Childhood trauma and differential response to long-term psychoanalytic versus cognitive-behavioural therapy for chronic depression in adults.

Background: Childhood trauma is a major risk factor for chronic depression. It has been suggested that adults with chronic depression who have experienced childhood trauma may require long-term treatment owing to a breakdown of basic trust and related difficulties in developing a productive therapeutic relationship.

Aims: As empirical studies have been preliminary and scarce, we studied the effects of psychoanalytic therapy (PAT) versus cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for chronic depression in adults with a history of childhood trauma. In this subgroup, we expected a greater symptom reduction in PAT compared with CBT.

Method: In a large trial of long-term psychotherapies for chronic depression (LAC-Study; Clinical Trial Register ISRCTN91956346), 210 adults received open-ended CBT or PAT in an out-patient setting and were examined yearly over 5 years on the Beck Depression Inventory - II (BDI-II). Based on a linear mixed model approach, we tested participant-reported childhood trauma based on the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) as a predictor and moderator of treatment outcome. CTQ subscales were examined exploratively.

Results: Depressive symptoms decreased over time ( = -4.55, s.e. = 0.90, 95% CI -6.32 to -2.81, = -5.08; < 0.001). A significant three-way interaction between childhood trauma, time and therapy group ( = -0.05, s.e. = 0.02, 95% CI -0.09 to -0.01, = -2.42; = 0.016) indicated that participants with childhood trauma profited especially well from PATs.

Conclusions: Our results indicate differential benefits from PAT compared with CBT among adults with chronic depression and a history of childhood trauma. The results have important implications for differential indication and policy.