Trial reportMolecular psychiatry2021
Comparing the streamlined psychotherapy "Engage" with problem-solving therapy in late-life major depression. A randomized clinical trial.
Trial report in Molecular psychiatry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Brain Activation Associated With Response to Psychotherapies for Late-Life Depression: A Task-Based fMRI Study.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2025Trial
- Differential response of positive valence systems to psychotherapy for late-life depression: A pilot study.Journal of affective disorders · 2023Trial
- Modifiable predictors of suicidal ideation during psychotherapy for late-life major depression. A machine learning approach.Translational psychiatry · 2021Trial
- A Pilot Randomized Trial of Engage Psychotherapy to Increase Social Connection and Reduce Suicide Risk in Later Life.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2021Trial
- PROTECT: a novel psychotherapy for late-life depression in elder abuse victims.International psychogeriatrics · 2021Trial
- Smartphone-Based Passive Sensing of Activity Levels and Behavioral Activation During Psychosocial Interventions for Older Adults With Depression: Longitudinal Observational Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Observational
- Targeting mechanisms of change as a path to precision psychotherapy for community settings.Psychotherapy research : journal of the Society for Psychotherapy Research · 2026Article
- Improving Adherence to Psychotherapy and Clinical Outcome in Patients With Late-Life Depression Through Gamified mHealth Technology.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2026Article
- The Role of Psychological Interventions in the Mental Health and Quality of Life of Older Adults: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis of Mindfulness, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Reminiscence-Based Approaches.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2026Review
- Psychotherapy for older adults with depression: a narrative review.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Remission is insufficient: predictors and mechanistic models of recurrence in late-life depression.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Pilot Study of Behavioral Activation Treatment for Negative Symptoms in Older Adults With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder.Psychiatric research and clinical practice · 2026Article
- Engage & connect psychotherapy improves social reward responsivity and reduces postpartum depression.Psychotherapy research : journal of the Society for Psychotherapy Research · 2025Article
- Relation Between Executive Function Test Performance and Treatment Outcomes During Brief Psychotherapies for Later-Life Depression.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry. Open science, education, and practice · 2025Article
- Reducing Depression and Suicidal Ideation Among Elder Abuse Victims Using PROTECT.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2025Article
- Increasing Completion of Daily Patient-Reported Outcomes in Psychotherapies for Late-Life Depression through User-Centered Design.Applied clinical informatics · 2024Article
- Comparative Effectiveness of Clinician- Versus Peer-Supported Problem-Solving Therapy for Rural Older Adults With Depression.Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.) · 2024Article
- Improving social reward responsivity and social connectedness in psychotherapies for late-life depression: Engage & Connect as an example.Psychiatry research · 2023Article
- Strengthening implementation research on social prescribing in mental healthcare for older adults in Western Pacific Region.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2023Review
- Biological factors influencing depression in later life: role of aging processes and treatment implications.Translational psychiatry · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Effective psychotherapies for late-life depression are underutilized, mainly because of their complexity. "Engage" is a novel, streamlined psychotherapy that relies on neurobiology to identify core behavioral pathology of late-life depression and targets it with simple interventions, co-designed with community therapists so that they can be delivered in community settings. Consecutively recruited adults (≥60 years) with major depression (n = 249) were randomly assigned to 9 weekly sessions of "Engage" or to the evidence-based Problem-Solving Therapy (PST) offered by 35 trained community social workers and assessed by blind raters. "Engage" therapists required an average of 30% less training time to achieve fidelity to treatment than PST therapists and had one-third of the PST therapists' skill drift. Both treatments led to reduction of HAM-D scores over 9 weeks. The mixed effects model-estimated HAM-D ratings were not significantly different between the two treatments at any assessment point of the trial. The one-sided 95% CI for treatment-end difference was (-∞, 0.07) HAM-D points, indicating a non-inferiority margin of 1.3 HAM-D points or greater; this margin is lower than the pre-determined 2.2-point margin. The two treatment arms had similar response (HR = 1.08, 95% CI (0.76, 1.52), p = 0.67) and remission rates (HR = 0.89, 95% CI (0.57, 1.39), p = 0.61). We conclude that "Engage" is non-inferior to PST. If disseminated, "Engage" will increase the number of therapists who can reliably treat late-life depression and make effective psychotherapy available to large numbers of depressed older adults.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.