Metacognitive Therapy for Depression in Adults: A Waiting List Randomized Controlled Trial with Six Months Follow-Up

Abstract

This randomized controlled trial examines the efficacy of metacognitive therapy (MCT) for depression. Thirty-nine patients with depression were randomly assigned to immediate MCT (10 sessions) or a 10-week wait list period (WL). The WL-group received 10 sessions of MCT after the waiting period. Two participants dropped out from WL and none dropped out of immediate MCT treatment. Participants receiving MCT improved significantly more than the WL group. Large controlled effect sizes were observed for both depressive (d = 2.51) and anxious symptoms (d = 1.92). Approximately 70–80% could be classified as recovered at post-treatment and 6 months follow-up following immediate MCT, whilst 5% of the WL patients recovered during the waiting period. The results suggest that MCT is a promising treatment for depression. Future controlled studies should compare MCT with other active treatments.

Effectiveness of metacognitive interventions for mental disorders in adults—A systematic review and meta‐analysis (METACOG)

“…Three studies compared a total sample of 99 patients with depression (Hagen et al, ; Mami, Sharifi, & Mahdavi, ; Zemestani, Davoodi, Honarmand, Zargar, & Ottaviani, ) receiving MCTherap with patients on a waitlist to receive MCTherap. Overall, MCTherap was superior in alleviating depressive symptoms.…”

Metacognitive Therapy for Depression: A 3-Year Follow-Up Study Assessing Recovery, Relapse, Work Force Participation, and Quality of Life

“…The WL group received 10 sessions of MCT after the waiting period. Results showed that 70-80% were recovered at post-treatment and 6-month follow-up (Hagen et al, 2017). The treatment was also associated with large reductions in interpersonal problems, even though MCT does not directly target such problems (Strand et al, 2018).…”

“…Rumination seems to exacerbate negative mood and could trigger and prolong depression (e.g., Nolen-Hoeksema et al, 2008). MCT could therefore be beneficial for people with depression as suggested by several treatment studies with recovery rates ranging around 70-80% (e.g., Wells et al, 2009Wells et al, , 2012Dammen et al, 2016;Hagen et al, 2017;Normann and Morina, 2018).…”

“…The current study is a follow-up of our randomized wait list controlled study that investigated the efficacy of MCT for depression (Hagen et al, 2017). Thirty-nine patients with depression were randomly assigned to immediate MCT (10 sessions) or a 10-week wait list period (WL).…”

Group metacognitive therapy for adolescents with anxiety and depressive disorders: A pilot study

“…As a comparatively new form of treatment, the evidence base for metacognitive therapy (MCT) is growing. Large treatment effects have been found for MCT in individual as well as group treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD; McEvoy, Erceg‐Hurn, Anderson, Campbell, Swan, et al, ; van der Heiden, Muris, & van der Molen, ), depression (Dammen, Papageorgiou, & Wells, ; Hagen et al, ), and obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD; Rees & van Koesveld, ). Large within‐group effect sizes were reported in a recent meta‐analysis of 16 published and unpublished studies of MCT for anxiety and depression (Normann, van Emmerik, & Morina, ).…”