All Psychotherapies Equally Effective for Depression

Few studies have compared different psychotherapies, and neither individual studies nor meta-analyses have yielded conclusive differences between therapies. These authors employed network meta-analysis to use data from direct comparison studies and from analyses that had a comparator in common.

Using 198 studies randomizing 9314 patients with depression or depressed symptoms to psychotherapy and 5805 to control conditions, the researchers calculated effect sizes for multiple psychotherapies (interpersonal, supportive, cognitive-behavioral, behavioral activation, problem solving, social skills, and psychodynamic) compared with each other or with waitlist, usual care, or placebo. For all seven therapies, effects were moderate to large compared…