Comparative Effectiveness of Medication Versus Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in a Randomized Controlled Trial of Low-Income Young Minority Women With Depression

• Published in: Journal of consulting and clinical psychology 2012-12, Vol.80 (6), p.995-1006
• Main Authors: Siddique, Juned, Chung, Joyce Y., Brown, C. Hendricks, Miranda, Jeanne
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Antidepressive Agents - therapeutic use; Anxiety; Anxiety-Depression; Behavior Modification; Behavior therapy. Cognitive therapy; Biological and medical sciences; Bupropion; Clinical trials; Cognitive Behavior Therapy; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; Cognitive behaviour therapy; Cognitive Restructuring; Cognitive therapy; Community Mental Health Services; Comparative Analysis; Depression; Depression (Psychology); Depressive Disorder - drug therapy; Depressive Disorder - psychology; Depressive Disorder - therapy; Drug Therapy; Female; Females; Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression; Health Services; Human; Humans; Low Income; Low income groups; Low income women; Major Depression; Measures (Individuals); Medical sciences; Mental depression; Mental health care; Mental Health Programs; Minority Groups; Minority Groups - psychology; Mood disorders; Neuropharmacology; Outcomes of Treatment; Paroxetine; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Poverty; Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer; Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer..., (alzheimer disease); Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychopharmacology; Psychotherapy; Randomized controlled trials; Rating Scales; Scores; Treatment Outcome; Treatments; Women
• ISSN: 0022-006X; 1939-2117
• DOI: 10.1037/a0030452

Objective: To examine whether there are latent trajectory classes in response to treatment and whether they moderate the effects of medication versus psychotherapy. Method: Data come from a 1-year randomized controlled trial of 267 low-income, young (M = 29 years), minority (44% Black, 50% Latina, 6% White) women with current major depression randomized to antidepressants, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), or referral to community mental health services. Growth mixture modeling was used to determine whether there were differential effects of medication versus CBT. Depression was measured via the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (Hamilton, 1960). Results: We identified 2 latent trajectory classes. The first was characterized by severe depression at baseline. At 6 months, mean depression scores for the medication and CBT groups in this class were 13.9 and 14.9, respectively (difference not significant). At 12 months, mean depression scores were 16.4 and 11.0, respectively (p for difference = .04). The second class was characterized by moderate depression and anxiety at baseline. At 6 months, mean depression scores for the medication and CBT groups were 4.4 and 6.8, respectively (p for difference = .03). At 12 months, the mean depression scores were 7.1 and 7.8, respectively, and the difference was no longer significant. Conclusions: Among depressed women with moderate baseline depression and anxiety, medication was superior to CBT at 6 months, but the difference was not sustained at 1 year. Among women with severe depression, there was no significant treatment group difference at 6 months, but CBT was superior to medication at 1 year.