Analysis of the Components of a Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention for the prevention of Depression Administered via Conference Call to Nonprofessional Caregivers: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Fernando L. Vázquez, Lara López, Ángela J. Torres, Patricia Otero, Vanessa Blanco, Olga Díaz and Mario Páramo
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Fernando L. Vázquez: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15705 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Lara López: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15705 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Ángela J. Torres: Department of Psychiatry, Radiology and Public Health, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15705 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Patricia Otero: Department of Psychology, University of A Coruña, 15001 A Coruña, Spain
Vanessa Blanco: Department of Evolutionary and Educational Psychology, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15705 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Olga Díaz: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15705 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Mario Páramo: Department of Psychiatry, Radiology and Public Health, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15705 Santiago de Compostela, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: Effective and accessible interventions for indicated prevention of depression are necessary and lacking, especially for informal caregivers. Although telephone-based interventions could increase the accessibility for caregivers, randomized controlled trials are scarce, with no examination of prevention to date. Moreover, the efficacy of specific therapeutic components in preventive cognitive-behavioral programs is unknown. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a telephone-administered psychological preventive intervention in informal caregivers with high depressive symptoms. A total of 219 caregivers were randomized to a cognitive-behavioral conference call intervention (CBCC, n = 69), a behavioral-activation conference call intervention (BACC, n = 70), or a usual care control group (CG, n = 80). Both interventions consisted of five 90-minute group sessions. At the post-intervention, incidence of depression was lower in CBCC and BACC compared to CG (1.5% and 1.4% vs. 8.8%). Relative risk was 0.17 for the CBCC and 0.16 for the BACC, and the number-needed-to-treat was 14 in both groups. Depressive symptoms were significantly lower in BACC and BACC groups compared to CG ( d = 1.16 and 1.29), with no significant differences between CBCC and BACC groups. The conference call intervention was effective in preventing depression and the behavioral-activation component (BACC) was comparable to the CBCC intervention.

Keywords: depression; nonprofessional caregiver; prevention; cognitive; behavioral; telephone; dismantling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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