Interpersonal psychotherapy for depression: Overview, clinical efficacy, and future directions.

Abstract

In this report we review the history of the development of interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) and the content of this intervention in both its acute and maintenance treatment forms. We trace its theoretical bases to the therapeutic traditions established by Adolf Meyer and Harry Stack Sullivan, as well as to the attachment theory of Bowlby. We examine its empirical foundation in studies linking change in the social environment to the onset and maintenance of major depression. We describe two acute treatment studies of IPT, each of which suggests that short-term IPT is equivalent in efficacy to well-controlled pharmacotherapy. Two of the prophylactic studies suggest that IPT Is superior to a no-treatment or medication clinic and placebo approach in the prevention of new episodes. In examining flow IPT exerts its affect, we first consider studies of process and then studies of process as it relates to outcome. Finally, we make suggestions for future directions in research on IPT of depression.