ABSTRACT

Depression is associated with unemployment and poor occupational functioning. Although cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to reduce depressive symptoms, the degree to which it improves occupational outcomes has received little attention. We investigated change in job status and presenteeism (i.e., the inability to focus on and accomplish work) over the course of CBT. We assessed employment status, presenteeism, depressive symptoms, cognitive style, and CBT skills at intake and posttreatment in a sample of 126 participants enrolled in a 16-week course of CBT for depression. Employment status significantly improved from pre to posttreatment, with 11 of the 27 patients (41%) seeking to improve their employment status achieving this goal. Among the 59 consistently employed patients, presenteeism decreased significantly over the course of treatment (d_z  = 1.13). We also found, even after controlling for changes in symptoms, reductions in negative cognitive style (but not changes in CBT skills) were associated with reductions in presenteeism. Our findings suggest CBT patients experience positive changes in occupational outcomes, both in finding work and being more focused and productive at work. Changes in negative cognitive styles appeared to partly explain this latter change. We encourage future work examining CBT’s impact on occupational outcomes.

摘要

抑郁症与失业和职业能力差有关。尽管认知行为疗法（CBT）已被证明可以减轻抑郁症状，但其改善职业结局的程度却鲜有关注。我们调查了在CBT过程中工作状态和出勤率的变化（即，无法专注于完成工作）。我们在126名参加CBT抑郁症治疗课程的126名参与者的样本中，评估了在摄入和治疗后的工作状态，表现力，抑郁症状，认知方式和CBT技能。从治疗前到治疗后，就业状况显着改善，在27位患者中，有11位（41％）寻求改善其就业状况以实现这一目标。在59名长期雇用的患者中，d _z  = 1.13）。我们还发现，即使在控制了症状变化后，消极的认知风格的下降（但CBT技能没有变化）也与出席感降低有关。我们的研究结果表明，CBT患者在寻找工作以及更加专注和高效地工作方面，经历了职业结局的积极变化。负面认知风格的变化似乎部分解释了后者的变化。我们鼓励未来的工作来检查CBT对职业成果的影响。