Randomized Controlled Trial Testing the Effectiveness of a Depression Prevention Program (‘Op Volle Kracht’) Among Adolescent Girls with Elevated Depressive Symptoms

Abstract

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.

Evaluation of a school-based depression prevention program among adolescents with elevated depressive symptoms: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

“…Consistent with the previous analyses, OVK was not effective at universal level [24] and selective level [25]. However, OVK was effective at an indicated level among adolescents girls [26] when it included only the first eight lessons based solely on CBT techniques. This is in line with Stice et al [21] who showed, that longer prevention programs lead to less positive outcomes.…”

“…Potential loss of power due to data clustering has to be considered, since the intervention will be conducted in small groups, with the mean of seven children in each group. Therefore, the ICC (estimated at 0.07 based on the results of Wijnhoven et al [26]) needs to be incorporated into the sample size calculation. The Variance Inflation Factor (VIF; [44]) equals 1.49, indicating that the sample size must be increased to 117.…”

“…To achieve these aims, this study will use the modified OVK version comprising 8 lessons of Wijnhoven et al [26] that is adapted to an up to date version with a focus on high-risk adolescents and is therefore called OVK 2.0. The effectiveness of OVK 2.0 compared to psycho-education will be examined in a randomized controlled trial with follow-up assessments up to 24 months.…”

Programs for the Prevention of Youth Depression: Evaluation of Efficacy, Effectiveness, and Readiness for Dissemination

“…The program has been implemented with universal (e.g., Pattison & Lynd-Stevenson, 2001), selective (e.g., Cardemil, Reivich, & Seligman, 2002), and indicated (e.g., Wijnhoven, Creemers, Vermulst, Scholte, & Engels, 2014) samples. Although typically a school-based intervention, PRP also has been delivered in primary care clinics (Gillham, Hamilton, Freres, Patton, & Gallop, 2006).…”

Effectiveness of a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-Based Indicated Prevention Program for Children with Elevated Anxiety Levels: a Randomized Controlled Trial

“…These results cannot be attributed to selection bias or other treatment effects, as children who were in active treatment were excluded from participation and a strict randomization process was followed. The influence of the participants’ knowledge of their allocation to the experimental or the control group between the screening and pre-assessment, a so-called expectancy effect (Arrindell 2001; Wijnhoven et al 2013), can also be ruled out because the participants were unaware of their allocation until after pre-assessment. A “test-retest effect,” wherein a change in mean scores towards less psychopathology between two measurements are observed without any formal intervention having yet taken place, could explain a decline in outcome measures between the two measurements.…”