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功能不良有关。尽管认知行为疗法 (CBT) 已被证明可以减轻抑郁症状，但它改善职业结果的程度却很少受到关注。我们调查了在 CBT 过程中工作状态和出勤率（即无法专注于和完成工作）的变化。我们评估了 126 名参加了为期 16 周的抑郁症 CBT 课程的参与者在摄入和治疗后的就业状况、出勤率、抑郁症状、认知风格和 CBT 技能。就业状况从治疗前到治疗后显着改善，27 名患者中有 11 名 (41%) 寻求改善其就业状况，实现了这一目标。在 59 名一直受雇的患者中，d _z  = 1.13）。我们还发现，即使在控制了症状的变化之后，消极认知方式的减少（但不是 CBT 技能的变化）与出勤率的减少有关。我们的研究结果表明，CBT 患者的职业结果发生了积极的变化，无论是在找工作还是在工作中更加专注和高效。消极认知风格的变化似乎可以部分解释后一种变化。我们鼓励未来研究 CBT 对职业结果的影响。