Strategies included in cognitive behavioral therapy programs to treat internalized disorders: a systematic review

Abstract

This review aimed to identify the strategies used in programs based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to prevent and treat symptoms of anxiety, depression, and internalized behaviors of children and adolescents. Based on an online search (ERIC, PsycInfo, Virtuose UQAM, and Google Scholar), 61 studies describing different cognitive behavioral programs were selected. Results showed that 40 strategies were implemented in at least one program. However, none of the strategies were systematically present in all programs, and only few were reported in more than 50% of the studies. Cognitive restructuring and problem-solving were the most popular strategies to treat depressive symptoms, whereas anxiety programs also generally included relaxation and exposure. Furthermore, six strategies were identified in a single anxiety program, whereas nine strategies were implemented in only one depression program. These results suggest that in anxiety and depression programs designed for children and adolescents, the label "CBT" encompasses a wide variety of programs with only few similar strategies. Such findings highlight the need to define a common basis for CBT programs, in order to better reflect CBT theory and to identify the effectiveness of the strategies included in these programs.

Effectiveness of CBT for children and adolescents with depression: A systematic review and meta-regression analysis

“…A specific advantage of our review is that it is the first to investigate the components of different CBT protocols in detail, thereby continuing the work of Fréchette-Simard et al [15]. As they suggested, we extracted information directly from the individual intervention protocols, rather than from the articles in which the studies were reported.…”

“…Most articles don’t provide detailed information regarding the investigated protocol [15]. It’s often unclear which modules of CBT are used, how the intervention was given and in which dosage.…”

“…So the next step in psychological intervention research is to identify effective mechanisms of existing psychological interventions in order to enhance the effectiveness [14], for a substantial proportion of youths with depression it’s especially relevant to help increase the limited effectiveness of CBT. It is possible to test differential effectiveness of CBT because CBT protocols are known to vary in the presence of different components, and contextual and structural factors [15]. For example, the Problem Solving For Life Project intervention [16] does not have relaxation and challenging thoughts as part of treatment and ‘On Full Power’ [17] does, and the CBT intervention in the ‘Treatment of Adolescents with Depression Study’ does involve parents and the ‘Coping with depression for adolescents’ doesn’t [18].…”

Évaluation de la mise en œuvre du programme d'intervention In vivo chez les jeunes de 11–12 ans d'une école primaire québécoise présentant un problème de comportements intériorisés : une étude exploratoire

“…Le programme a été qualifi é d'innovant par le ministère du conseil exécutif du Gouvernement du Québec 2013 stress, lequel consiste à entrainer le jeune en situation de stress réel et contrôlé. En effet, le programme se démarque de la grande majorité des interventions of fertes, lesquelles se fondent généralement de façon exclusive sur un enseignement théorique (Barrett et Ollendick, 2004, Fréchette-Simard, Plante et Bluteau, 2018.…”

Problem-Solving Training as an Active Ingredient of Treatment for Youth Depression: A Scoping Review and Meta-Analysis

“…PS training is also a common ingredient of other depression treatments (8,10). PS skills are commonly taught within CBT and Dialectic Behaviour Therapy (DBT) (8,(32)(33)(34)(35), where the focus is typically on the four practical PS steps rather than on problem orientation (10). In IPT, PS training aims to help youth understand and resolve relationship problems that may contribute to their depression (32,33,36,37).…”