Disorders - Depressive Disorders
Falsafi, Nasrin
Background: Depression and anxiety disorders are two of the most common mental disorders in the United States. These disorders are prevalent among college students. Objective: The main objective of this study is to compare the effectiveness of two different types of intervention practices (mindfulness vs. yoga) and a noninterventional control group in mitigating the effects of depression and/or anxiety in college students. Method: A sample of 90 students (both genders) over age 18 who had a diagnosis of anxiety and/or depression was recruited from 11,500 undergraduate college students in a mid-size university. The study's design included stratified-randomized controlled repeated measures with three groups: a mindfulness intervention group, a yoga-only intervention group, and a noninterventional group. Participants were randomly assigned to the aforementioned three groups. Participants in the intervention groups received an 8-week training either in mindfulness or yoga. Depressive, anxiety, stress symptoms, self-compassion, and mindfulness were measured at baseline, Week 4, Week 8, and Week 12. Results: Depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms decreased significantly (p < .01) from baseline to follow-up conditions in both the mindfulness and yoga intervention groups. The changes in mindfulness scores were also significant in both groups. However, the changes in self-compassion scores were significant only in the mindfulness intervention group. No significant changes in the control group were demonstrated. Conclusions: The findings from this study can provide useful information to nurses and other health care providers. This study may have implications for a cost-effective treatment for depression and anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)
Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 22(6) : 483-497
- Year: 2016
- Problem: Anxiety Disorders (any), Depressive Disorders
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
-
Treatment and intervention: Complementary & Alternative Interventions (CAM)
, Psychological Interventions (any)
, Mindfulness based therapy, Mind-body exercises (e.g. yoga, tai chi, qigong)
Cook, N. E., Gorraiz, M.
Background: Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) has proven effective in reducing symptoms and behaviors related to Borderline Personality Disorder. More recently, it has been modified and applied to adolescents struggling with regulating their emotions and who may engage in impulsive, self-destructive behaviors, including nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). However, there is limited research evidence regarding the effectiveness of DBT for reducing NSSI behavior and depression among adolescents. Given the high suicide risk associated with NSSI and its association with depression, this is clearly an important focus of clinical and research attention. Method: This meta-analysis sought to offer preliminary evidence regarding the effectiveness of DBT to treat NSSI and depression in adolescents. Twelve published studies were included; all 12 reported pre- and post-treatment measures of depression and six of these studies reported pre- and post-treatment measures of NSSI. Results: The weighted mean effect size for NSSI was large (g = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.59-1.03); the weighted mean effect size for depression was small (g = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.30-0.42). Conclusions: Intervention effects for both outcomes were positive, suggesting decreased NSSI and improvement in depressive symptoms for adolescents following a course of DBT. However, given considerable limitations in the research base available for meta-analysis, these findings are preliminary and tentative. Limitations in the current knowledge base and suggestions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract).
Child & Adolescent Mental Health, 21(2) : 81-89
- Year: 2016
- Problem: Depressive Disorders, Non-suicidal self-harm behaviours
- Type: Systematic reviews
-
Stage: At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT)
Cuijpers, P., Cristea, I. A., Ebert, D. D., Koot, H. M., Auerbach, R., Bruffaerts, R, Kessler, R. C.
Background: Expanded efforts to detect and treat depression among college students, a peak period of onset, have the potential to bear high human capital value from a societal perspective because depression increases college withdrawal rates. However, it is not clear whether evidence-based depression therapies are as effective in college students as in other adult populations. The higher levels of cognitive functioning and IQ and higher proportions of first-onset cases might lead to treatment effects being different among college students relative to the larger adult population. Methods: We conducted a metaanalysis of randomized trials comparing psychological treatments of depressed college students relative to control groups and compared effect sizes in these studies to those in trials carried out in unselected populations of depressed adults. Results: The 15 trials on college students satisfying study inclusion criteria included 997 participants. The pooled effect size of therapy versus control was g = 0.89 (95% CI: 0.66~1.11; NNT = 2.13) with moderate heterogeneity (I2 = 57; 95% CI: 23~72). None of these trials had low risk of bias. Effect sizes were significantly larger when students were not remunerated (e.g. money, credit), received individual versus group therapy, and were in trials that included a waiting list control group. No significant difference emerged in comparing effect sizes among college students versus adults either in simple mean comparisons or in multivariate metaregression analyses. Conclusions: This metaanalysis of trials examining psychological treatments of depression in college students suggests that these therapies are effective and have effect sizes comparable to trials carried out among depressed adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract).
