Schema Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and Collaborative-Mapping as Treatment for Depression Among Low Income, Second Generation Latinas

• NCJ Number: 235903
• Journal: Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry Volume: 42 Issue: 4 Dated: December 2011 Pages: 473-480
• Author(s): MarySue V. Heilemann; Huibrie C. Pieters; Priscilla Kehoe; Qing Yang
• Date Published: December 2011
• Length: 8 pages
• Grant Number(s): NR008928 K23
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institutes of Health; National Institute for Nursing Research
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: Netherlands

Annotation

This study examined Schema Therapy combined with Motivational Interviewing techniques to reduce depression in U.S.-born Latinos.

Abstract

U.S.-born Latinos report significantly more depression than foreign-born Latinos in the United States and Latinas have twice the rate of depression than Latino men. The purpose of this pilot study was to test the feasibility of an innovative, short-term program of Schema Therapy (ST) combined with Motivational Interviewing (MI) techniques to reduce depression and increase resilience among second generation Latinas of low income in the United States. In addition to blending ST and MI strategies with a focus on resilience, a novel technique called collaborative-mapping was a crucial strategy within treatment. Scheduling for sessions was flexible and patients had unlimited cell phone access to the therapist outside of sessions, although few used it. A mixed linear regression model for BDI-II scores of eight women who completed all eight 2-h sessions demonstrated that the treatment significantly decreased BDI-II scores during the course of treatment (p = .0003); the average decreasing rate in BDI-II scores was 2.8 points per visit. Depression scores remained sub-threshold for 12 months after treatment completion. Resilience scores significantly increased after treatment completion and remained high at all follow-up visits through 1 year (p less than .01). Thus, this short term, customized intervention was both feasible and effective in significantly decreasing depression and enhancing resilience for this sample with effects enduring one year after treatment. This study is the first to combine ST and MI in therapy, which resulted in an appealing, desirable, and accessible depression treatment for this severely understudied, underserved sample of low income, second generation Latinas in the United States. (Published Abstract)