FMRI activation during executive function predicts response to cognitive behavioral therapy in older, depressed adults.

Objectives: To test our hypothesis that pre-treatment executive function and brain regional activation during executive function would discriminate between responders and non-responders to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in elderly depressed outpatients.

Design: Clinical cohort study.

Setting: University-affiliated hospital.

Pretreatment cortisol levels predict posttreatment outcomes among older adults with depression in cognitive behavioral therapy.

Previous studies suggest that individuals with elevated levels of cortisol (the "stress hormone") could be particularly resistant to treatment for depression. However, most of these studies have been conducted in the context of antidepressant medications, and no study has examined pretreatment cortisol levels as a predictor of treatment outcomes among older adults with depression in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), despite the relevance of this population for such a research question. The current study includes 54 older adults with depression who provided salivary cortisol samples at baseline and completed measures of depression at pretreatment and posttreatment, following a 12-week course of CBT.

Psychosocial predictors of treatment response to cognitive-behavior therapy for late-life depression: an exploratory study.

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to examine a variety of potential predictors of response to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in depressed older adults.

Method: Sixty older adults with a clinical diagnosis of major or minor depression or dysthymic disorder received 12 individual sessions of CBT over a three- to four-month-period. The BDI-II was administered pre- and post-intervention to assess change in the level of depression.