Depression & Anxiety, 33(5) : 400-414
- Year: 2016
- Problem: Depressive Disorders
- Type: Systematic reviews
-
Stage: At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
, Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
Cuijpers, P., Donker, T., Weissman, M. M., Ravitz, P., Cristea, I. A.
OBJECTIVE: Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) has been developed for the treatment of depression but has been examined for several other mental disorders. A comprehensive meta-analysis of all randomized trials examining the effects of IPT for all mental health problems was conducted.
METHOD: Searches in PubMed, PsycInfo, Embase, and Cochrane were conducted to identify all trials examining IPT for any mental health problem.
RESULTS: Ninety studies with 11,434 participants were included. IPT for acute-phase depression had moderate-to-large effects compared with control groups (g=0.60; 95% CI=0.45-0.75). No significant difference was found with other therapies (differential g=0.06) and pharmacotherapy (g=-0.13). Combined treatment was more effective than IPT alone (g=0.24). IPT in subthreshold depression significantly prevented the onset of major depression, and maintenance IPT significantly reduced relapse. IPT had significant effects on eating disorders, but the effects are probably slightly smaller than those of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in the acute phase of treatment. In anxiety disorders, IPT had large effects compared with control groups, and there is no evidence that IPT was less effective than CBT. There was risk of bias as defined by the Cochrane Collaboration in the majority of studies. There was little indication that the presence of bias influenced outcome.
CONCLUSIONS: IPT is effective in the acute treatment of depression and may be effective in the prevention of new depressive disorders and in preventing relapse. IPT may also be effective in the treatment of eating disorders and anxiety disorders and has shown promising effects in some other mental health disorders.
American Journal of Psychiatry, 173(7) : 680-7
- Year: 2016
- Problem: Depressive Disorders
- Type: Systematic reviews
-
Stage: Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Interpersonal therapy (IPT)
Cuijpers, Pim, Ebert, David D., Acarturk, Ceren, Andersson, Gerhard, Cristea, Ioana A.
Personalized medicine is aimed at identifying which characteristics of an individual predict the outcome of a specific treatment, in order to get a better match between the individual and the treatment received. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials comparing two psychotherapies directly in a group of depressed patients with a specific characteristic. We focused on the six most examined types of psychotherapy for adult depression. Our searches resulted in 41 studies with 2,741 patients who met inclusion criteria. These 41 studies examined 27 specific characteristics of patients. Power calculations indicated that we would need 4 studies for each characteristic to find a clinically relevant effect size set at g = 0.50 and 16 studies for an effect size of 0.24. Only 3 patient characteristics were found to have sufficient power and to significantly moderate treatment outcomes. Cognitive-behavioral therapy was found to be more effective than other therapies in older adults (g = 0.29), in patients with comorbid addictive disorders (g = 0.31), and in university students (g = 0.46). Risk of bias was considerable in most of the included studies. It was estimated that it will take another 326 years to have sufficient statistical power for showing an effect size of g = 0.50 of the 27 characteristics, and 1,372 years to show an effect size of 0.24. Although several dozens of studies have compared the effects of psychotherapies in specific target groups, we will need to develop more powerful alternatives to comparative outcome studies in order to identify personalized treatments for depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)
Behavior Therapy, 47(6) : 966-980
- Year: 2016
- Problem: Depressive Disorders
- Type: Systematic reviews
-
Stage: At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
, Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Cognitive & behavioural therapies (CBT)
Das, J. K., Salam, R. A., Lassi, Z. S., Khan, M. N., Mahmood, W., Patel, V., Bhutta, Z. A.
