Behavioural activation for depression: Efficacy, effectiveness and dissemination

Abstract Background Depression being a prevalent psychobiological disorder across the world, there is a need to identify effective, evidence-based treatments that are time and cost-effective in an effort to increase the population's accessibility to treatments. Low-intensity interventions, such as guided self-help treatments, hold promise for the dissemination of evidence-based treatments. Behavioural activation, a component of cognitive-behavioural therapy, is receiving increasing attention and empirical support as a stand-alone psychological treatment for depression. This article reviews behavioural activation's theoretical foundations and efficacy in light of determining its potential as a low-intensity intervention. Method A systematic review of articles on low-intensity behavioural activation interventions for depression was conducted using the PsychInfo, Medline and Embase databases. Behavioural activation's potential for dissemination as a guided self-help treatment is discussed and future avenues of research are stressed. Limitations Studies on the efficacy of behavioural activation as a guided self-help treatment are very limited to date and there are significant variations among existing studies. Conclusions Based on the research literature, it can be concluded that behavioural activation could be a viable option as a low-intensity guided self-help psychological treatment for mild to moderate depression. Further research is required to better understand the optimal parameters and client–therapist characteristics of this form of low-intensity intervention.