Treatment of major depression in individuals with spinal cord injury.

AbstractObjective: This study evaluated the effects of treating major depression in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI), focusing on the degree of improvement and correlated changes that could be expected in 6 months of treatment.Design: Apretreatment–posttreatment designwas used. Random assignment to a nontreatment group could not be implemented ethically. Therefore, this study compared participants who declined treatment to persons who accepted treatment over a 24–month period.Setting and Participants: Participants were outpatients of a large urban rehabilitation center in southern California. Twenty–eight participants who accepted treatment were assigned to a treatment group; 15 individuals who declined treatment were assigned to a nontreatment group. The age of the participants ranged from 20 to 7 4 years. Varying Ieveis of SCI dysfunction were represented. lnterventio1,1s: A 6–month combination of psychotherapy and antidepressant medication.Outcome Measures: Adepression inventory, a community a...