Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a long-lasting illness with significant effects on the patient's family, social life, and work life. Treatment failure results in a low recovery rate and frequent relapses.
Relatives of patients with MDD are fraught with heavy psychosocial burden and show increased rates of depression and anxiety. Among relatives of patients with MDD, the patient's behavior and mood disturbance and relative's emotional distress were associated with the relatives' burden.
Family psychoeducation is recognized as part of the optimal treatment for patients with psychotic disorder. This intervention has been shown to reduce the rates of relapse and hospitalization among individuals with psychotic disorders and is recognized as an evidenced-based treatment for psychotic disorder. Several randomized controlled trials have found that family psychoeducation is effective in enhancing the course of bipolar disorder. However, there are few studies on psychoeducation of families of patients with MDD.
The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of brief multifamily psychoeducation to relieve the psychological distress of families of patients with chronic major depression and to improve their family functioning, in a randomized controlled trial.
