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What Happens After Intensive Treatment? Post-Discharge Skill Use and Affect as Predictors of Depression Outcomes

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Background. Patients may be vulnerable to relapse in the period immediately following discharge from intensive psychiatric care. Additional attention to factors that support continued recovery after discharge is therefore warranted. Methods. This study examined whether patterns of therapeutic skills use and affect during the acute post-discharge period predicted continued improvement in depression symptoms of patients who completed a partial hospital program. Using ecological momentary assessment and a predictive modeling approach, we assessed how individual differences in therapeutic skills use and their affective responses to skills use influenced recovery. Results. The final model retained five predictors and achieved acceptable discriminative ability (AUC = .74). Total use of behavioral activation predicted improvement (OR = 1.24). A within-person increase in positive affect following CBT skill use predicted non-improvement (OR = .84). Conclusions. These findings suggest that behavioral activation is an effective skill for sustaining depression symptom improvement in the weeks after discharging from a partial hospital program.

Source: Cognitive Therapy and Research

DOI: 10.1007/s10608-026-10727-0

Authors: Shaan F. McGhie, Marie Forgeard, Kailyn Fan, Richard J. McNally, Courtney Beard

Institutions: Harvard University, William James College, University of Denver, McLean Hospital

Language: English

Topic: Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications

Subfield: Clinical Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University