Pilot Study of Group Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depression Among Young People With Chronic Illness.

Objective: Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) is an evidence-based treatment for depression, demonstrating efficacy with adolescents and young adults. Social support is proposed to be an important treatment component and may be helpful for adolescents and young adults with chronic illness. The authors sought to assess the feasibility of delivering IPT to this population and to examine changes in depressive symptoms and perceived social support.

Major Depressive Disorder in Patients With Doctoral Degrees: Patient-reported Depressive Symptom Severity, Functioning, and Quality of Life Before and After Initial Treatment in the STAR*D Study.

Objective: This study examined patients with medical or doctoral degrees diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) by analyzing patient-reported depressive symptom severity, functioning, and quality of life (QOL) before and after treatment of MDD.

Methods: Analyses were conducted in a sample of 2280 adult outpatient participants with MDD from the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) study with complete entry and exit scores for the level 1 (citalopram monotherapy) trial. The sample contained 62 participants who had completed medical or doctoral degrees (DOCS) and 2218 participants without medical or doctoral degrees (non-DOCS).

Quality of Life, Functioning, and Depressive Symptom Severity in Older Adults With Major Depressive Disorder Treated With Citalopram in the STAR*D Study.

Objective: Major depressive disorder (MDD) can substantially worsen patient-reported quality of life (QOL) and functioning. Prior studies have examined the role of age in MDD by comparing depressive symptom severity or remission rates between younger and older adults. This study examines these outcomes before and after SSRI treatment.

Quality of Life and Functioning in Comorbid Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder After Treatment With Citalopram Monotherapy.

Objectives: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) often have high comorbidity, consequently influencing patient-reported outcomes of depressive symptom severity, quality of life (QOL), and functioning. We hypothesized that the combined effects of concurrent PTSD and MDD would result in worse treatment outcomes, whereas individuals who achieved MDD remission would have better treatment outcomes.

Methods: We analyzed 2280 adult participants who received level 1 treatment (citalopram monotherapy) in the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression study, including 2158 participants with MDD without comorbid PTSD and 122 participants with MDD with comorbid PTSD (MDD + PTSD).