Background: Metacognitive therapy (MCT) is a new psychotherapy for depression. This study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of citalopram and MCT on major depressive disorders (MDDs).
Materials and methods: A total of 36 patients with MDD were randomly assigned into three groups of citalopram (n = 12), MCT (n = 16), and control (n = 8). MCT group received ten sessions of metacognition therapy. Citalopram group received 20-40 mg citalopram, and the control group did not receive any interventions. Outcomes were measured using the Beck Depression Inventory-II, Metacognition Questionnaire-30, and Cognitive-Emotion Regulation (CER) Questionnaire. Data were analyzed with ANCOVA using SPSS version 18.
Results: Depression score reduction was significant in both citalopram and metacognitive groups (P < 0.05). However, there was only a statistically significant difference between MCT and control group in CER and metacognition.
Conclusion: MCT and citalopram both are effective in symptom reduction in MDD. Furthermore, MCT could lead to more improvement in metacognition, depression symptoms, and CER than citalopram, when treating MDDs.
Keywords: Citalopram; emotional regulation; major depressive disorder; metacognition.
Copyright: © 2020 Journal of Education and Health Promotion.