Depression rates rise dramatically from the early to late adolescence. Especially young adolescent girls with elevated depressive symptoms are at high risk for developing a depression during adolescence or adulthood. Therefore, the prevention of depression is important especially in this high-risk group. The aim of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) component of the depression prevention program 'Op Volle Kracht' (OVK) among Dutch adolescent girls with elevated depressive symptoms. In total, 102 adolescent girls (11-15 years) in the first and second year of secondary school participated in this study. The girls in the experimental group (n = 50) followed the eight CBT-lessons of OVK and reported depressive symptoms 1 week prior to the start of the lessons, after every lesson, at one-month and 6-months follow-up. The girls in the control group (n = 52) exclusively reported depressive symptoms at the same time points. Latent Growth Curve Modeling showed that the decrease in depressive symptoms was significantly larger for girls in the experimental group compared to the girls in the control group. Furthermore, it was found that at 6-months follow-up, the girls in the experimental group had significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms compared to the girls in the control group. These findings indicate that the CBT-component of OVK effectively reduces depressive symptoms in short term and possibly prevents the development of a clinical depression.

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Anxiety is highly prevalent in children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, there is inconsistency in studies investigating the prevalence and risk factors of anxiety in children with ASD. Therefore, the first aim of this study was to give an overview of the prevalence of anxiety symptoms in a clinical Dutch sample of children with ASD. The second aim was to investigate age, gender, ASD subtype, and IQ as potential risk factors for anxiety in this sample. In total, 172 children with ASD (age, 8–15 years) and their parents participated in this study. Specialized services in which children with ASD were recruited were two mental health institutes and one secondary special education school. The findings showed that more than 60% of the participating children with ASD had at least subclinical anxiety symptoms according to children. More than 80% of the children with ASD had at least subclinical anxiety symptoms according to parents. It was found that younger children and girls with ASD had more anxiety symptoms than older children and boys with ASD. Moreover, it was found that children with a higher performance (non-verbal) IQ and lower verbal IQ had more specific phobia symptoms. The findings suggest that in a clinical context, children with ASD have a high risk to have co-occurring anxiety symptoms, especially girls and younger children with ASD. Therefore, early prevention and treatment of anxiety in children with ASD who are most at risk is important.