Group Treatment for Adolescents With Depression

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Status: Terminated

Conditions: Depression

Treatments: Behavioral: Psychoeducation group treatment; Behavioral: Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Group

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02115737

213-2012

Details and patient eligibility

About

Youth with depressive symptoms are at risk for a range of problems later in life. This includes problematic interpersonal relationships, occupational stress, and the occurrence of adult mental disorders. The main purpose of this study is to test how effective two types of group therapy are at reducing depressive symptoms in youth. A focus on group therapy is important because group therapy allows for many youth to be treated in a short amount of time. Group therapy is also helpful because youth can get social support and feel less alone in their symptoms when they participate in group. This study compares two groups, one that targets skills for managing difficult emotional experiences (dialectical behavior therapy skills group) and another group focuses on psychoeducation and is based on a publicly available treatment manual from the Services for Teens At Risk (STAR) Center at the University of Pittsburgh. The results of this study will provide insights regarding the comparative efficacy of these two treatments, and regarding predictors of treatment response.

Enrollment: 11 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 14 to 19 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• English speaking
• male or female, ages 14 to 19, all races and ethnicities
• Current depression as assessed by an ALIFE - PSR score equal to or greater than 4
• Has a treating psychiatrist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Exclusion criteria

• Current manic episode
• current psychosis

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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11 participants in 2 patient groups

Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Group

Experimental group

Description:

Twelve week skills based group therapy include four modules: mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and walking the middle path

Treatment:

Behavioral: Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Group

Psychoeducation group treatment

Experimental group

Description:

The comparison group used in the present study is based on a publicly available treatment manual from the Services for Teens At Risk (STAR) Center at the University of Pittsburgh

Treatment:

Behavioral: Psychoeducation group treatment