Delivering Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Mild to Moderate Depression via the Internet: Predicting Outcome at 6-Month Follow-Up

Abstract

Introduction: Mild to moderate depression has been successfully treated with cognitive-behavioural (CBT) bibliotherapy, including minimal therapist contact. More recently, the Internet has been used to deliver the treatment, with obvious gains in terms of cost reduction and increased accessibility. In the present study we analysed pre-treatment predictors of improvement following Internet-based self-help treatment of mild to moderate depression. Patients and Methods: Included were 71 participants from a randomised trial who completed a 6-month follow-up. Change indexes were calculated from the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). Results: In line with the literature on depression, the number of previous episodes of depression was negatively associated with improvement after treatment. Follow-up scores on the BDI and MADRS were associated with pre-treatment levels of depression, anxiety and low levels of quality of life. Discussion: As indicated by traditional psychotherapy studies, finding predictors of outcome is a difficult task. Patients with repeated episodes of depression might benefit less from self-help over the Internet, but as the correlation is weak, no firm conclusions can be drawn.