Importance of treating individually assessed response classes in the amelioration of depression

This study compared the effectiveness in ameliorating depression of treatments that were directly related to or unrelated to initial assessment findings. Nine depressed women served as subjects, three with problems in social skills, three with problems with irrational cognitions, and three with both types of problems. All subjects received four sessions of social skills training and four sessions of cognitive therapy in an alternating treatments design, combined with a multiple baseline design. Depressed subjects with assessed problems in social skills significantly improved more in both social skills and depression after receiving the related treatment of social skills training as compared to the unrelated treatment of cognitive therapy. Depressed subjects with assessed problems in irrational cognitions significantly improved more in both cognitions and depression after receiving the related treatment of cognitive therapy as compared to the unrelated treatment of social skills training. Depressed subjects with problems in both cognitions and social skills showed equivalent improvements in depression with the two types of treatment; but social skills training produced greater improvement in their social skills, and cognitive therapy produced a larger decrement in their irrational cognitions. Thus, treatment effectiveness was greatly enhanced, depending on whether treatment was related or unrelated to the initial assessment findings.