Am J Psychiatry 1988; 145:909-917
Copyright © 1988 by American Psychiatric Association
Conceptual and methodological issues in comparative studies of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy, I: Active ingredients and mechanisms of change
I Elkin, PA Pilkonis, JP Docherty and SM Sotsky
NIMH Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program, Rockville, MD 20857.
There has recently been an increased focus on comparing the effectiveness
of drugs and psychotherapy in the treatment of mental disorders. The marked
differences between these two treatment forms raise many conceptual and
methodological problems for the investigator. In a two-part series, the
authors discuss a number of these conceptual issues and their implications
for research design, implementation, and interpretation of findings. Part I
focuses on differences in the active ingredients and hypothesized
mechanisms of change of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy. Issues addressed
include the need for standardization of treatments, adequate delivery of
treatments, and controlling for factors other than the active ingredients
of each treatment.
