Influence of cognitive-behavioral therapy on the reduction of post-COVID-19 pandemic depression

Authors

Keywords:

COVID-19; depression; cognitive behavioral therapy; depressive disorder

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the mental health of the population, including university students. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has emerged as a therapeutic alternative for patients with post-COVID-19 depression.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a psychological intervention, through cognitive behavioral therapy in medical students with depressive symptoms.

Methods: This applied research employed a quasi-experimental design. The study population consisted of 87 medical students from the Higher Polytechnic School of Chimborazo diagnosed with post-COVID-19 depression, of whom 79 comprised the research sample. The Beck Depression Inventory-II and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale were administered before and after a theoretical and practical intervention conducted over 12 one-hour sessions. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to identify changes in the degree of depression and resilience.

Results: Predominance of female students with post-COVID-19 depression. In the pretest, students with moderate (55.70%) and severe (29.11%) depression and low resilience (79.75%) predominated. In the posttest, mild depression (34.18%) and medium resilience (49.37%) predominated.

Conclusions: The applied psychological intervention, using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), decrease the frequency of depressive symptoms and strengthen the emotional resilience of medical students diagnosed with post-COVID-19 depression.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

1. Ruvalcaba Pedroza KA, González Ramírez LP, Jiménez Ávila JM. Depresión y ansiedad en estudiantes de Medicina durante el confinamiento por la pandemia de COVID-19 [Internet]. Investigación en educación médica. 2021 [acceso: 24/09/2025];10(39):52-9. Disponible en: https://www.redalyc.org/journal/3497/349770250007/349770250007.pdf

2. Wang C, Pan R, Wan X, Tan Y, Xu L, Ho CS, et al. Immediate psychological responses and associated factors during the initial stage of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic among the general population in China [Internet]. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020;17(5):[aprox. 10 p]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051729

3. Odriozola-González P, Planchuelo-Gómez Á, Irurtia MJ, Luis-García, R. Psychological effects of the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown among students and workers of a Spanish university [Internet]. Psychiatry Research. 2020;4(11):290-7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113108

4. Villagómez-López AM, Cepeda-Reza TF, Torres-Balarezo PI, Calderón-Vivanco JM, Villota-Acosta CA, Balarezo-Díaz TF, et al. Depresión y ansiedad en estudiantes de medicina en la educación virtual durante la pandemia por COVID-19 [Internet]. Rev Med Inst Mex Seguro Soc. 2023 [acceso: 21/09/2025];61(5):559-66. Disponible en: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10599777/

5. Ramírez-Cruz JC, Bianchi JM, Santana-Cárdenas S, Javier-Juárez SP, Franco-Paredes K Eficacia de las terapias online de activación conductual y cognitivo conductual para el tratamiento de la depresión en mujeres mexicanas víctimas de violencia [Internet]. Terapia psicológica. 2023;41(1):87-109. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4067/s0718-48082023000100087

6. Muevecela-Carmona D, Hernández-Rodríguez Y. Terapia Cognitivo Conductual Afirmativa para la Depresión en Adolescentes con Disforia de Género: Revisión Sistemática [Internet]. Polo del Conocimiento. 2022;7(4):1155-68. DOI: https://doi.org/10.23857/pc.v7i4.3880

7. Guillot Valdés M, Guillén-Riquelme A, Sierra JC, Buela-Casal G. Propiedades psicométricas del Test de Evaluación Clínica de la Depresión en población general española [Internet]. Anuario de Psicología. 2024 [acceso: 22/09/2025];54(3): [aprox. 10 p]. Disponible en: https://www.proquest.com/docview/3149076262?fromopenview=true&pq-origsite=gscholar&sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals

8. Valladares González AM, López Angulo LM, Pérez Inerárity M, Pomares Ávalos AJ, Avello Martínez R. Escala de medición de resiliencia en adolescentes cubanos entre 15 y 19 años de edad [Internet]. Rev cuban med mil. 2023 [acceso: 17/9/2025];52(4):e2311. Disponible en: http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0138-65572023000400021&lng=es

9. Beck AT, Steer RA, Brown GK. Manual for the Beck depression inventory-II [Internet]. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation; 1996. [acceso: 21/9/2025] Disponible en: https://cir.nii.ac.jp/crid/1370564063990947215

10. Sánchez-Villena AR, Farfán Cedrón E, Fuente-Figuerola V, Chávez-Ravines D. Estructura factorial y datos normativos del Inventario de Depresión de Beck (BDI-II) en población general peruana [Internet]. Acta Colombiana de Psicología. 2022;25(2):158-70. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14718/acp.2022.25.2.10

11. Bernaola Ugarte AD, Garcia Garcia M, Martinez Campos N, Ocampos Madrid M, Livia J. Validez y confiabilidad de la Escala Breve de Resiliencia Connor-Davidson (CD-RISC 10) en estudiantes universitarios de Lima Metropolitana [Internet]. Ciencias Psicológicas. 2022;16(1):e2545. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22235/cp.v16i1.2545

12. Yusvisaret Palmer L, Palmer Morales S, Medina Ramirez Ma. Concepción Rosa, López Palmer Daniel Alexis. Prevalencia de depresión durante la COVID-19 en estudiantes de medicina de una universidad privada mexicana [Internet]. MEDISAN. 2021 [acceso: 20/09/2025];25(3):637-46. Disponible en: http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1029-30192021000300637&lng=e

13. García-Espinosa P, Ortiz-Jiménez X, Botello-Hernández E, Hernández-Díaz A, Góngora-Rivera Fernando. Covid-19, impacto psicosocial en estudiantes de medicina [Internet]. Salud pública Méx. 2021 [acceso: 22/09/2025];63(3):330-1. Disponible en: http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0036-36342021000300330&lng=es

