Controlled Trial of a Brief Cognitive–Behavioural Intervention in Adolescent Patients with Depressive Disorders

TLDR

In a randomized trial, 53 adolescents with depressive disorders received either brief CBT or relaxation training, with 48 completing 5–8 sessions. CBT produced superior depression and overall outcomes immediately after treatment, but showed no advantage for anxiety or conduct symptoms, and the group differences narrowed at follow‑up due to a high relapse rate in the CBT group and continued recovery in the relaxation group.

Abstract

Fifty‐three child and adolescent psychiatric patients with depressive disorders were randomly allocated to brief cognitive‐behaviour therapy (CBT) or to a control treatment, relaxation training. Forty‐eight patients completed the treatment phase of the trial, which comprised 5–8 treatment sessions. Post‐treatment assessments showed a clear advantage of CBT over relaxation on measures of both depression and overall outcome. However, there were no significant differences between the treatments on comorbid anxiety and conduct symptoms. At follow‐up, the differences between the groups were reduced, partly because of a high relapse rate in the DTP group and partly because subjects in the relaxation group continued to recover.