Antidepressant Adherence Among Hispanics: A Motivational Interviewing Approach

Depression is a serious mental illness characterized by symptoms that can interfere with a person's ability to work, study, eat, sleep, and enjoy activities that were once pleasurable. Studies have shown that people of Hispanic descent tend to underutilize mental health care services. Additionally, Hispanics have demonstrated lower compliance and completion rates for antidepressant treatment. This may be due to low socioeconomic status, lack of family financial support, and inadequate communication with mental health care providers. Motivational interviewing is a goal-oriented type of therapy that focuses on eliciting behavior change by identifying and mobilizing a person's values. This study will determine the effectiveness of culturally sensitive motivational interviewing in improving antidepressant medication adherence in Hispanics.

Participants in this 6-month, open-label study will be randomly assigned to receive either motivational interviewing in addition to their antidepressant therapy or treatment as usual. All participants will first attend a 45-minute screening visit, which will include questionnaires and an interview about psychiatric symptoms, medication attitudes, and medication adherence behavior. Participants will also receive an electronic medication container that will record how consistently medication is taken. Participants assigned to motivational interviewing will then attend two 1-hour sessions of motivational interviewing over 2 consecutive weeks, followed by a third session 8 weeks later. The group assigned to treatment as usual will not partake in motivational interviewing, but will continue to receive their normal care. All participants will return to the study site for follow-up assessments, which will include measures of antidepressant adherence, at Months 2 and 5.