A spirituality teaching program for depression: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: This randomized controlled trial assessed the efficacy of a Spirituality Teaching Program to treat unipolar major depression.

Method: A randomized controlled, assessor blinded trial design was used. A total of 84 individuals aged 18 years or older with unipolar major depression of mild to moderate severity were recruited in Calgary, Canada and randomized to two study arms: 1) Spirituality Teaching Program Group (8 week, home-based Spirituality Teaching Program); and 2) Waitlist Control Group (no intervention followed by Spirituality Teaching Program starting at week 9). Outcome measures (depression severity, response rate, remission rate) were assessed at baseline, 8, 16, and 24 weeks using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D).

Results: The two trial groups were similar in their demographic and disease characteristics at baseline. At the 8-week point, the change in depression severity was significantly different between the two groups (change in HAM-D score: 8.5 for the Spirituality Group and 2.3 for the Waitlist Control Group, p < 0.001). The Spirituality Teaching Program Group had significantly higher response (36% vs. 4.4%, p < 0.001) and remission rates (31% vs. 4.4%, p < 0.001) than the Waitlist Control Group. The benefits remained throughout the observation period for the Spirituality Teaching Program Group participants with response rates of 56.4% at 16 weeks and 58.9% at 24 weeks.

Conclusion: The Spirituality Program significantly reduced depression severity and increased response and remission rates. This non-drug treatment program should be investigated further as a treatment option for depression.