Depressive and Anxious Adolescents: Do They Profit from Psychodynamic Therapy?

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of psychodynamic treatment in reducing symptoms in depressive and anxious adolescents. In a 3-wave longitudinal study, a sample of 303 adolescent patients in treatment was investigated. Their parents filled in a questionnaire (CBCL) in order to assess symptomatology (anxiety and depression) at three waves (beginning, middle and end of therapy) with approximately 1 year in between. The results clearly demonstrate that psychodynamic treatment showed a moderate to high effect in reducing symptomatology. For depression, the effect ranged between η 2 = 0.40 and η 2 = 0.71; for anxiety, the effect ranged between η 2 = 0.61 and η 2 = 0.78. Anxiety symptoms of the adolescent patients were reduced especially in the later course of the therapy.