The DOI matches its Crossref record; 102 of the 106 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Avoidance and processing as predictors of symptom change and positive growth in an integrative therapy for depression
Abstract
Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide and can worsen the course of a variety of medical illnesses. There is a clear need to develop more potent treatments for this debilitating disorder and prevent its return. We are developing a promising psychotherapy that integrates components of current, empirically supported therapies for depression and also teaches healthy lifestyle and emotion regulation habits to promote psychological health. In the 1st open trial, growth curve analyses revealed a significant linear decrease in symptoms of depression in a sample of 29 clients who completed the therapy. Participants wrote essays about their depression each week, and the content was analyzed using a new coding system of change processes. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) revealed that peak levels of processing in the essays were associated with more improvement in depression and with the expression of more hope and of both negative and positive views of the self, presumably as clients explored their depressive views of self. Peak levels of avoidance were associated with less improvement in depression and with more hopelessness and negative views of the self. These preliminary results suggest possible targets of change that can facilitate symptom reduction and perhaps also promote psychological health.
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“Objective coding of those essays demonstrated that high levels of adaptive emotion processing in specific weeks of treatment were linked to greater improvement in depressive symptoms, positive self-views, and hope whereas greater avoidance on a specific”
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“…3 April 2020 | Volume 11 | Article 782 module, the participant would report further reductions in feelings of worry and depression, as a large body of work has indicated reductions in anxiety and depressive symptoms following emotional exposures (Foa and Kozak, 1986; Hayes et al., 2005).”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Hayes, A. M., Beevers, C. G., Feldman, G. C., Laurenceau, J.-P., & Perlman, C.
- Affiliations
- University of Delaware (US)
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- University of Miami (US)
- Massachusetts General Hospital (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hayes, Adele M.
- Venue
- International Journal of Behavioral Medicine
- Published
- 2005-06
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 111-122
- ISSN
- 1070-5503 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-7558
- OpenAlex
- W1998058368
- Cited by
- 163
- References
- 106
- Citations by year
- 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 6.94
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- International Journal of Behavioral Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (R21MH062662, R21-MH62662)
- 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 via Writing
- Keywords
- depression, integrative psychotherapy, avoidance, processing, symptom change, positive growth, hope, hopelessness, self-view, emotion regulation, healthy lifestyle, change processes
- MeSH terms
- Affect, Cognition, Major Depressive Disorder, Depressive Disorder, Major, Female, Humans, Male, Perception, Social Behavior, Verbal Behavior
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