Meta-Analysis of Therapeutic Treatments on Depression

Depression is reported to affect 10% of US adults every year, and we spend $10 billion treating depression. Is there a difference in effectiveness between traditional talk therapy, medications, or the combination in treating depression? To answer this question, we meta-analyzed 10 studies (N = 2162) that compared these three types of interventions. Overall, the combination of treatments was more effective than either talk therapy or medication alone (d = 4.35 vs 1.93 and 2.53). These findings were moderated by how the depression symptoms were measured. Traditional measures of depression (BDI and Hamilton) showed much larger effect sizes than less commonly used measures (DAS, DEQ, SOS-10, and SPSI). In our society which focuses on quick fixes for complex problems, clinicians who prescribe antidepressant medications should take into consideration the added benefits of talk therapy in order to create the most beneficial treatment plan for their patients.