Components of cognitive-behavioral interventions to prevent the onset of depression among the high-risk population: a systematic review and component network meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a promising strategy for preventing onset of depression. This systematic review and component network meta-analysis (cNMA) investigated efficacious and harmful components including various skills and delivery formats of CBT for preventing depression onset among at-risk populations. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: We selected randomized trials of preventive CBT interventions from a previous systematic review (Cuijpers et al., 2021), and conducted an additional search on PubMed and PsycINFO up to January 2022. METHODS OF SYNTHESIS: The primary outcome was incidence of diagnosed depression. Both intervention-level NMA and cNMA estimated the preventive effect of intervention arms and components. RESULTS: We identified 44 prevention trials (N = 9519). The intervention-level NMA demonstrated the preventive effects of CBT over no intervention (OR=0.52, 95 %CI: 0.39 to 0.69). There was some evidence from cNMA showing that problem-solving and behavioral activation may be beneficial in preventing depression. These two components combined in the unguided self-help or the group format showed an odds ratio of 0.25 (95 %CI: 0.08 to 0.81 ) and 0.31 (95 %CI: 0.15 to 0.64), respectively. We developed a web application estimating the relative and absolute effects of various combinations of components (https://yan-luo.shinyapps.io/cNMA_depression/). CONCLUSION: Our results support the preventive effect of CBT on depression onset. In particular, efficacious depression prevention interventions can include problem-solving and behavioral activation.