14. Campos Puente DA de las M. Género y resiliencia en estudiantes de Psicología: Un estudio post-confinamiento por COVID-19 [Internet]. RCP. 2025 [acceso: 21/09/2025];18(2):97-111. Disponible en: https://www.cienciaspedagogicas.rimed.cu/index.php/ICCP/article/view/598

15. Hernández SR, Cuevas Lerma MN. Evolución de la resiliencia, autoeficacia y compromiso académico en estudiantes universitarios durante la pandemia COVID-19 [Internet]. INNOACAD. 2025 [acceso: 20/09/2025];1(1):48-63. Disponible en: https://innovacademia.uanl.mx/index.php/revista/article/view/8

16. Garayar-Peceros H, Prado-Martínez F, Cortez-Soto AG, Niño de Guzmán S, García-Gutiérrez JG, Alarco JJ. Actitudes hacia la pandemia y su relación con la resiliencia en estudiantes de medicina peruanos [Internet]. Investigación educ. médica. 2021 [acceso: 24/09/2025];10(39):43-51. Disponible en: http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2007-50572021000300043&lng=es

17. Ortiz-Prado E, Fernández-Naranjo R. Impacto de la COVID-19 en el Ecuador: De los datos inexactos a las muertes en exceso [Internet]. Rev Ecuat Neurol. 2020 [acceso: 16/09/2025];29(2): 8-11. Disponible en: http://scielo.senescyt.gob.ec/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2631-25812020000200008&lng=es

18. Molina Prendes N, Mejias Herrera ML. Impacto social de la COVID-19 en Brasil y Ecuador: donde la realidad supera las estadísticas [Internet]. EDUMECENTRO. 2020 [acceso: 17/09/2025];12(3):277-83. Disponible en: http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2077-28742020000300277&lng=es

19. Fernández Álvarez H, Fernández-Álvarez J. Terapia cognitivo conductual integrativa [Internet]. Revista de Psicopatologia y Psicologia Clinica. 2017;22(2): [aprox. 11p]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5944/rppc.vol.22.num.2.2017.18720

20. Bautista Díaz ML, Cueto López CJ, Franco Paredes K, Moreno Rodríguez D. Intervención para reducir ansiedad, depresión y estrés en universitarios mexicanos durante la pandemia [Internet]. Rev Cub Med Mil. 2021 [acceso: 17/09/2025];50(4): [aprox. 10p]. Disponible en: http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0138-65572021000400009&lng=es

21. Teixeira CR, Alves TP, Teixeira MWS, Lavor Filho TL de, Silva LM, Gomes Filho A dos S. Notas sobre el tratamiento clínico de la psicología cognitivo-comportamental: un análisis de la depresión [Internet]. Rev Psi Divers Saúde. 2021 [acceso: 18/09/2025];10(2):296-305. Disponible en: https://www5.bahiana.edu.br/index.php/psicologia/article/view/3561

22. Silva BDI, Ibáñez MEV, Carrillos SIC, Rodríguez HR. Intervención cognitivo-conductual por teams a estudiantes universitarios con síntomas de ansiedad en Ciudad Juárez [Internet]. Rev Elec Psic Izt. 2023 [acceso: 18/09/2025];26(4):1375-1393. Disponible en: https://www.medigraphic.com/cgi-bin/new/resumen.cgi?IDARTICULO=116425

23. Silva BDI, Quiñones SJ, Rodríguez HR. Intervención en línea con enfoque cognitivo-conductual en jóvenes universitarios con síntomas depresivos [Internet]. Rev Elec Psic Izt. 2022;25(1):226-44. Disponible en: https://www.medigraphic.com/cgi-bin/new/resumen.cgi?IDARTICULO=105516

Downloads

Published

2026-08-08

How to Cite

1.
Huaraca Morocho BC, Abarca Carrasco RG, Morales Machado EH, Arroba Bermeo Ítalo R. Influence of cognitive-behavioral therapy on the reduction of post-COVID-19 pandemic depression. Rev. cuba. med. mil [Internet]. 2026 Aug. 8 [cited 2026 Aug. 13];55(2):e026077302. Available from: https://revmedmilitar.sld.cu/index.php/mil/article/view/77302

Issue

Vol. 55 No. 2 (2026): April - June

Section

Brief Communication

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Brigette Carolina Huaraca Morocho, Rodrigo Gabriel Abarca Carrasco, Edison Hernán Morales Machado, Ítalo Rosendo Arroba Bermeo

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Authors who have publications with this Journal accept the following terms:

  • The authors will retain their copyright and guarantee the Journal the right of first publication of their work, which will simultaneously be subject to the Creative Commons Attribution License. The content presented here can be shared, copied and redistributed in any medium or format; Can be adapted, remixed, transformed or created from the material, using the following terms: Attribution (giving appropriate credit to the work, providing a link to the license, and indicating if changes have been made); non-commercial (you cannot use the material for commercial purposes) and share-alike (if you remix, transform or create new material from this work, you can distribute your contribution as long as you use the same license as the original work).
  • The authors may adopt other non-exclusive license agreements for the distribution of the published version of the work (for example: depositing it in an institutional electronic archive or publishing it in a monographic volume) as long as the initial publication in this Journal is indicated.
  • Authors are allowed and recommended to disseminate their work through the Internet (e.g., in institutional electronic archives or on their website) before and during the submission process, which can produce interesting exchanges and increase citations. of the published work.