Age-Related Changes in Item Responses to the Patient Health Questionnaire-9: Evidence From the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Background: Epidemiological studies have shown that total scores in depression screening scales change with age, but the mechanism underlying these age-related changes remains unclear. Previous research has indicated that item responses in depression screening scales exhibit characteristic distributions in the general population. We analyzed Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) data from a representative survey conducted in the USA, to determine how the response pattern for each item changed with age and whether the pattern of responses contributed to age-related changes in total scores.

Responses to depressive symptom items exhibit a common mathematical pattern across the European populations.

The theoretical distribution of responses to depressive symptom items in a general population remains unknown. Recent studies have shown that responses to depressive symptom items follow the same pattern in the US and Japanese populations, but the degree to which these findings can be generalized to other countries is unknown. The purpose of this study was to conduct a pattern analysis on the EU population's responses to depressive symptom items using data from the Eurobarometer.

Distribution of psychological distress is stable in recent decades and follows an exponential pattern in the US population.

The prevalence of psychological distress is fairly stable in industrialised countries in recent decades, but the reasons for this stability remain unknown. To investigate the mechanisms underlying stability of psychological distress in the general population of the United States, we analysed the mathematical patterns of the distribution of psychological distress in recent decades. The present study utilised the Kessler psychological distress scale (K6) data from the 1997‒2017 United States National Health Interview Survey.

Further evidence that item responses on the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale exhibit the characteristic pattern in the general population.

Background: Previous studies suggested that item responses on the 6-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) exhibit characteristic distributions among the general population. To confirm the reproducibility of these findings, we conducted a pattern analysis of the K6 item responses using large-scale data from a US representative survey.

Methods: Data were drawn from the 2016, and 2017 National Health Interview Survey in the United States (33,028, and 26,742 individuals, respectively).

Web-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Blended With Face-to-Face Sessions for Major Depression: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Meta-analyses of several randomized controlled trials have shown that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has comparable efficacy to antidepressant medication, but therapist availability and cost-effectiveness is a problem.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Web-based CBT blended with face-to-face sessions that reduce therapist time in patients with major depression who were unresponsive to antidepressant medications.

Methods: A 12-week, assessor-masked, parallel-group, waiting- list controlled, randomized trial was conducted at 3 medical institutions in Tokyo.

Stability of the Distribution of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 Scores Against Age in the General Population: Data From the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Epidemiological studies using the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) have reported inconsistencies regarding the relationship between age and total scores. To determine whether this discrepancy is due to the stability of the distribution of PHQ-9 total scores against age, we investigated whether the total score distribution remains stable during adulthood, and also investigated the mathematical patterns of the total score distribution. The present study utilized data from 15,847 participants of the 2009-2014 United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, all of whom responded to all PHQ-9 items.

Distribution of item responses and total item scores for the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D): Data from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA).

Background: Previous studies have shown that item responses and total scores on depression screening scales follow characteristic distribution patterns in the United States and Japanese general populations. However, the degree to which these findings, especially in terms of item responses, can be generalized to a European population is unknown. Thus, we analyzed the item responses and total score distribution for the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) in a representative Irish cohort from a large, recent study-the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA).

Distributional patterns of item responses and total scores on the PHQ-9 in the general population: data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Background: Recently, item responses and total scores on depression screening scales have been reported to have characteristic distributions in the general population. The distributional pattern of responses to the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) in the general population has not been well studied. Thus, we carried out a pattern analysis of the PHQ-9 item responses and total scores in US adults.

Item Response Patterns on the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 in a Nationally Representative Sample of US Adults.

Recent studies have shown that item responses on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological Distress (K6) exhibit the same characteristic item response patterns among the general population. However, the distributional patterns of responses on the Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (PHQ-8) among the general population have not been adequately studied. Thus, we conducted a pattern analysis of PHQ-8 item responses among US adults.

Characteristic distribution of the total and individual item scores on the Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological Distress (K6) in US adults.

Background: The distributional pattern of total scores on depression screening scales in the general population has not been well studied. Recent studies suggest that the total scores on depression screening scales follow an exponential pattern, with the exception of the lower end of the distribution. To further investigate the findings, we determined the distributions of the total and individual item scores on the Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological Distress (K6).

Pattern analysis of total item score and item response of the Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological Distress (K6) in a nationally representative sample of US adults.

Background: Several recent studies have shown that total scores on depressive symptom measures in a general population approximate an exponential pattern except for the lower end of the distribution. Furthermore, we confirmed that the exponential pattern is present for the individual item responses on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). To confirm the reproducibility of such findings, we investigated the total score distribution and item responses of the Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological Distress (K6) in a nationally representative study.

Effectiveness of Supplementary Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Pharmacotherapy-Resistant Depression: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: Antidepressant medication is efficacious in the treatment of depression, but not all patients improve with antidepressant medication alone. Despite this treatment gap, limited evidence regarding the effectiveness of supplementing psychotherapy for pharmacotherapy-resistant depression is available. Therefore, we investigated the effectiveness of supplementing usual medication management (treatment as usual [TAU]) with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in patients with pharmacotherapy-resistant depression seeking psychiatric specialty care.

Relationship between Item Responses of Negative Affect Items and the Distribution of the Sum of the Item Scores in the General Population.

Background: Several studies have shown that total depressive symptom scores in the general population approximate an exponential pattern, except for the lower end of the distribution. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) consists of 20 items, each of which may take on four scores: "rarely," "some," "occasionally," and "most of the time." Recently, we reported that the item responses for 16 negative affect items commonly exhibit exponential patterns, except for the level of "rarely," leading us to hypothesize that the item responses at the level of "rarely" may be related to the non-exponential pattern typical of the lower end of the distribution.

Boundary curves of individual items in the distribution of total depressive symptom scores approximate an exponential pattern in a general population.

Background: Previously, we proposed a model for ordinal scale scoring in which individual thresholds for each item constitute a distribution by each item. This lead us to hypothesize that the boundary curves of each depressive symptom score in the distribution of total depressive symptom scores follow a common mathematical model, which is expressed as the product of the frequency of the total depressive symptom scores and the probability of the cumulative distribution function of each item threshold. To verify this hypothesis, we investigated the boundary curves of the distribution of total depressive symptom scores in a general population.

Japan Unified Protocol Clinical Trial for Depressive and Anxiety Disorders (JUNP study): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: The unified protocol for the transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders is a promising treatment approach that could be applicable to a broad range of mental disorders, including depressive, anxiety, trauma-related, and obsessive-compulsive disorders. However, no randomized controlled trial has been conducted to verify the efficacy of the unified protocol on the heterogeneous clinical population with depressive and anxiety disorders.

Methods/design: The trial was designed as a single-center, assessor-blinded, randomized, 20-week, parallel-group superiority study in order to compare the efficacy of the combination of unified protocol and treatment-as-usual versus waiting-list with treatment-as-usual for patients with depressive and/or anxiety disorders.

Age-related changes in the distributions of depressive symptom items in the general population: a cross-sectional study using the exponential distribution model.

Background. Previous research has reported inconsistent evidence of the trajectory of depressive symptoms across the adult lifespan. We investigated how the distributions of each item score change with age and determined whether the trajectory of depressive symptoms varied with the scoring methods of the questionnaire.