In 2016/17, an interdisciplinary theme group came together to explore how to achieve effective mental health interventions. Part of the resulting work is now published.
The effects of cognitive-behavior therapy on repetitive negative thinking
Theme-group members Philip Spinhoven, Angélique Cramer, Greg Siegle, Johan Ormel, Steve D. Hollon and Claudi Bockting, collaborated on “The effects of cognitive-behavior therapy for depression on repetitive negative thinking: A meta-analysis”, published in Behaviour Research and Therapy. The study examined the effects of treatment for depression on repetitive negative thinking, and suggests that cognitive-behavior therapy may have a more pronounced effect on repetitive negative thinking than other types of interventions.
The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on psychological treatments research in tomorrow's science
Theme-group coordinator Claudi Bockting contributed to a Lancet Psychiatry Commission, which published its results in March 2018: “Psychological treatments occupy an important place in evidence-based mental health treatments. Now is an exciting time to fuel treatment research: a pressing demand for improvements is poised alongside new opportunities from closer links with sister scientific and clinical disciplines. The need to improve mental health treatment is great; even the best treatments do not work for everyone, treatments have not been developed for many mental disorders, and the implementation of treatments needs to address worldwide scalability. Psychological treatments have yet to benefit from numerous innovations that have occurred in science, particularly those that have emerged in the past 20 years, and arguably vice versa. This Commission comprises ten parts that each outline an area in which we see substantial opportunity and scope for advancements that each outline an area in which we see substantial opportunity and scope for advancements that will move psychological treatments research forward.”
By Holmes, E. A., Ghaderi, A., Harmer, C., Ramchandani, P. G., Cuijpers, P., Morrison, A. P., Roiser, J. P., Bockting, C. L. H., O’Connor, R. C., Shafran, R., Moulds, M.L., & Craske, M. G. (2018). Psychological Treatments Research in Tomorrow’s Science: Seeing Further. Lancet Psychiatry.
Effectiveness of preventive cognitive therapy
In “Effectiveness of preventive cognitive therapy while tapering antidepressants versus maintenance antidepressant treatment versus their combination in prevention of depressive relapse or recurrence (DRD study): a three-group, multicentre, randomised controlled trial” Claudi Bockting and her co-authors find that maintenance antidepressant treatment is not superior to preventive cognitive therapy after recovery, whereas adding preventive cognitive therapy to antidepressant treatment after recovery is superior to antidepressants alone. The researchers recommend that preventive cognitive therapy should be offered to recurrently depressed individuals on antidepressants and to individuals who wish to stop antidepressants after recovery. The study was published in Lancet Psychiatry.