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Quality of life in depression: An important outcome measure in an outpatient cognitive–behavioural therapy group programme?
Author(s) -
Swan Amanda,
Watson Hunna J.,
Nathan Paula R.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
clinical psychology and psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.315
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1099-0879
pISSN - 1063-3995
DOI - 10.1002/cpp.588
Subject(s) - psychology , quality of life (healthcare) , depression (economics) , beck depression inventory , clinical psychology , mental health , anxiety , beck anxiety inventory , cognition , psychiatry , population , medicine , psychotherapist , environmental health , economics , macroeconomics
Studies have shown that psychiatric patients have significantly impaired quality of life (QOL) in comparison to community samples who are not suffering a mental illness. Despite an increase in research in the mental health field, there still remains little consensus as to the merit of using such questionnaires within a mental health population. There is a concern that QOL is redundant with affective state and symptomatology. We investigated the usefulness of the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire‐short form (QLESQ‐SF) in a depressed outpatient sample receiving time‐limited, standardized group cognitive–behavioural therapy. QLESQ‐SF ratings were examined at admission and 10‐week endpoint in an intention‐to‐treat ( N = 212) and completers ( N = 164) sample. QLESQ‐SF ratings and symptom ratings (Beck Depression Inventory‐II; Beck Anxiety Inventory) improved significantly over time. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that, although affective state and change in symptomatology were significantly correlated with QOL and change in QOL, a large proportion of variance was unexplained. These results are inconsistent with the theory of measurement redundancy. QOL appears to be a useful measure that provides additional treatment outcome information distinct from affective state and symptomatology. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.