Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Melsom, Linne
• Ulvenes, Pål G.
• Solbakken, Ole André
• Curran, Patrick J.
• Wampold, Bruce E.
• Cuijpers, Pim
• Davila, Joanne

Titel

Emotional Clarity and Tolerance of Emotional Distress as Mechanisms of Change in Short-Term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy for Chronic Depression

Ist Teil von

• Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 2022-04, Vol.90 (4), p.289-302

Ort / Verlag

United States: American Psychological Association

Erscheinungsjahr

2022

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts (ASSIA)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Objective: The aim of this naturalistic process study was to investigate the relationship between emotional clarity and tolerance of emotional distress and depressive symptoms over the course of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy for chronically depressed patients. Method: Weekly self-reports of emotional clarity, tolerance of emotional distress, and depressive symptoms (PHQ-9) were provided by 252 patients with chronic depression who were admitted to a 13-week inpatient treatment program. Latent curve modeling with structured residuals (LCM-SR) was applied to investigate the between- and within-person effects of week-to-week change in emotional clarity and tolerance of emotional distress as predictors of subsequent depression. The relationship between emotional clarity and tolerance of emotional distress was also investigated. Results: At the within-person level, higher level of emotional clarity and tolerance of emotional distress predicted subsequent lower level of depression. A reciprocal relationship was found for tolerance of emotional distress (lower level of depression predicted subsequent level of tolerance emotional distress) but not for emotional clarity. No within-person effect between emotional clarity and tolerance of emotional distress was found. Discussion: The results indicate that emotional clarity and tolerance of emotional distress may be mechanisms of change in short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy for chronic depression. The results are consistent with previous findings of the importance of emotional clarity and tolerance of emotional distress in psychotherapy. This study demonstrated the utility of LCM-SR as a method to identity mechanisms of change in psychotherapy. What is the public health significance of this article? This study suggests that improving emotional clarity and tolerance of emotional distress reduces depressive symptoms in short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy applied within a multimodal inpatient program for people suffering from chronic depression. Emotional processes and depression were measured weekly in a naturalistic clinical setting and analyzed at an individual level; therefore, the results may be directly applied in therapy by clinicians.