Psychotherapy and combined psychotherapy/pharmacotherapy for late life depression

Over the past 20 years, numerous studies have investigated the efficacy of psychotherapy for treating late life depression and, to a lesser degree, the efficacy of psychotherapy combined with antidepressant medication. Of the intervention studies, cognitive-behavioral therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy combined with antidepressant medication have the largest base of evidence in support of their efficacy for late life depression. To a lesser degree, there is support for stand-alone interpersonal psychotherapy, brief dynamic therapy, and life review treatments. The purpose of this review is to present data on the acute and long-term effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, brief dynamic therapy, and combined antidepressant medication and psychotherapy to discuss the generalizability of these interventions, and to discuss future research directions and the need for increased opportunities for this area of research. (C) 2002 Society of Biological Psychiatry.