One-Day Intervention for Depression and Impairment in Migraine Patients

Adults with comorbid depression and migraine will be randomized to a 1-day (6-hour) workshop of Acceptance and Commitment Training + Migraine Education (ACT-ME) or Migraine Education only (MEO). The intervention delivered to both study arms will be identical except for the addition of the ACT component delivered in the ACT-ME condition, thereby allowing an estimate of the specific additive effect of the psychotherapy. Measures of acceptance and behavioral avoidance, theoretically important mechanisms of change, will be used to test intervention components by examining whether these processes are uniquely affected by the ACT-ME intervention and whether they account for observed treatment effects. The central hypothesis is that the ACT-ME treatment will lead to significantly greater reduction in depression (HRSD) and disability (WHO-DAS, WHOQOL, and HDI) at follow-up compared to the MEO treatment. ACT-ME participants also are expected to demonstrate reductions in behavioral avoidance and enhanced acceptance, which mediate treatment effects. Treatment gains are expected to be maintained through the 6-month follow-up.

Aim 1: To examine the efficacy of a 1-day ACT-ME intervention compared to MEO for treating depression in patients with comorbid depression and migraine.

Hypothesis 1: At 3- and 6-month follow-up, ACT-ME will be more efficacious than MEO as assessed by: 1) a significantly greater decline on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) total score; 2) a significantly higher proportion of participants showing 50% or greater decline on the HRSD; and 3) a significantly higher proportion of participants no longer meeting depression criteria on SCID-IV.

Aim 2: To examine the efficacy of a 1-day ACT-ME intervention compared to MEO on functioning in patients with comorbid depression and migraine.

Hypothesis 2: At 3- and 6-month follow-up, compared to the MEO group, participants in the ACT-ME group will exhibit significantly greater improvement in functioning (measured by World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule-Total Score; WHO-DAS) and quality of life (measured by World Health Organization Quality of Life Total; WHO-QOL), and greater decline in headache-related disability (measured by Headache Disability Inventory; HDI).