Depression and diabetes comorbidity: psychotherapy treatment preferences among a predominantly mexican sample of primary care patients with diabetes

Depression and diabetes are highly comorbid problems yet their conjoint treatment, particularly the use of evidence based psychological treatments among diabetics, warrants further research. Specifically, little is known about the treatment of depression among diabetic Latinos, one of the fastest growing populations with comorbid depression and diabetes. Because of this scarce research among Latino diabetics, the present study aims to test whether educating Latino diabetics about treatment options for depression would differentiate their choice of one treatment over the other. Secondary aims were to investigate the degree to which cultural, depression, and diabetic factors differentiated treatment choice. Thirty two participants were provided with brief treatment rationale scripts on three empirically supportive treatments for major depression (e.g., cognitive therapy, behavioral activation, interpersonal therapy). After rationales were presented, participants were asked to choose their preferred treatment to treat depression. Results showed that participants preferred all treatments over cognitive therapy and that cultural variables were related to treatment rationale selection.