Effect of cognitive retraining treatment in mild to moderate depressive disorders

BACKGROUND: Cognitive retraining or remediation approaches dispense high levels of stimulation and new learning tasks, leading to an increased neural connections, which facilitate rapid recovery in patients with neurological as well as psychiatric conditions. OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed to investigate the effect of cognitive retraining (CR) in depressive disorders. We assigned 40 patients with mild to moderate depression to two sample groups, with 20 participants each: CR alone and CR with medicine. A 6-week CR module was delivered, and participants’ scores on measures such as the Beck Depression Inventory-II, Metacognition Questionnaire 30, World Health Organization Quality of Life- Brief, and Global Assessment of Functioning were compared. RESULTS: Analysis using Stata/IC version 16 included descriptive statistics, paired and independent t-tests, analysis of covariance, and propensity score matching. Cohen's d was computed to determine the effect size. Within-group analysis revealed statistically significant differences in pre-post scores of the outcome measures (p < .05) and large effect size (d = 3.41; d = 3.60) in both groups. The difference in scores of outcome measures between the groups was not significant (p > .05) even when covariates were controlled, or nearest neighbor match analysis was carried out. CR is effective in alleviating symptoms and dysfunctional metacognitive beliefs in addition to enhancing functioning and quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: CR-based interventions may be essential mental health services owing to growing research in psychotherapy via virtual modes such as tele- and video-conferencing. These interventions can substantiate both prevention and remedy.