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Not yet recruitingNCT07300527Updated Dec 23, 2025

Cognitive Behavior Therapy Among Patients With Major Depressive Disorder-Multiple Episodes.

An interventional study of Cognitive Behavior Therapy and treatment as usual (TAU) (Control Group) in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder, sponsored by Government College University Faisalabad. Not yet recruiting at 1 site in Pakistan. Open to participants aged 18 Weeks to 50 Weeks, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-12-23.

Sponsored by Government College University Faisalabad · Not applicable, Interventional, and Diagnostic

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Jul 2026, 3 months ago, but the record still lists the study as not yet recruiting.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
80
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Weeks to 50 Weeks
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The main purpose of this study to teach the patients how to manage their depression, generalized Anxiety symptoms, mental health seeking attitude, motivation and attitude toward changing health, to improve the quality of life, and meta memory and meta cognitive functioning after using Adapted CBT. Enhance emotional regulation by helping patients identify and modify maladaptive emotional responses, thereby reducing emotional reactivity and promoting healthier coping strategies. Strengthen relapse prevention skills by equipping patients with long-term cognitive and behavioral techniques to recognize early warning signs and apply learned strategies proactively to prevent future episodes. This research would be helpful for patients etc.

Read the detailed description

In this experimental study, 120 patients will be screened for eligibility from various government and private hospitals. Participants meeting the DSM-5-TR criteria for Major Depressive Disorder (multiple episodes) will be considered. Eighty eligible participants will be randomly assigned to the experimental group (n = 40) and control group (n = 40). Participants aged 18-50 years will be included. Following approval from the university and formal permissions from hospitals and patients, all ethical guidelines will be strictly observed. Eligible participants will be selected based on the inclusion criteria. The CBT group will receive two sessions per week, gradually reduced over time, with each session lasting 45-60 minutes. Pre- and post-assessments will be conducted using standardized measures to evaluate changes in depression severity and related psychological variables.

Expected outcome: The intervention is expected to significantly reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety among participants. Improvements are anticipated in help-seeking attitudes, motivation toward health behavior change, and overall quality of life. CBT is also expected to enhance meta-memory and meta-cognitive functioning. These outcomes will support the effectiveness of CBT in treating patients with recurrent MDD.

02

Conditions studied

  • Patients With Major Depressive Disorder

Keywords

  • patient health questionnaire,
  • mental help seeking attitude
  • motivational attitude toward changing health
  • digit span
  • GAD
  • Brief Quality of Life
03

In context

Depressive Disorder, Major

3,041 studies on the registry are indexed under Depressive Disorder, Major; 588 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 80 is close to the median of 79 across 2,530 interventional studies indexed under Depressive Disorder, Major.

Browse Depressive Disorder, Major studies →

Lead sponsor

Government College University Faisalabad is the lead sponsor of 23 studies on the registry; 8 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Weeks to 50 Weeks
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Age range: 18-50 years No physical, psychiatric, or psychological conditions. patients who meet multiple Episodes. who meet DSM 5 TR Major Depressive Disorder Criteria. patients who meet moderate severity at patient health questionnaire scale .

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • age range: below 18 and above 50 years. presence of any physical, psychiatric, or psychological conditions. who do not meet DSM 5 TR Major Depressive Disorder Criteria. range at patient health questionnaire scale is mild , minimal or severe or moderately severe.
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Diagnostic
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
80 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    1st Arm (1- Experimental)

    Patients will receive cognitive behavioral Therapy

    Behavioral: Cognitive Behavior Therapy · Drug: treatment as usual (TAU) (Control Group)

  • Active comparator
    2nd Arm (Waitlist Control Condition)

    This group will receive treatment as usual

    Drug: treatment as usual (TAU) (Control Group)

Interventions

  • BehavioralCognitive Behavior Therapy

    This involves 10 sessions, 2 sessions per week will be conduct, session 1 ( psychoeducation about the problem, second will be cognitive Distortions, thirdly, automatic Thoughts , ABC Worksheet (Antecedent-Belief-Consequence), (Greenberger \& Padesky, 2016) Daily Thought Monitoring Sheet, "Catch It - Check It - Change It" model. fourthly, Core beliefs And Dysfunctional Schemas, Downward Arrow Technique (Beck, 2011) Flashcards for Positive Beliefs, "What does that say about me?" , REFRAMING (Beck, 2011), fifth, Behavioral Activation, Increase engagement in pleasurable and meaningful activities. sixth, Memory and concentration, Enhance mindfulness and address cognitive memory concerns. To help patient focus on present moment. seventh, stress management Training, eighthly, problem solving skills, Relationship management skills, lastly, relapse Prevention, review skills, plan for future, reinforce independence. each session have specific goals and outcomes.

  • Drugtreatment as usual (TAU) (Control Group)

    Participants in this arm will receive Treatment as Usual (TAU) provided by the hospital, which may include routine psychiatric care, medication management, and supportive counseling as prescribed by the treating psychiatrist. No structured psychotherapy sessions, such as CBT, will be administered during the study period. This group will serve as the control condition to compare the effects of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) on depressive symptoms and related psychological outcomes. Standard care procedures will continue throughout the study, and participants will be assessed at the same pre- and post-intervention time points as the experimental group.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Patient Health Questionnaire PHQ-9 (Kroenke, and colleagues, 1999)

    Kroenke, and colleagues (1999) from Columbia University developed Patient Health Questionnaire. In the current study Patient Health Questionnaire 9 item questionnaire translated by (Ahmad, Hussain, Akhtar \& Shah, 2018). Each item could be responded to using a 4-point Not at all = 0; several days = 1; More than half the days = 2; nearly every day = 3. The PHQ-9 has 9 items, each of which is scored 0,1,2,3, leading to a maximum score of 27. The total scores of 5, 10, 15 and 20 are taken as mild, moderate, moderately severe and severe in terms of the questioner's depressive illness. Cronbach's alpha for PHQ-9 was 0.91. The reliability was further supported by split-half reliability for PHQ-9; part 1 (r = 0.86), part 2 (r = 0.84) and correlation between two halves (r = 0.77), Spearman Brown coefficient was 0.87, and Guttmann split-half coefficient was 0.8.

