significant cognitive deficits and incomplete recovery. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) has been the gold standard delivered by a specialist and is usually more appropriate for patients who display psychological sophistication and are literate to maintain dysfunctional thought record. Cognitive retraining treatment (CRT) on the other hand maybe a convenient option if its effectiveness is comparable to CBT. The study employed pre-post intervention and experimental research design controlled by having four groups 4 groups namely; Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), CBT along with pharmacological treatment (CBTM), Cognitive Retraining Treatment (CRT), and CRT along with pharmacological treatment (CRTM). Each group had 20 participants; participants in the corresponding groups received either CBT or CRT, and the outcome measures were: Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), to assess severity of depression; Metacognitive Questionnaire (MCQ30), to assess dysfunctional metacognitive beliefs; World Health Organization Quality of Life- Brief (WHOQOLBref), to assess quality of life in four domains; and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), to assess global level of functioning.There were significant differences among the four groups on the outcome measures. CRTM group showed the least severity of depression and highest psychological QOL. While the CBT group had the highest QOL supported by the environment and the highest global functioning scores. The change in the mean scores on outcome measure was greater for CRT and CRTM groups, though not statistically significant.CRTM augmentation was superior in addressing metacognitive beliefs. Augmentation to CBT did not produce any supplementary effect and CBT continued to be superior in producing greater functional outcome Keywords:cognitive behavior therapy, cognitive retraining, depression, metacognitive