title: Attitudes and Preferences towards Self-help Treatments for Depression in Comparison to Psychotherapy and Antidepressant Medication.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Self-help is an effective treatment for depression. Less is known, however, about how acceptable people find different self-help treatments for depression.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate preferences and attitudes toward different self-help treatments for depression in comparison to psychotherapy and antidepressants.
  
  
  METHODS
  N = 536 people who were not actively seeking treatment for depression were randomly assigned to read about one of five treatment options (bibliotherapy, Internet-based self-help, guided self-help, antidepressants, or psychotherapy) before rating how acceptable they found the treatment. Participants also ranked the treatments in order of preference.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Psychotherapy and guided self-help were found to be the most acceptable and preferred treatment options. Antidepressants and bibliotherapy were found to be the least acceptable treatments, with antidepressants rated as the most likely to have side effects. Preference data reflected the above findings - psychotherapy and guided self-help were the most preferred treatment options.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings highlight differences in attitudes and preferences between guided and unguided self-help interventions; and between self-help interventions and psychotherapy. Future research should focus on understanding why unguided self-help interventions are deemed to be less acceptable than guided self-help interventions for treating depression.
authors.affiliation: Sheffield Hallam University,UK.
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hanson
authors.affiliation: University of Sheffield,UK.
authors.forename: Thomas L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Webb
authors.affiliation: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,USA.
authors.forename: Paschal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sheeran
authors.affiliation: University of Sheffield,UK.
authors.forename: Graham
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Turpin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001638:Bibliotherapy; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011613:Psychotherapy; D011788:Quality of Life; D012648:Self Care / Q000523:psychology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents
keywords: Depression; acceptability; preference; self-help