Secondary outcomes of the guided self-help behavioral activation and physical activity for depression trial

Background: This article presents secondary outcome variables from a randomized controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of two guided self-help interventions for the treatment of depression: behavioral activation (BA) and physical activity (PA). Both interventions resulted in significant reductions in depressive symptoms compared to the wait-list control group, however the mechanisms by which these interventions influenced depression were not presented.Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to compare changes in secondary outcome variables to gain insight into the mechanisms by which reactivation interventions reduce depressive symptoms.Results: Mixed-model analysis of variances (ANOVAs) revealed significant increases in life satisfaction (Main effect: F-(3,F- 91.71)=4.63, p<0.01) and self-efficacy (Main effect: F-(3,F- 91.32)=4.05, p<0.01) as well as significant decreases in negative affect (Main effect: F-(2,F- 75.88)=5.24, p<0.01) and loneliness (Main effect: F-(2,F- 71.78)=7.49, p<0.01) in both interventions at pre-, mid-, post-intervention and follow-up. The group x time interactions were not significant, suggesting that the PA and BA interventions had comparable effects over time.Conclusion: These findings provide insight into the potential mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of guided self-help PA and BA interventions on depressive symptoms.