A positive psychology intervention for patients with bipolar depression: a randomized pilot trial

Abstract

Background: There are few effective treatments for bipolar depression, a common and debilitating illness.

Aims: We aimed to examine the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a four-week, telephone-delivered positive psychology (PP) intervention for patients with bipolar depression.

Methods: Twenty-five patients hospitalized for bipolar depression were randomized to receive a PP (n = 14) or control condition (CC; n = 11) intervention. Following discharge, participants completed weekly exercises and phone calls with a study trainer. PP intervention feasibility was assessed by the number of exercises completed, and acceptability was examined on five-point Likert-type scales of ease and utility. Between-group differences on psychological constructs at 4 and 8 weeks post-enrollment were assessed using mixed effects regression models.

Results: Participants in the PP group completed an average of three out of four PP exercises and found PP exercises to be subjectively helpful, though neither easy nor difficult. Compared to CC, the PP intervention led to trends towards greater improvements in positive affect and optimism at follow-up, with large effect sizes (modified Cohen’s d = 0.95–1.24). PP had variable, non-significant effects on negative psychological constructs.

Conclusions: Larger, randomized trials are needed to further evaluate the efficacy of this intervention in this high-risk population.

Keywords:

• Bipolar disorder
• positive psychology
• depression
• anxiety
• optimism

Disclosure statement

Sponsors had no role in the design, analysis, interpretation, or publication of the study. Dr. Celano has received honoraria for talks to Sunovion Pharmaceuticals on topics unrelated to this research. The authors report no other conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This research project was supported by a Dupont-Warren fellowship grant from Harvard Medical School. Time for analysis and article preparation was also funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute through grants K23HL123607 (to Dr. Celano) and R01HL113272 (to Dr. Huffman). The National Institute of Mental Health funded time and effort through grant K23MH097786 (to Dr. Auerbach). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health or other funders.