Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy for Employees on Sick Leave Due to Depression(<Special Issue>Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Depression Provided by Psychologists in Japan)

• Published in: Japanese Journal of Behavior Therapy Vol. 38; no. 3; pp. 193 - 202
• Main Authors: TANOUE, Asuka, ITO, Daisuke, SHIMIZU, Kaori, OHNO, Mayuko, SHIRAI, Mari, SHIMADA, Hironori, SUZUKI, Shin-ichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japanese Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies( JABCT ) 30.09.2012
• Subjects: cognitive behavioral group therapy; employees' difficulties in returning to work; individuals with unipolar depressive disorder; psychologists; sick leave
• ISSN: 0910-6529; 2424-2594
• DOI: 10.24468/jjbt.38.3_193

The purpose of the present study was to explore the effect of cognitive behavioral group therapy on depression, social functioning, and the difficulties that employees face when returning to work after sick leave taken to obtain treatment for depression. Participants (N=22) were diagnosed as having unipolar depressive disorder, and were on sick leave. The therapy consisted of 10 weekly 90-minute sessions of closed cognitive behavioral group therapy; the therapist, the therapist's assistant, and a supporter in the therapy were all psychologists. Before and after the treatment, the participants completed the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire-Revised (ATQ-R), the Tri-axial Coping Scale-24 (TAC), Kikuchi's Scale of Social Skills (KISS) , the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the Social Adaptation Self-evaluation Scale (SASS), and the Difficulty in Returning to Work Inventory (DRW). The results revealed that depression and social functioning scores improved significantly after cognitive behavioral group therapy. On the other hand, the employees still had difficulties in returning to work. This suggests that it is necessary to develop and implement more components of treatment or change the timing of the treatment, in order to reduce difficulties employees face when returning to work.