Negative mood regulation as a mechanism of change in cognitive therapy for depression

• Published in: Psychotherapy (Chicago, Ill.) Vol. 58; no. 4; p. 485
• Main Authors: Areas, Malenka, Penedo, Juan Martín Gómez, Alalú, Nicolás, Babl, Anna Margarete, Roussos, Andrés, Grosse Holtforth, Martin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.12.2021
• Subjects: Affect; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; Depression - therapy; Humans; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
• ISSN: 1939-1536
• DOI: 10.1037/pst0000373

The present study investigates the effects of negative mood regulation expectancies (NMRE) on symptom severity of depression in 2 cognitive therapies for depression. The sample included the first 146 consecutively recruited patients from a randomized controlled trial. Patients received 22 sessions of either cognitive-behavioral therapy or exposure-based cognitive therapy. They completed the Beck Depression Inventory and Negative Mood Regulation Scale at baseline and treatment termination, as well as after Sessions 7 and 14. Multilevel modeling was applied. We found a significant between-patient effect of NMRE on symptom severity of depression, when NMRE within-patient effects were set to random. There was no significant interactive effect of the between-patient NMRE with type of treatment. However, a significant moderation effect of the within-patient NMRE effect by treatment condition on depression severity was detected, with patients receiving cognitive-behavioral therapy benefiting more from improvements in NMRE. Together, these results empirically support NMRE as a relevant mechanism of change in cognitive therapy for depression. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).