Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on videoconferencing psychotherapies for the treatment of depression in Spain

Impacto de la pandemia de COVID-19 en las psicoterapias por videoconferencia para el tratamiento de la depresión en España

Abstract

The present study investigated the impact of COVID-19 on the demand of Spanish psychologists for videoconferencing (VC) treatment of depression during the first wave of the pandemic. Fifty-four psychologists participated and completed an online survey to compare psychotherapy provided before and after the pandemic. Results showed that CV-treated depression increased significantly by 80.3% and had an overall relative risk (RR) of 4.4 (95%, CI: 3.1-6.1) for increasing during the first months after the outbreak compared with before the pandemic. Specifically, the therapy with the greatest increase in demand according to RR was systemic (10.10), followed by cognitive-behavioral (4.0), eclectic (3.7), humanistic (3.3), so-called “third generation” therapies (3.1), and psychodynamic (1.0). These results suggest the importance of the new approach based on nonface-to-face classic therapy.