Efficacy of brief psychological interventions to reduce depressive symptoms in caregivers: systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

The purposes of this work were to determine the efficacy of brief psychological interventions (≤ 8 sessions) aimed to reduce depressive symptomatology in nonprofessional caregivers and to analyze the influence of the potential moderator variables on the effect size. Studies were selected from PsycINFO and Medline databases, as well as from previous reviews or meta-analyses. Most of the interventions were able to reduce depressive symptoms, with a medium combined effect size (d = -0.61). The interventions that obtained the best results were those that (a) were based on the integrator multifactorial model of depression and the problem-solving model, (b) were aimed at caregivers with depressive symptoms but who had not yet developed a major depressive disorder, (c) in which an inclusion criterion was being at risk for depression, (d) were aimed at depression as the main objective, (e) had a low risk of bias (f) had a higher percentage of women.