Effectiveness of Brief Behavioral Activation Treatment in Reducing Depression Symptoms and Improving Quality of Life in Patients with Major Depression

Depression is one of the most common psychological disorders for which numerous treatment methods have been developed. The aim of the present study was to examine effect of brief behavioral activation treatment on reducing depression symptoms and improving quality of life in patients with depression. The study used a semi-experimental design with pretest and posttest and a control group. Convenient sampling was used in selecting 22 female patients who were diagnosed with major depression by a psychiatrist. The diagnosis was given using DSM-IV-TR. The 22 subjects were divided into an experimental and a control group, and the experimental group received a behavioral activation treatment. Both groups completed BDI-II, HRSD, and WHOQOL-BREF in the pretest, posttest and follow-up phases (the follow-up was three months after the intervention). The results were analyzed using single-variable covariance analysis and t-test. Results indicated that the treatment effected considerable and significant changes in depression symptoms and quality of life of the subjects, both in short-term and after a period of three months. The study suggests that a brief behavioral activation treatment is effective in reducing depression symptoms, a finding which is consistent with findings of the third wave of cognitivebehavioral therapies. The treatment is therefore recommended as an effective method for treating major depression.