Diagnostic Features of Nonverbal Synchrony in Psychotherapy: Comparing Depression and Anxiety

In this study, we investigated diagnosis and movement quantity as predictors of nonverbal synchrony. The naturalistic analysis sample consisted of 173 videotaped sessions of patients with a depressive disorder (N  = 68) or an anxiety disorder (N = 25), who were treated with cognitive behavioral therapy at an outpatient clinic in southwest Germany. Therapy videos were routinely collected and nonverbal synchrony was computed using motion energy analysis (MEA). Using multilevel modeling, we first investigat ed the influence of diagnosis and time of assessment on patient and therapist movement quantity. Second, we predicted nonverbal synchrony by diagnosis and time of assessment, while controlling for patient movement quantity. We found a lower quantity of movement in depressive than in anxious patients . At the beginning of therapy, nonverbal synchrony was lower in dyads with depressive patients, even when controlling for patient movement quantity. At the end of therapy, patients with depression and anxiety no longer differed as nonverbal synchrony increased in depression and decreased in anxiety during the course of therapy. Nonverbal synchrony provides information beyond psychomotor retardation and is discussed with regard to patients' range of affect and attention focus.

Source: Cognitive Therapy and Research - October 1, 2018 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research