Development of an Integrated Depression and Behavioral Risk Factor Reduction Intervention for Secondary Prevention Following Acute Coronary Syndrome

Depression predicts high rates of morbidity/mortality among acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients. Part of this relationship is explained by a poor profile of behavioral risk factors (i.e., smoking,physical activity, medication adherence, diet). An integrated treatment targeting both depressed mood and multiple behavioral risk factors could be highly effective in reducing post-ACS mortality. Behavioral Activation for depression may be an ideal counseling treatment for this since it has recently shown promise for facilitating behavioral risk factor changes in ACS patients with depression (K23HL107391). The current study adapts this manual targeting post-ACS depressed mood and smoking cessation to target depression and multiple behavioral risk factors post-ACS. This study will be an open trial (N=20) to test the feasibility and acceptability of our procedures and obtain initial indications of efficacy. This study hypothesizes that 1) the BA-HD manual and study procedures will be feasible and acceptable to post-ACS patients with depressed mood as measured by self-report, recruitment/retention rate, and post- treatment qualitative interviews and 2) that participants will experience clinically significant improvements in depressed mood and behavioral risk factor profile. The long-term goal of this research is to improve long-term survival rates following ACS.