THE EFFECT OF FAMILY-CENTERED EMPOWERMENT MODEL ON THE SEVERITY OF SYMPTOMS IN PATIENTS WITH MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER

Depression is the fourth most common disease in the world. It also remarkably
affects the quality of life. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of group psychological
training of family on the severity and relapse of the disease in patients with major depressive disorder.
Materials&methods: This randomized controlled clinical trialwas conducted on 70 patients with major
depressive disorder, randomly divided into two groups of 35 subjects. The treatment group received
family group psychological training in addition to receiving drug therapy. The control group did not
receive any psychological treatment. Depression severity of the patients was evaluated using Beck
Depression Questionnaire and the relapse rate and severity of the disease in both groups were evaluated
and compared after 2 and 6 months follow-up. The collected data were analyzed SPSS 24 software. The
significance level of P <0.05 was considered.
Results: The mean of depression severity in the experimental group was 62.34 ± 7.13 at the beginning
of the study and in control group was 60.54 ± 6.06, and using independent t-test, there was not
statistically significant difference between the two groups. The mean of depression severity of patients’
in the experimental group was 22.93 ± 1.45 in the sixth month while the mean of depression severity in
the control group was 40.74 ± 12.16, and therefore, there was a statistically significant difference
between the two groups using independent t-test.
Conclusion: empowering the patients’ family should be conducted in addition to medication.