The research design combines a non-inferiority study with a systematic investigation of the fit of patients with imaginative treatment components in psychodynamic therapy. The study pursues two objectives: 1) to test the non-inferiority of outpatient catathymic imaginative psychotherapy (CIP) for the treatment of adults with emotional disorders (CIP-ED) compared to the Unified Psychodynamic Protocol (UPP-ED); 2) to operationalize and test criteria for the differential indication of CIP-ED.
To achieve the first study objective, we are conducting a randomized controlled non-inferiority study with N = 180 patients. The primary outcome measurement is the Patient Health Questionnaire Anxiety and Depression Scale (PHQ-ADS)
The second study objective requires the integration of this study into a sequential mixed-method design: Based on expert interviews, differential indication criteria for CBT were identified and operationalized in the form of an external assessment questionnaire. Our hypothesis is that these differential indication criteria can be used to predict whether the study patients will benefit more from CBT-EMO or from UPP-EMO.
The study is registered under ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04765800).
Original language: German