Does disciplined personal involvement precede change in CBASP?
Research type
Research Study
Full title
How is psychological change experienced by individuals receiving Cognitive Behaviour Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP) and how is this affected by Disciplined Personal Involvement? A multiple baseline single-case design
IRAS ID
165874
Contact name
Timothy Bird
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 2 months, 7 days
Research summary
A form of psychotherapy called Behaviour Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP) has been developed specifically to treat individuals suffering from chronic, long-standing depression. There is a growing evidence base to suggest that CBASP is effective for these individuals, especially when combined with anti-depressant medication. This evidence comes from case series and randomised controlled trials that have compared CBASP with other forms of therapy such as Interpersonal Psychotherapy and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, and with medication. The evidence from these studies consistently shows CBASP to be effective, and it compares favourably with other forms of therapy.
Given these findings, it is important to understand how change happens in CBASP and how it is affected by the components of the therapy. Understanding how individuals experience change within CBASP will have important implications for how the therapy is delivered in the future. For example if change is found to be non-linear it would be important to understand what components of the therapy are associated with improvement. There could also be organisational implications, for example relating to the optimal number of sessions to offer in order to achieve acceptable change while balancing therapist time.
The proposed study aims to investigate the process of psychological change in CBASP. This will be done by providing CBASP to a small number of individuals and gathering outcome data (rating of mood) at every therapy appointment. Session-by-session change will then be mapped for each participant. The study will use a single-case design, as the aim is to map change within each individual participant in the context of the psychotherapy. This design was deemed appropriate as the study does not aim to make claims about the overall effectiveness of CBASP, but to provide an analysis of individual psychological change for participants receiving CBASP.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 5
REC reference
15/WS/0027
Date of REC Opinion
24 Feb 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion