Group Interpersonal Therapy for Prisoners with Depression (1 CE)

Number of Credits: 1

This course is for: Clinical Psychologists, Counselors, and LMFTs

Course By: Rachel Schoor, Ph.D.

 Content By: Johnson, J. E., Stout, R. L., Miller, T. R., Zlotnick, C., Cerbo, L. A., Andrade, J. T., ... & Wiltsey-Stirman, S. (2019). Randomized cost-effectiveness trial of group interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) for prisoners with major depression. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 87(4), 392. https://doi.org/ 10.1037/ccp0000379.

Course Description: Despite the high occurrence of major depressive disorder among incarcerated individuals, high-quality studies investigating interventions for such individuals have been lacking.  The present study aims to investigate the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of utilizing interpersonal therapy to treat major depressive disorder among prisoners, using a fully powered and randomized trial. Participants (N=181) consisted of males (n=117) and females (n=64) from prison facilities across two states.  Participants were randomized to receive either group interpersonal therapy for major depressive disorder plus treatment as usual, or a treatment-as-usual control group. The average age of participants was 39 years (range 20-61).  Twenty percent were African American, while 19% of the sample was Hispanic. Several outcomes were assessed at post-treatment and three-month follow-up, including depressive symptoms, suicidality, hopelessness, and in-prison functioning, as well as remission from major depressive symptoms and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. The intervention was found to reduce symptoms of depression, hopelessness, and PTSD symptoms.  Moreover, it was found to increase rates of major depressive disorder remission relative to the treatment-as-usual control group. Given the effect sizes, the intervention also appeared to be especially effective at reducing feelings of hopelessness among inmates. The cost analyses indicated that the program cost about $2,054 per participant, which includes the cost for both interpersonal therapy training and supervision. If therapists become sufficiently competent in the intervention and no longer need training or supervision, the cost of the program can be reduced to $575 per incarcerated individual. Interpersonal therapy, which is currently the only treatment for major depressive disorder evaluated among prisoners, appears to be effective and cost-effective.

Learning Objectives

• Identify 3 risks that are heightened when a prisoner has major depressive disorder.
• List 3 strengths and 1 limitation of the current study and consider the implications of these strengths and limitations in the context of future research in this area.
• Evaluate the data and identify 1 key result presented in the study.

Course Outline:

• Read and understand Randomized cost-effectiveness trial of group interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) for prisoners with major depression
• Review the Course Description and Learning Objectives
• Consider the strengths and weaknesses of the study
• Work through the post-test questions; keep in mind that answer selections should be derived from the respective article
• Return to the referenced article for any missed questions and/or to better understand the relationship between interpersonal therapy and depressive symptomology among incarcerated individuals

Approvals: