Coping responses in clinical depression
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Coping responses in clinical depression: associations with therapeutic relationship and psychotherapy outcomes
IRAS ID
119919
Contact name
Jaime Delgadillo
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust
Research summary
People tend to use a variety of coping strategies when they are affected by stress, low mood and depression. Studies in this area have mixed findings and there isn’t a clear relationship between specific coping strategies and depression symptoms or treatment outcomes. Based on previous research, we propose that most people tend to flexibly use several coping strategies to try and improve their mood, but a smaller number of people use a narrow and inflexible pattern of coping responses. We refer to this as an ’inflexible’ coping profile and think that this way of coping may limit the effectiveness of psychological treatment for clinical depression.
We hypothesise that patients who demonstrate an ’inflexible’ coping profile as measured by pre-treatment questionnaires will have higher depression scores post-treatment. We will investigate this using an observational study design in a primary care mental health service offering routine cognitive behavioural theapy (CBT) for depression. We will assess coping profiles using a validated questionnaire which will be completed by consenting participants who are on a waiting list for CBT. We will examine the relationship between the coping profile (flexible or inflexible) and clinical outcomes (depression and overall functioning) at the end of treatment. We will also investigate whether any relationships between coping and depression outcomes are influenced by two factors: the therapeutic relationship with the therapist, and beliefs about depression. We also plan to interview a small sample of participants to investigate how their coping responses influenced the therapy process and vice-versa.
We expect that this study will help psychological services to better understand the influence of coping strategies in clinical depression. We consider that learning about how coping profiles influence therapy (and vice-versa) will help us to plan more flexible and responsive treatments.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/YH/0192
Date of REC Opinion
4 Jul 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion