Question

The IVs are Type of Treatment (therapy vs. drugs + therapy) and Diagnosis (mildly depressed vs. clinically depressed). Previous research has shown that clinically depressed patients respond better to the combination of drugs + therapy than to therapy alone, however no one previous to this research has asked if this pattern of results will also hold for those that are mildly depressed. Which set of simple effects will provide the most direct test of this research question as it is stated?

Answer 1

The most direct test of this research question is to examine the simple effects of type of treatment (therapy vs. drugs + therapy) on clinically depressed and mildly depressed patients

Step-by-step explanation:

The research question at hand explores whether the pattern of clinically depressed patients responding better to the combination of drugs + therapy than to therapy alone also holds for those with mild depression. The simple effects that would provide the most direct test of this question would involve analyzing the outcomes of each treatment within the subset of patients with mild depression, comparing those who received therapy alone to those who received both drugs and therapy.

To elucidate this, we would conduct an analysis of the interaction between the type of treatment and level of depression.

Specifically, we would perform separate tests within the 'mildly depressed' group to determine if there is a significant difference in outcomes between the treatment modalities.

If a similar pattern is found as with clinically depressed patients, it would suggest that the addition of medication to therapy could be beneficial across different levels of depression severity.