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Quality of life (QOL) is the degree of enjoyment and satisfaction experienced in life, and embraces emotional well-being, physical health, economic and living circumstances, and work satisfaction. QOL recovery with eating disorder treatment has received sparse attention, and until now, no study has investigated QOL recovery with enhanced cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT-E). Patients (n = 196) admitted to a specialist eating disorders outpatient programme and receiving CBT-E completed measures of QOL, eating disorder psychopathology, depression, anxiety and self-esteem, before and after treatment. QOL at intake was compared with community norms, and QOL below the norm was predicted from sociodemographic and clinical correlates with logistic regression. Baseline QOL below the norm was associated with depression and anxiety Axis I comorbidity, and severity of depressive symptoms. Predictors of post-treatment QOL were baseline QOL and level of depressive symptoms and self-esteem at post-treatment. CBT-E was associated with gains in QOL over the course of treatment, in addition to eating disorder symptom relief., (Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.)

Objectives: To compare quality of life (QoL) in mental health outpatients to non-clinical norms, and examine the associations between QoL and principal diagnosis, number of comorbid Axis I diagnoses, and type of comorbidity., Methods: Consecutively referred and assessed patients (n = 2024) formed the study sample pool. Of these, 1486 individuals who had completed a QoL instrument at intake and had a principal diagnosis amenable to comparison by group analysis were included in the study. Principal diagnoses were unipolar mood disorder (n = 687), eating disorder (n = 226), bipolar disorder (n = 165), social anxiety disorder (n = 165), generalized anxiety disorder (n = 125), and panic disorder (n = 118). QoL for psychiatric groups was compared to non-clinical norms using a valid and reliable measure., Results: QoL was significantly impaired in all psychiatric groups compared to nonclinical norms. There was a significant interaction between principal diagnosis and number of comorbid Axis I disorders, controlling for age, sex, marital status, employment, and years of school. The addition of one comorbidity significantly attenuated QoL in social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and bipolar disorder. For all other conditions, a significant loss in QoL occurred with two or more comorbidities. Axis I depressive and anxiety comorbidity significantly attenuated QoL across all diagnostic groups., Conclusions: QoL is significantly impaired in psychiatric outpatients and diagnostic groups vary in the extent to which they experience additional QoL burden with increasing comorbidities., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Studies have shown that psychiatric patients have significantly impaired quality of life (QOL) in comparison to community samples who are not suffering a mental illness. Despite an increase in research in the mental health field, there still remains little consensus as to the merit of using such questionnaires within a mental health population. There is a concern that QOL is redundant with affective state and symptomatology. We investigated the usefulness of the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire-short form (QLESQ-SF) in a depressed outpatient sample receiving time-limited, standardized group cognitive-behavioural therapy. QLESQ-SF ratings were examined at admission and 10-week endpoint in an intention-to-treat (N = 212) and completers (N = 164) sample. QLESQ-SF ratings and symptom ratings (Beck Depression Inventory-II; Beck Anxiety Inventory) improved significantly over time. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that, although affective state and change in symptomatology were significantly correlated with QOL and change in QOL, a large proportion of variance was unexplained. These results are inconsistent with the theory of measurement redundancy. QOL appears to be a useful measure that provides additional treatment outcome information distinct from affective state and symptomatology.

Gender in cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) for outcome for depression has been inadequately examined in previous research. Thirty-five men and 55 women diagnosed with a depressive disorder according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) completed individual CBT at an outpatient community mental health clinic and 56 men and 105 women completed group CBT. Depression severity was measured before treatment and at endpoint using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996) along with secondary outcomes of anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory; Beck, Epstein, Brown, & Steer, 1988) and quality of life (Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire; Endicott, Nee, Harrison, & Blumenthal, 1993). Men and women demonstrated equivalent pretreatment and posttreatment illness severity, a comparable gradient of improvement on outcomes, and attainment of clinically meaningful benchmarks. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 64:1–15, 2008. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]