Assessing the Feasibility of Metacognitive Training for Patients with Depression in Pakistan: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Background:Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. According to the United Nations health agency, it affects more than 300 million people around the world. Previous studies have suggested different psychological interventions to reduce the severity of depressive symptoms in developing countries. In Pakistan, there has been a lack of research to address this issue and introduce measures to overcome this gap. This double-blind, parallel randomized controlled trial aimed to evaluate the effect of Metacognitive Training for Depression (D-MCT) on the severity of depressive symptoms in comparison to treatment as usual (TAU).

Methods: This was a parallel, two-arm, double-blind, feasibility, randomized controlled trial with a pre-post design. Sixty participants (experimental group, n = 30, and the control group, n = 30) were recruited from the departments of psychiatry at various hospitals across Rawalpindi and Islamabad from July to November 2022. The efficacy of D-MCT in reducing depressive symptoms, metacognition, mental health, and quality of life was investigated using a two-way factorial ANOVA.

Results: The findings of this study showed that, in comparison to treatment as usual, D-MCT was more effective in reducing depressive symptom severity and maladaptive metacognitions in patients with depression. On the other hand, results also showed that D-MCT was significantly effective in enhancing quality of life and mental health in depression patients.

Conclusions: D-MCT intervention has been introduced for the first time in Pakistan for patients with depression to improve depression treatment in Pakistan. This study would open up a new avenue for professionals to improve depression through this new intervention.