Couple-Based Interventions for Depression

Relationship discord is associated with the severity, onset, and course of depression. Consequently, including the partner of depressed individuals in treatment may be expected to be beneficial in the treatment of depression. In this article, we review the existing research on couple-based interventions for depression, including interventions specifically developed for couples experiencing co-occurring depression and relationship discord, as well as interventions developed for couples who are not necessarily discordant. We also review research on change processes and mediators of outcome, as well as on predictors of outcome. Couple-based interventions have been shown to reduce depression and relationship discord for depressed individuals in discordant relationships, and reduce depression for depressed individuals in nondiscordant relationships. Research has begun to identify the change processes and mediators of couple-based interventions for depression, as well as to identify predictors of treatment outcome, but additional research is needed to better understand how and for whom these treatments are effective.