Behavioral activation and depression: Conceptualization, evidence and applications in Latin America

Depression is nowadays one of the most prevalent mental health problems. In Latin America is the main problem in terms of years of life lost due to disability, implying that major efforts should be made to develop effective intervention strategies for treatment. This article aims, first, to provide a conceptual review of the Behavioral Activation, one of the interventions that have proven to be effective to treat depression and its various forms, secondly, to examine its use to treating depression with different populations and finally, to review the empirical evidence in Latin America.