An evaluation of novel psychological interventions for depression and the anxiety disorders within community-dwelling adults

Cadman, Jennifer (2018) An evaluation of novel psychological interventions for depression and the anxiety disorders within community-dwelling adults. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

Background
Depression and anxiety are both highly prevalent and debilitating disorders. Whilst current treatments for depression and the anxiety disorders are efficacious, there remain high relapse rates and frequently a high level of residual symptoms. Additionally, current diagnosis-specific treatments do not account for the high levels of comorbidity seen between disorders. Therefore, in order to augment treatment efficacy and clinical utility, novel transdiagnostic interventions have been developed.

Method
This portfolio evaluated the efficacy of two types of novel transdiagnostic intervention in community-dwelling adult populations with symptoms of depression or anxiety. A systematic review evaluated the efficacy of rumination-focused interventions on reduction of both rumination and severity of symptoms of depression and anxiety. A meta-analysis evaluated the efficacy of positive psychological interventions (PPIs) on increasing wellbeing and reducing depressive symptoms.

Results
Rumination-focused interventions were shown to be efficacious at reducing rumination in populations with depression, however there was not evidence for their efficacy in the anxiety disorders. There was evidence for the potential efficacy of positive psychological interventions in increasing wellbeing and reducing symptoms of depression with medium effect sizes found for both outcomes, however there was a high level of heterogeneity present, therefore these results must be interpreted cautiously.

Conclusions
Although currently small, the evidence-base suggests there are clinical benefits of specific rumination-focused interventions in depression, especially those that work on underlying cognitive processes. There is also emerging evidence for the efficacy of positive psychological interventions however the high heterogeneity found raises questions about the constructs of PPIs suggesting further clarification is required.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
Depositing User:	Users 9280 not found.
Date Deposited:	16 Oct 2018 12:43
Last Modified:	16 Oct 2018 12:43
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/68546
DOI:

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