Use of computer‐administered cognitive‐behavior therapy with depressed inpatients

Twenty‐two depressed inpatients were randomly assigned to treatment with either therapist‐delivered cognitive‐behavior therapy (CBT), computer‐assisted CBT, or “treatment as usual” on an inpatient psychiatric unit. All patients received antidepressant medication in addition to their assigned treatments. At discharge from the hospital, the patients receiving therapistdelivered CBT and the patients in the control group were significantly less depressed when pre‐ and post‐treatment ratings from the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were compared. Patients receiving computer‐assisted CBT did not improve significantly. Furthermore, patients receiving therapist‐delivered CBT were significantly less depressed at discharge from the hospital than those receiving computer‐assisted CBT. Patients receiving computer‐assisted CBT fared no better than those patients in the control group. Computer‐assisted CBT appeared to provide no advantage in the treatment of depressed inpatients. This study suggests that therapist‐delivered CBT should remain the standard of care for inpatients receiving CBT. Depression 1:294–299 (1993).