title: Benchmarks for psychotherapy efficacy in adult major depression.
abstract: This study estimates pretreatment-posttreatment effect size benchmarks for the treatment of major depression in adults that may be useful in evaluating psychotherapy effectiveness in clinical practice. Treatment efficacy benchmarks for major depression were derived for 3 different types of outcome measures: the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (M. A. Hamilton, 1960, 1967), the Beck Depression Inventory (A. T. Beck, 1978; A. T. Beck & R. A. Steer, 1987), and an aggregation of low reactivity-low specificity measures. These benchmarks were further refined for 3 conditions: treatment completers, intent-to-treat samples, and natural history (wait-list) conditions. The study confirmed significant effects of outcome measure reactivity and specificity on the pretreatment-posttreatment effect sizes. The authors provide practical guidance in using these benchmarks to assess treatment effectiveness in clinical settings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. takuya.minami@ed.utah.edu
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Minami
authors.forename: Bruce E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Wampold
authors.forename: Ronald C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Serlin
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Kircher
authors.forename: George S Jeb
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019985:Benchmarking / Q000379:methods*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome