Efficacy of a self-control therapy program in a psychiatric day-treatment center.

A 12-week self-control therapy program based on the self-control model proposed by Rehm was added to the routine program for depressed patients in a psychiatric day-treatment center. It was hypothesized that addition of the self-control therapy would accelerate the recovery of depressed patients. Twenty-five depressed patients were randomly assigned to either standard treatment or standard treatment plus the self-control therapy program. At post-test, patients in the self-control condition showed significant improvement with regard to self-control, self-esteem, depression, depressed mood and frequency and potential enjoyability of pleasant events, whereas the control patients did not. On 5 of 6 measures the differences between the groups were significant in the hypothesized direction. Although at the 13-week follow-up the positive effects of the self-control therapy were maintained, between-group differences were no longer significant, except for self-control.