Prevention of depressive symptoms in adolescents: A randomized trial of cognitive-behavioral and interpersonal prevention programs.

Abstract

This study evaluated the efficacy of 2 programs for preventing depressive symptoms in adolescents. Participants were 380 high school students randomly assigned to a cognitive-behavioral program (CB), an interpersonal psychotherapy-adolescent skills training program (IPT-AST), or a no-intervention control. The interventions involved eight 90-min weekly sessions run in small groups during wellness classes. At postintervention, students in both the CB and IPT-AST groups reported significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms than did those in the no-intervention group, controlling for baseline depression scores; the 2 intervention groups did not differ significantly from each other. The effect sizes, using Cohen's d, for the CB intervention and the IPT-AST intervention were 0.37 and 0.26, respectively. Differences between control and intervention groups were largest for adolescents with high levels of depressive symptoms at baseline. For a high-risk subgroup, defined as having scored in the top 25th percentile on the baseline depression measure, the effect sizes for the CB and the IPT-AST interventions were 0.89 and 0.84, respectively. For the whole sample, sociotropy and achievement orientation moderated the effect of the interventions. Intervention effects were short term and were not maintained at 6-month follow-up.

Development and Content of a School-Based Occupational Therapy Intervention for Promoting Emotional Well-Being in Children

“…Cognitive changes mean children have the ability for more complex thought, are more able to verbalize their experiences and emotions and are developing their own sense of right and wrong. Evidence suggests that middle childhood is a key time for targeting preventative interventions (Dadds, Spence, Holland, Barrett, & Laurens, 1997;Horowitz, Garber, Ciesla, Young, & Mufson, 2007), in part because research across the lifespan has established that self-esteem becomes more stable in adolescence (defined in this study as 12-17 years) and early adulthood (Trzesniewski, Donnellan, & Robins, 2003). That finding further supports early adolescence as a key time in a child's development for interventions aimed at promoting self-esteem before it stabilizes.…”

“…Our review found that universal interventions are typically not universally effective, with greater benefits being measured in those with greater needs at baseline (Dadds et al, 1997;Horowitz et al, 2007). Additionally, the majority of interventions described demonstrated the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) at modifying an individual's internal cognitions to reduce symptoms of anxiety in children (Cresswell et al, 2014;Dadds et al, 1997;Horowitz et al, 2007).…”

“…Additionally, the majority of interventions described demonstrated the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) at modifying an individual's internal cognitions to reduce symptoms of anxiety in children (Cresswell et al, 2014;Dadds et al, 1997;Horowitz et al, 2007). However, CBT has been found insufficient in effecting significant change when level of functioning was measured as an outcome in children (Vitiello et al, 2006).…”

A controlled trial of a school-based Internet program for reducing depressive symptoms in adolescent girls

“…[2] It also compares positively to the effect sizes for other school-based interventions. [4,29] This is an important finding as it indicates that a self-directed intervention delivered via the Internet may be as effective at reducing depressive symptoms as more resource intense face-to-face interventions. As Internet delivery offers flexibility and sustainability, the findings suggest that MoodGYM could be a valuable resource for reducing distress and depressive symptoms in adolescents.…”

Promoción de la resiliencia en niños con sintomatología depresiva

“…In their meta-analytic review, Horowitz and Garber (2007) suggested that because depression is such a complex problem, multi-component programs are likely to be the most effective. They further suggested that clinical trials should examine hypothesized mediators, such as checking whether the techniques trained (e.g., social skills, attributional training, problem-solving skills) improved following the implementation of the program, and verifying that these were, in fact, the active ingredients responsible for the improvement in depressive symptoms.…”