The Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Group-Therapy Alone and plus Family Psycho-Education on the Treatment of Major Depression Disorder Symptoms in Females

Background & Aims: Major depression is one of the common psychiatric disorders imposing negative effects on patients and their families. There are several treatment methods for depression. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of combination of cognitive behavioral group therapy, family psycho-education and medication versus medication alone on the improvement of major depression disorder. Methods: This study was a clinical trial in which using convenience sampling 60 patients with major depression admitted in Hajar Hospital Shahrekord /Iran were randomly selected. The patients were randomly allocated into three groups (n=20). The first group underwent medication therapy as well as cognitive behavioral group therapy. The second group received medication therapy, cognitive behavioral group therapy and family psycho-education. The third group, served as the control group, only received medication therapy. Beck Depression Inventory II was applied to all three groups before and after therapeutic interventions. Results: Our findings indicate a significant difference between control group and both cognitive behavioral group therapy and family psycho-education after therapeutic interventions. In other words, while both cognitive behavioral group therapy and family psycho-education groups showed significant difference with medication therapy group, no significant difference was found between cognitive behavioral group therapy and family psycho-education group. Conclusion: Medication therapy accompanied by cognitive behavioral therapies and family psychoeducation is more efficient in improving depression symptoms compared to pure medication therapy