    Time frame: at pre-Assessment, after 5 weeks at post-Assessment

  2. Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7)

    The Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7) is a widely used self-report screening tool designed to assess the severity of generalized anxiety symptoms. Developed by Spitzer et al. (2006), the scale consists of 7 items, each rated on a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day), with total scores ranging from 0 to 21. Higher scores indicate greater levels of anxiety. The GAD-7 has demonstrated high internal consistency, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.92, and test-retest reliability of 0.83, making it a reliable instrument for both clinical and research use. In the present study, the GAD-7 will be used to measure anxiety symptoms before and after the intervention, allowing evaluation of the impact of Adapted CBT on comorbid anxiety in patients with Major Depressive Disorder.

    Time frame: at Pre-Assessment, after 5 weeks at post-Assessment

  3. WHOQOL BREF Scale (WHO; Skevington, Lotfy &Connell, 2004).

    WHO developed WHOQOL BREF scale. In the current study WHOQOL Brief scale translated by (Ahmad, Hussain, Akhtar \& Shah, 2018). The WHOQOL-Brief, still in field trials, is a subset of 26 items taken from the WHOQOL-100. The same steps for the scoring WHOQOL-100 should be followed to achieve scores for the Brief. The four domain scores are scaled in a positive direction with higher scores indicating a higher quality of life. Three items of the Brief must be reversed before scoring.

    Time frame: at pre-assessment, after 5 weeks at post-assessment

  4. Mental Help-Seeking Attitudes Scale (MHSAS),

    The Mental Help-Seeking Attitudes Scale (MHSAS), developed by Hammer, Parent, and Spiker (2018), is a 9-item self-report instrument designed to assess individuals' overall attitudes toward seeking help from mental health professionals. Each item is rated on a 7-point semantic differential scale (e.g., harmful-beneficial, useless-useful), with higher scores indicating more positive attitudes toward mental health help-seeking. The MHSAS has demonstrated strong psychometric properties, including high internal consistency with a Cronbach's alpha of approximately .93, and strong test-retest reliability. The scale has also shown construct validity, being significantly correlated with related variables such as stigma, norms, and intention to seek help.

    Time frame: at pre-assessment, after 5 weeks at post-assessment

  5. Motivation and Attitudes Toward Changing Health (MATCH)

    The Motivation and Attitudes Toward Changing Health (MATCH) scale, developed by Hessler et al. (2018) at the Behavioral Diabetes Institute, is a concise 9-item self-report measure designed to evaluate patients' readiness for health-related behavior change. It includes three subscales: Willingness to Change, Perceived Ability to Change, and Belief that Change is Worthwhile, each containing 3 items. Responses are rated on a 5-point Likert scale, with some items reverse-scored. The MATCH scale has shown acceptable internal consistency, with Cronbach's alpha values ranging from 0.61 to 0.74 across subscales, and has demonstrated good construct validity.

    Time frame: at pre-assessment, after 5 weeks at post-assessment

  6. Digit Span Test ( Backward and Forward)

    The Digit Span Test, a subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), is used to assess attention, concentration, and working memory. It includes two components: Digit Span Forward and Digit Span Backward. In the Forward task, participants repeat a sequence of numbers in the same order as presented, primarily measuring attention span and short-term memory. In the Backward task, participants repeat the numbers in reverse order, assessing working memory and mental manipulation abilities. Typically, performance is higher on the forward span than the backward span due to the increased cognitive demands of the latter. The Digit Span Test has demonstrated adequate internal consistency and reliability, with reported Cronbach's alpha values ranging from .80 to .90, indicating strong psychometric properties for assessing cognitive functioning related to attention and memory.

    Time frame: at pre-assessment, after 5 weeks, post-assessment

07

Study locations

1 site
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Start is estimated for Jan 2026; primary completion for Jul 2026, 6 months later.

Of 647 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Depressive Disorder, Major, half reached primary completion within 35 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 19 and three quarters within 55. This study's planned 6 months is below that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 687 studies reached it within 33 months; a quarter within 17 and three quarters within 55.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Dec 10, 2025
First posted
Dec 23, 2025
StartEst.
Jan 2026
Primary completionEst.
Jul 31, 2026
CompletionEst.
Aug 31, 2026
Last update
Dec 23, 2025
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Dec 23, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07300527
Lead sponsor
Government College University Faisalabad
Responsible party
Qasir Abbas (Assistant Professor - Clinical Psychology, Government College University Faisalabad) — Principal investigator
First posted
Dec 23, 2025
Start date
Jan 2026 (estimated)
Primary completion
Jul 31, 2026 (estimated)
Completion
Aug 31, 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Dec 23, 2025

Study contacts

Qasir Abbas Dr, PhD Clinical Psychology
Contact
qasirabbas47@yahoo.com
923337683133 ext. 10245
Ayesha Mirza Ms, MS Clinical Psychology
Contact
drqasirabbas@gcuf.edu.pk
923211743095 ext. 1245
Qasir Abbas Dr, PhD Clinical Psychology
principal investigator · Government College University Faisalabad

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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