Citalopram and metacognitive therapy for depressive symptoms and cognitive emotion regulation in patients with major depressive disorder: A randomized controlled trial

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).

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.

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.

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.