The Effect of a Brief Goal-skills Group Intervention on Homework Compliance and Depressive Symptom Severity
Year: 2009
Type: article
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: Previous research has shown that depressed clients who engage in more homework activity during the course of psychotherapy tend to improve more than clients who engage in less homework.A significant portion of what homework compliance consists of is the progress one makes on short-term, often weekly, goals that are set in session and pursued in the interim between sessions.This study explored whether a brief two-session goal-focused intervention would improve goal progress during two behavioral homework assignments and reduce symptoms of depression.A total of 103 introductory psychology students with elevated depressive symptoms and low levels of hope signed up for group sessions, with groups randomized to a goal-focused intervention or a control condition.Participants in the intervention learned skills to improve their goal setting and goal pursuit, whereas participants in the control condition were only encouraged to visualize the success of their goal pursuits.Conditions did not differ in goal progress at either assessment, nor in the rate of change in depressive symptoms over the two weeks.Similarly, conditions did not differ in rate of improvement on state hope or state anxiety.However, there was a significant hope by condition interaction in predicting rate of change in depressive symptoms such that participants with low hope experienced greater symptom change in the intervention 5General Conditional Model for the Interaction between Condition and Goal-Relevant Personal Characteristics on Goal Progress at One Time-Point.....86
Author: Laren R. Conklin
Institution: The Ohio State University
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2255582110