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Patients treatment expectancies in clinical trials of antidepressants versus psychotherapy for depression: a study using hypothetical vignettes
Comprehensive Psychiatry, 07/17/2012
Clinical Article
Gaudiano BA et al. – Patients’ differential expectancies based on study design could lead to different patient populations being selected for these studies and influence clinical improvement.
Methods- Depressed patients (n = 55) read 3 vignettes describing hypothetical clinical trials of antidepressant vs pill placebo, antidepressant vs antidepressant, and psychotherapy vs psychotherapy.
- Patients reported greater overall acceptability for psychotherapy over antidepressants.
- Patients had significantly greater expectancies for symptom reduction in either active comparator (medication or psychotherapy) compared with the placebo-controlled design.
- They also reported greater anticipated improvement and willingness to participate in the psychotherapy trial compared with either medication trial design.