Background Depression is common in young people, has a marked negative impact and is associated with self-harm and suicide. Preventing its onset would be an important advance in public health. Objectives To determine whether psychological or educational interventions, or both, are effective in preventing the onset of depressive disorder in children and adolescents. Search methods The Cochrane Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Review Group's trials registers (CCDANCTR) were searched at the editorial base in July 2010. Update searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and ERIC were conducted by the authors in September 2009. Conference abstracts, reference lists of included studies and reviews were searched and experts in the field contacted. Selection criteria Randomised controlled trials of psychological or educational prevention programmes, or both, compared with placebo, any comparison intervention, or no intervention for young people aged 5 to 19 years-old, who did not currently meet diagnostic criteria for depression or who were below the clinical range on standardised, validated, and reliable rating scales of depression, or both, were included. Data collection and analysis Two authors independently assessed studies for inclusion and rated their quality. Sample sizes were adjusted to take account of cluster designs and multiple comparisons. We contacted study authors for additional information where needed. 1 Psychological and educational interventions for preventing depression in children and adolescents (Review)
BackgroundDepression is common in young people, has a marked negative impact and is associated with self‐harm and suicide. Preventing its onset would be an important advance in public health.ObjectivesTo determine whether psychological or educational interventions, or both, are effective in preventing the onset of depressive disorder in children and adolescents.Search methodsThe Cochrane Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Review Group's trials registers (CCDANCTR) were searched at the editorial base in July 2010. Update searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and ERIC were conducted by the authors in September 2009. Conference abstracts, reference lists of included studies and reviews were searched and experts in the field contacted.Selection criteriaRandomised controlled trials of psychological or educational prevention programmes, or both, compared with placebo, any comparison intervention, or no intervention for young people aged 5 to 19 years‐old, who did not currently meet diagnostic criteria for depression or who were below the clinical range on standardised, validated, and reliable rating scales of depression, or both, were included.Data collection and analysisTwo authors independently assessed studies for inclusion and rated their quality. Sample sizes were adjusted to take account of cluster designs and multiple comparisons. We contacted study authors for additional information where needed. Main resultsFifty‐three studies including 14,406 participants were included in the analysis. There were only six studies with clear allocation concealment, participants and assessors were mostly not blind to the intervention or blinding was unclear so that the overall risk of bias was moderately high. Sixteen studies including 3240 participants reported outcomes on depressive diagnosis. The risk of having a depressive disorder post‐intervention was reduced immediately compared with no intervention (15 studies; 3115 participants risk difference (RD) ‐0.09; 95% confidence interval (CI) ‐0.14 to ‐0.05; P<0.0003), at three to nine months (14 studies; 1842 participants; RD ‐0.11; 95% CI ‐0.16 to ‐0.06) and at 12 months (10 studies; 1750 participants; RD ‐0.06; 95% CI ‐0.11 to ‐0.01). There was no evidence for continued efficacy at 24 months (eight studies; 2084 participant; RD ‐0.01; 95% CI ‐0.04 to 0.03) but limited evidence of efficacy at 36 months (two studies; 464 participants; RD ‐0.10; 95% CI ‐0.19 to ‐0.02). There was significant heterogeneity in all these findings. There was no evidence of efficacy in the few studies that compared intervention with placebo or attention controls.Authors' conclusionsThere is some evidence from this review that targeted and universal depression prevention programmes may prevent the onset of depressive disorders compared with no intervention. However, allocation concealment is unclear in most studies, and there is heterogeneity in the findings. The persistence of findings suggests that this is real and not a placebo effect. Plain Language SummaryPsychological and educational interventions for preventing depression in children and adolescentsDepressive disorder is common and has a major impact on the functioning of young people. The aim of this review was to assess the effectiveness of programmes designed to prevent its onset.We found that, compared with no intervention, psychological depression prevention programmes were effective in preventing depression with a number of studies showing a decrease in episodes of depressive illness over a year. There were some problems with the way the studies were done but despite this the results are encouraging. We found data to support both targeted and universal programmes, which is important as universal programmes are likely to be easier to implement. We recommend that further research be undertaken to identify the most effective programmes and to test these in the real world.
Length: Articles should not normally exceed 3,500 words (including references); shorter articles such as research reports, poetry, short stories or commentaries are welcome. Layout and number of copies: Text should be double-lined spaced on one side of A4 paper with 20mm margins on all edges. Font = Times New Roman for all text and headings. All headings must be clearly defined. All tables, figures, diagrams or photos should be submitted separately. The article should clearly show where each is to appear within the text. All submissions must be submitted as word documents. Only the first page of the article should bear the title, the name(s) of the author(s) and the address to which reviews should be sent. In order to enable 'blind' refereeing, please do not include author(s) names on running heads. Foot/End Notes: These should be avoided where possible; the journal preference is for footnotes rather than endnotes. Referencing: References must be useful, targeted and appropriate. The Editorial preference is APA style; see Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (Sixth Edition). Please check all citations in the article are included in your references list and in the correct style. Covering letter: When submitting a manuscript to Teachers and Curriculum, authors must, for ethical and copyright reasons, include in a covering letter a statement confirming that a) the material has not been published elsewhere, and b) the manuscript is not currently under consideration with any other publisher. A fax and email contact should also be supplied. Editorial: All contributions undergo rigorous peer review by at least two expert referees. The Editors reserve the right without consulting the author(s) to make alterations that do not result in substantive changes. The Editors' decisions about acceptance are final.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.