Role of gender in depressive disorder outcome for individual and group cognitive-behavioral treatment.

Gender in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for outcome for depression has been inadequately examined in previous research. Thirty-five men and 55 women diagnosed with a depressive disorder according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) completed individual CBT at an outpatient community mental health clinic and 56 men and 105 women completed group CBT. Depression severity was measured before treatment and at endpoint using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996) along with secondary outcomes of anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory; Beck, Epstein, Brown, & Steer, 1988) and quality of life (Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire; Endicott, Nee, Harrison, & Blumenthal, 1993). Men and women demonstrated equivalent pretreatment and posttreatment illness severity, a comparable gradient of improvement on outcomes, and attainment of clinically meaningful benchmarks.