In a new study that was accepted today we had randomized 286 participants with major depression into one of five conditions. 1) physical activity without a treatment rational, 2) physical activity with a treatment rational, 3) Lewinshon’s model of behavioral activation, 4) Martell’s model of behavioral activation, or 5) wait-list control.
All groups (including the control-group) showed a significant decrease in depressive symptoms. When the treatment groups were pooled and compared to the control group, there were significant differences from pretest to posttest (Hedges g treatment = 1.01, control group = 0.47).
[lightbox link=”http://www.carlbring.se/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/ACTUA_pre_post_weekly.jpg” thumb=”http://www.carlbring.se/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/ACTUA_pre_post_weekly-1024×921.jpg” width=”1024″ align=”right” title=”” frame=”true” icon=”image” caption=”A1, B1 = PHQ-9 and GAD-7 slope trajectories for active treatments pooled compared to the control group. A2, B2 = PHQ-9 and GAD-7 slope and trajectories for each of the treatment groups compared to the control group.”]
Read the full paper:
Nyström, M. B. T., Stenling, A., Sjöström, E., Neely, G., Lindner, P., Hassmén, P., Andersson, G., Martell, C. & Carlbring, P. (2017). Behavioral activation versus physical activity via the internet: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Affective Disorders, 215, 85-93. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2017.03.018