Trajectories of Change in a Group Behavioral Activation Treatment for Severe, Recurrent Depression

An examination of sudden gain prevalence across cognitive-behavioural therapy for anxiety and depressive disorders: A quantitative analysis and meta-analytic review

Sudden gains, incidences of unexpectedly large and stable session to session symptom reductions during psychotherapy, have been shown in samples of individuals receiving treatment for both anxiety and depressive disorders, although seemingly more frequently in sample receiving treatment for depressive disorders. This may suggest that sudden gains are a function of depression, but the high comorbidity between anxiety and depressive disorders makes this difficult to assess. Study One utilised a sample of 117 adults undergoing CBT for a principal anxiety disorder to explore the effect of comorbid depression on sudden gain prevalence. Results indicated that sudden gains were not more prevalent in the comorbid depression group; however, the frequency of sudden gains was significantly related to comorbid depressive disorder severity. Study Two involved a meta-analysis of 48 studies to compare sudden gain prevalence between trials of CBT for depressive disorders versus anxiety-related disorders. The results of the meta-analysis indicated significantly higher rates of sudden gains in samples with a principal depressive disorder diagnosis, compared to a principal anxiety disorder diagnosis. Sudden gains may therefore be driven by depression, but only at the more severe level.

Psychometric Properties of the Environmental Reward Observation Scale: Study on Its Internal Structure, Factor Invariance, and Method Effect Associated With Its Negative Items

The aim of this study was to assess the factorial structure of the scale, the method's effect associated with its negative items, its temporal invariance, and factorial invariance according to sex. For this purpose, three samples were collected, an initial sample of 200 participants, a second sample of 461 participants and a third sample of 107 participants; making a total of 768 Peruvian university students. Other instruments were applied together with the EROS scale in order to measure satisfaction with life, anxiety, stress and depression. Regarding the results, in the initial sample it was found that the original scale containing positive and negative items does adequately fit the data (RMSEA = .19; CFI = .77; TLI = .71) and also evidence was found supporting the existence of a methodological effect associated with the negative items. It was also found that version B of the scale which only has positive items data fits the data (RMSEA = .13; CFI = .96; TLI = .95). In the second sample it was found that version B still had a good fit to the data in a larger sample (RMSEA = .07; CFI = .98; TLI = .98). In addition, it was found that the scale can be considered invariant according to sex and presents validity based on other constructs. In the third sample it was found that the test-retest reliability of the scale was adequate (.70 [CI95% .593-.788]) and also evidence was found in favor of the temporal invariance of the scale. It is concluded that the scale formed only by positive items presents more robust psychometric properties and constitutes a better alternative to measure the level of reward provided by the environment.