| Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), as a sole or combined treatment with pharmacotherapy, has been established as an efficacious treatment for depression. However, there is a very small body of literature examining cognitive behavioral therapy-telephone treatment (CBT-TT) for depression and there are no studies to date investigating specific mechanisms of change in CBT-TT. This study examined 5 specific mechanisms of change in an 8-session CBT-oriented, manualized treatment protocol designed to treat depression over the telephone. For mediators, dysfunctional attitudes (DA) and automatic thoughts (AT) were found to be significant mechanisms of change, however ATs were only marginally significant in this study (p = .08). Consistent with cognitive behavioral theory, the faster rate in which a patient experienced a decrease in DAs and ATs during treatment the faster rate in which he or she experienced a decrease in depressive symptomotology. For moderators, only depression severity was found to be significant in this study. On average those who initiated treatment with lower levels of depression experienced faster rates of improvement across treatment. These findings are congruent with cognitive behavioral theory and provide implications for case conceptualization and treatment planning for persons receiving CBT-TT. |
