Cited by 153Psychotherapy Techniques and ApplicationsAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesMental Health Treatment and Access

Effect of psychotherapy for depression on quality of life: meta-analysis

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Kolovos, Spyros, Kleiboer, Annet, Cuijpers, Pim·2016·British Journal of Psychiatry

Abstract

Background: Several meta-analyses have shown that psychotherapy is effective for reducing depressive symptom severity. However, the impact on quality of life (QoL) is as yet unknown. Aims: To investigate the effectiveness of psychotherapy for depression on global QoL and on the mental health and physical health components of QoL. Method: We conducted a meta-analysis of 44 randomised clinical trials comparing psychotherapy for adults experiencing clinical depression or elevated depressive symptoms with a control group. We used subgroup analyses to explore the influence of various study characteristics on the effectiveness of treatment. Results: We detected a small to moderate effect size (Hedges' g = 0.33, 95% CI 0.24–0.42) for global QoL, a moderate effect size for the mental health component ( g = 0.42, 95% CI 0.33–0.51) and, after removing an outlier, a small but statistically significant effect size for the physical health component ( g = 0.16, 95% CI 0.05–0.27). Multivariate meta-regression analyses showed that the effect size of depressive symptoms was significantly related to the effect size of the mental health component of QoL. The effect size of depressive symptoms was not related to global QoL or the physical health component. Conclusions: Psychotherapy for depression has a positive impact on the QoL of patients with depression. Improvements in QoL are not fully explained by improvements in depressive symptom severity.

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  • Withdrawal symptoms have been reported to occur typically within a few days and persist for a few weeks; but many variations are possible including later onset and longer duration.

    “Withdrawal symptoms have been reported to occur typically within a few days and persist for a few weeks; but many variations are possible including later onset and longer duration. 526”

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  1. Hedges LV, Olkin I. Statistical Method for Meta-analysis. Academic Press, 2014.

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Authors
Kolovos, S., Kleiboer, A., & Cuijpers, P.
Affiliations
  • Leuphana University of Lüneburg (DE)
  • Utrecht University (NL)
Corresponding author
Kolovos, Spyros
Venue
British Journal of Psychiatry
Published
2016-12
Volume
209
Issue
6
Pages
460-468
ISSN
  • 0007-1250 (ISSN-L)
  • 1472-1465
OpenAlex
W2510438371
Cited by
153
References
85
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 2
FWCI
1.63
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The British Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Multilingual Matters (Channel View Publications) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • VU Research Portal (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
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 › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
Keywords
psychotherapy, depression, quality of life, mental health, physical health, depression severity, treatment effectiveness
MeSH terms
Depression, Depressive Disorder, Humans, Psychotherapy, Quality of Life, Outcome Assessment, Health Care

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