Description
Depression is one of the most common of all mental health problems and one in five people experience depression at some stage of their lives. A review by the National Institutes of Health found that some 20% of adolescents suffer from bouts of anxiety and depression before they reach adulthood. There is a high prevalence of distress in university students and relatively low levels of professional help seeking in students despite access to free counselling and health services. Depression has a significant impact on the capacity of students to study and is associated with lower academic performance.
EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) has been shown to be efficacious for depression in a number of studies, including three randomized controlled trials. EFT contains elements of both exposure and cognitive therapy but to these established methods, adds the novel element of somatic stimulation. It has been found to have physiological mechanisms consistent with a lowering of the stress response, and a calming of the threat-assessment structures in the midbrain. These include a reduction in the body’s secretion of stress hormones such as cortisol, an increase in endogenous opioids, and a dampening of fear in the amygdala.
This study intended to replicate and extend a recent trial “Brief Group Intervention Using EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) for Depression in College Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial” (Church, De Asis, & Brooks, 2012). While a treatment group of 30 college students who met criteria for moderate to severe depression and who received four 90-minute group sessions of EFT had significantly less depression than a waitlist control group at post-test, the study lacked a comparison treatment group. This present study intends to compare the EFT treatment to a gold standard therapy for depression; Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and a waitlist control group. In addition, this study will extend the 4 sessions to 8 sessions for each treatment (this is more typical in the published literature for both approaches).
Understanding and improving the early intervention and treatment of depression and improving the health and quality of life for those with depression is critical to inform best practice.
Hypotheses included:
The EFT group treatment conditions would have significantly decreased scores on depression measures from pre- to post treatment, and would be significantly improved compared to the waitlist control group
It was expected the CBT group would also have significantly decreased scores on depression measures from pre- to post treatment, and would be significantly improved compared to the waitlist control group, but that the EFT condition may be superior.
Data in SPSS format.
EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) has been shown to be efficacious for depression in a number of studies, including three randomized controlled trials. EFT contains elements of both exposure and cognitive therapy but to these established methods, adds the novel element of somatic stimulation. It has been found to have physiological mechanisms consistent with a lowering of the stress response, and a calming of the threat-assessment structures in the midbrain. These include a reduction in the body’s secretion of stress hormones such as cortisol, an increase in endogenous opioids, and a dampening of fear in the amygdala.
This study intended to replicate and extend a recent trial “Brief Group Intervention Using EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) for Depression in College Students: A Randomized Controlled Trial” (Church, De Asis, & Brooks, 2012). While a treatment group of 30 college students who met criteria for moderate to severe depression and who received four 90-minute group sessions of EFT had significantly less depression than a waitlist control group at post-test, the study lacked a comparison treatment group. This present study intends to compare the EFT treatment to a gold standard therapy for depression; Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and a waitlist control group. In addition, this study will extend the 4 sessions to 8 sessions for each treatment (this is more typical in the published literature for both approaches).
Understanding and improving the early intervention and treatment of depression and improving the health and quality of life for those with depression is critical to inform best practice.
Hypotheses included:
The EFT group treatment conditions would have significantly decreased scores on depression measures from pre- to post treatment, and would be significantly improved compared to the waitlist control group
It was expected the CBT group would also have significantly decreased scores on depression measures from pre- to post treatment, and would be significantly improved compared to the waitlist control group, but that the EFT condition may be superior.
Data in SPSS format.
| Date made available | 2013 |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Bond University |
| Date of data production | 2012 - 2013 |