Does illness attribution affect treatment assignment in depression?
OBJECTIVE
Little is known about depressed individuals' illness attributions and how these influence treatment assignment in clinical practice. The aim of the present study was to examine whether illness attribution across the domains of intraindividual, interpersonal and biological reasons was associated with treatment assignment in a naturalistic treatment setting.


METHODS
Illness attribution was assessed with the Reasons for Depression Questionnaire in 221 depressed individuals. Participants were assigned to either cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), interpersonal therapy (IPT) or psychopharmacological treatment (PHT).


RESULTS
Depressed individuals who strongly attributed their illness to intraindividual factors were more likely to be assigned to CBT, and depressed individuals attributing their depression to biological reasons were more likely to receive in PHT. In contrast, interpersonal illness attribution was not associated with treatment assignment.


CONCLUSIONS
Illness attribution influences treatment assignment to CBT and PHT. However, factors other than illness attribution for depression affect a treatment choice of IPT.
Schweizer
Susanne
S
Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands. susanne.schweizer@mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk
Peeters
Frenk
F
Huibers
Marcus
M
Roelofs
Jeffrey
J
van Os
Jim
J
Arntz
Arnoud
A
D000328:Adult; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D057240:Patient Preference / Q000523:psychology; D018579:Patient Selection; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D000928:Antidepressive Agents