The effectiveness of interpersonal and social rhythm therapy (IPSRT) combined with motivational interviewing (MI) on reducing the symptoms of major depression with anxiety distress: A single case study design

Interpersonal and social rhythm therapy (IPSRT) is a type of psychotherapy that was initially designed to improve the mood and prevent the relapse of people with bipolar disorder, and for this purpose, understanding and working with biological and social rhythms and training interpersonal skills It is focused. The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effectiveness of IPSRT in combination with motivational interviewing (MI) on reducing the symptoms of major depression with anxiety distress, which is one of the most common and debilitating mental disorders.

In this study, IPSRT was combined with MI in the form of a single-case study design with multiple baselines. The subjects included 2 people (one male and one female) with low vision suffering from major depressive disorder with anxiety distress who were selected by the purpose-based accessible sampling method in September 2022 from among the members of the Mashhad welfare student WhatsApp group. After the stability of the research variables in the baseline, the subjects underwent 12 weekly 1-hour therapy sessions with a follow-up period of 2, 1, and 3 months. Beck's depression and anxiety questionnaires were used to evaluate changes in baseline, treatment and follow-up. Data analysis was done with the help of stable change index, effect size, improvement percentage and visual analysis of the graph.

The results showed that this treatment has made clinically and statistically significant changes (P<0.005) in reducing symptoms of depression and accompanying anxiety.

Findings support that IPSRT in combination with MI is effective in reducing symptoms of major depression and associated anxiety.