This randomized clinical trial aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (STPP) in the treatment of patients suffering from anxiety or depressive disorders, as compared with a control case sample composed of patients undergoing treatment as usual (TAU). Sixty patients with depressive or anxiety disorders according to DSM IV-TR were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to an intervention group (STPP) or control group for 12 months (T1). Primary outcome measures were the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL-90-R), the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP), and the Clinical Global Impression Improvement Scale. Intention to treat analysis revealed that patients who received STPP showed significantly more improvements in comparison with those who were in the TAU group on Clinical Global Impression Improvement Scale and IIP measures. This study offers evidence that STPP is an effective treatment for patients with anxiety or depressive disorders, and it could be more effective than TAU in improving interpersonal problems as measured by IIP.

The three general dimensions of insight revealed significant differences among the three groups. Regression models suggest that insight is a multidimensional concept in which some aspects are state-related, associated with psychopathology, whereas others are trait-like qualities, not directly associated with symptoms and predicted only by level at baseline.

Background and Aims. This study investigated the proportion of CD patients in clinical remission with clinical depression, and coping strategies in those with severe depressive disorders. Materials and Methods. One hundred consecutive CD patients in clinical remission were screened for anxiety and depression by using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and patients with depressive symptoms were further investigated by means of Cognitive Behavioural Assessment 2.0 and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Afterwards the coping strategies were assessed through the Brief-COPE questionnaire. Results. Twenty-one patients had anxious symptoms and 16 had depressive symptoms with or without anxiety. Seven of these patients (43.8%) showed significant depressive symptoms. Compared to patients without psychiatric disorders, these patients showed significant lower score in “positive reframing” (p: 0.017) and in “planning” (p: 0.046) and higher score in “use of instrumental social support” (p < 0.001), in “denial” scale (p: 0.001), and in “use of emotional social support” (p: 0.003). Conclusions. Depressed CD patients in clinical remission may have dysfunctional coping strategies, meaning that they may not be able to implement functional strategies to manage at best stress related with their disease.

These results suggest that this short-term RRT offers a simple and cost-effective way to augment drug management for participants with common psychiatric disorders who are less responsive to the drug treatment.