Social Interaction and Compassion in Depression

The Effects of a Cognitively-based Compassion Training on Health and Social Interaction in Depressed Patients and Their Partners

The purpose of this study is to determine how a CBCT® (Cognitively Based Compassion-Training) for couples affect aspects of health and especially social interactions in depressed female patients and their romantic partners. compare healthy and depressed couples during an instructed positive real-time social interaction in the laboratory.

Furthermore the investigators aim to examine how social behavior and psychobiological indicators of health during real-time social interaction in the laboratory might be improved through CBCT® for couples.

Objects:

Will a CBCT® (Cognitively Based Compassion-Training) for couples reduce the depressive symptomatic and the partners´ burden as well as improve behavioral, endocrine, physiological and immune responses during a real time social interaction in the laboratory.

Do couples with a depressed female partner differ from healthy control couples in behavioral, endocrine, physiological and immune responses during a instructed positive real-time social interaction in a laboratory setting?

General inclusion criteria:

• being in a heterosexual relationship for two years or more
• agreement to participate in the study
• recurrent depression (ICD-10 F33.0 or F33.1, depressed females of the patient couples only)
• agreement of the patient couples to be randomized into the two treatment arms
• no mental disorders (healthy control group only)

General exclusion criteria:

• severe acute and chronic psychological ( suicidal tendency, acute affective bipolar disorders) or physical disorder (chronic diseases, severe diseases such as endocrinological, neurological, nephrological or hepatic disorders)
• being pregnant
• heavy smoking (more than 20 cigarettes daily) or alcohol abuse
• substance related abuse and addiction
• enrolling current couple therapy
• enrolling current individual therapy (except of probatory phase)
• enrolling current mindfulness or compassion based group training