Cited by 34Psychotherapy Techniques and ApplicationsAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesPersonality Disorders and Psychopathology

Algorithm‐based modular psychotherapy vs. cognitive‐behavioral therapy for patients with depression, psychiatric comorbidities and early trauma: a proof‐of‐concept randomized controlled trial

Open access
Schramm, Elisabeth, Elsaesser, Moritz, Jenkner, Carolin, Hautzinger, Martin, Herpertz, Sabine C.·2024·World Psychiatry

Abstract

Effect sizes of psychotherapies currently stagnate at a low‐to‐moderate level. Personalizing psychotherapy by algorithm‐based modular procedures promises improved outcomes, greater flexibility, and a better fit between research and practice. However, evidence for the feasibility and efficacy of modular‐based psychotherapy, using a personalized treatment algorithm, is lacking. This proof‐of‐concept randomized controlled trial was conducted in 70 adult outpatients with a primary DSM‐5 diagnosis of major depressive disorder, a score higher than 18 on the 24‐item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD‐24), at least one comorbid psychiatric diagnosis according to the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‐5 (SCID‐5), a history of at least “moderate to severe” childhood maltreatment on at least one domain of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and exceeding the cut‐off value on at least one of three measures of early trauma‐related transdiagnostic mechanisms: the Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire (RSQ), the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale‐16 (DERS‐16). Patients were randomized to 20 sessions of either standard cognitive‐behavioral therapy alone (CBT) or CBT plus transdiagnostic modules according to a mechanism‐based treatment algorithm (MoBa), over 16 weeks. We aimed to assess the feasibility of MoBa, and to compare MoBa vs. CBT with respect to participants’ and therapists’ overall satisfaction and ratings of therapeutic alliance (using the Working Alliance Inventory ‐ Short Revised, WAI‐SR), efficacy, impact on early trauma‐related transdiagnostic mechanisms, and safety. The primary outcome for efficacy was the HRSD‐24 score at post‐treatment. Secondary outcomes included, among others, the rate of response (defined as a reduction of the HRSD‐24 score by at least 50% from baseline and a score <16 at post‐treatment), the rate of remission (defined as a HRSD‐24 score ≤8 at post‐treatment), and improvements in early trauma‐related mechanisms of social threat response, hyperarousal, and social processes/empathy. We found no difficulties in the selection of the transdiagnostic modules in the individual patients, applying the above‐mentioned cut‐offs, and in the implementation of MoBa. Both participants and therapists reported higher overall satisfaction and had higher WAI‐SR ratings with MoBa than CBT. Both approaches led to major reductions of depressive symptoms at post‐treatment, with a non‐significant superiority of MoBa over CBT. Patients randomized to MoBa were nearly three times as likely to experience remission at the end of therapy (29.4% vs. 11.4%; odds ratio, OR = 3.2, 95% CI: 0.9‐11.6). Among mechanism‐based outcomes, MoBa patients showed a significantly higher post‐treatment effect on social processes/empathy (p<0.05) compared to CBT patients, who presented an exacerbation on this domain at post‐treatment. Substantially less adverse events were reported for MoBa compared to CBT. These results suggest the feasibility and acceptability of an algorithm‐based modular psychotherapy complementing CBT in depressed patients with psychiatric comorbidities and early trauma. While initial evidence of efficacy was observed, potential clinical advantages and interindividual heterogeneity in treatment outcomes will have to be investigated in fully powered confirmation trials.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1002/wps.21204

Cites

55 of 55 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Baldwin SA, Goldberg SB. Methodological foundations and innovations in quantitative psychotherapy research. In: Barkham M, Lutz W, Castonguay LG (eds). Bergin and Garfield's handbook of psychotherapy and behavior change, 7th ed. Hoboken: Wiley, 2021:19-50.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Schramm, E., Elsaesser, M., Jenkner, C., Hautzinger, M., & Herpertz, S. C.
Affiliations
  • University of Freiburg (DE)
  • University of Tübingen (DE)
  • Heidelberg University (DE)
Venue
World Psychiatry
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2024-05-10
Volume
23
Issue
2
Pages
257-266
ISSN
  • 1723-8617 (ISSN-L)
  • 2051-5545
OpenAlex
W4396801123
Cited by
34
References
55
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 6
FWCI
16.98
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • World Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
Keywords
cognitive behavioral therapy, major depressive disorder, psychiatric comorbidity, child abuse, early trauma, transdiagnostic mechanisms, rejection sensitivity, hyperarousal, empathy, personalized psychotherapy, treatment algorithm, therapeutic relationship, treatment satisfaction, depression remission, emotion regulation, interpersonal reactivity, feasibility, outpatients, MOBA

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review