Many mental health disorders emerge in late childhood and early adolescence and contribute to the burden of these disorders among young people and later in life. We systematically reviewed literature published up to December 2015 to identify systematic reviews on mental health interventions in adolescent population. A total of 38 systematic reviews were included. We classified the included reviews into the following categories for reporting the findings: school-based interventions (n = 12); community-based interventions (n = 6); digital platforms (n = 8); and individual-/family-based interventions (n = 12). Evidence from school-based interventions suggests that targeted group-based interventions and cognitive behavioral therapy are effective in reducing depressive symptoms (standard mean difference [SMD]: -.16; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -.26 to -.05) and anxiety (SMD: -.33; 95% CI: -.59 to -.06). School-based suicide prevention programs suggest that classroom-based didactic and experiential programs increase short-term knowledge of suicide (SMD: 1.51; 95% CI: .57-2.45) and knowledge of suicide prevention (SMD: .72; 95% CI: .36-1.07) with no evidence of an effect on suicide-related attitudes or behaviors. Community-based creative activities have some positive effect on behavioral changes, self-confidence, self-esteem, levels of knowledge, and physical activity. Evidence from digital platforms supports Internet-based prevention and treatment programs for anxiety and depression; however, more extensive and rigorous research is warranted to further establish the conditions. Among individual- and family-based interventions, interventions focusing on eating attitudes and behaviors show no impact on body mass index (SMD: -.10; 95% CI: -.45 to .25); Eating Attitude Test (SMD: .01; 95% CI: -.13 to .15); and bulimia (SMD: -.03; 95% CI: -.16 to .10). Exercise is found to be effective in improving self-esteem (SMD: .49; 95% CI: .16-.81) and reducing depression score (SMD: -.66; 95% CI: -1.25 to -.08) with no impact on anxiety scores. Cognitive behavioral therapy compared to waitlist is effective in reducing remission (odds ratio: 7.85; 95% CI: 5.31-11.6). Psychological therapy when compared to antidepressants have comparable effect on remission, dropouts, and depression symptoms. The studies evaluating mental health interventions among adolescents were reported to be very heterogeneous, statistically, in their populations, interventions, and outcomes; hence, meta-analysis could not be conducted in most of the included reviews. Future trials should also focus on standardized interventions and outcomes for synthesizing the exiting body of knowledge. There is a need to report differential effects for gender, age groups, socioeconomic status, and geographic settings since the impact of mental health interventions might vary according to various contextual factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)
Journal of Adolescent Health, 59(4, Suppl) : S49-S60
- Year: 2016
- Problem: Anxiety Disorders (any), Depressive Disorders, Eating Disorders (any), Suicide or self-harm behaviours (excluding non-suicidal self-harm)
- Type: Systematic reviews
-
Stage: Universal prevention
, At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
, Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
-
Treatment and intervention: Biological Interventions (any)
, Complementary & Alternative Interventions (CAM)
, Service Delivery & Improvement, Psychological Interventions (any)
, Technology, interventions delivered using technology (e.g. online, SMS)
Devenish, B., Berk, L., Lewis, A. J.
OBJECTIVE: Given depression is a significant risk factor for suicidal behaviour, it is possible that interventions for depression may also reduce the risk of suicide in adolescents. The purpose of this literature review is to determine whether psychological interventions aimed to prevent and/or treat depression in adolescents can also reduce suicidality.
METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of psychological interventions aimed to prevent and/or treat depression in adolescents in which outcomes for suicidality were reported, using five databases: PsycINFO, Embase, Medline, CINAHL and Scopus. Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration's tool for assessing risk of bias.
RESULTS: A total of 35 articles pertaining to 12 treatment trials, two selective prevention trials and two universal prevention trials met inclusion criteria. No studies were identified that used a no-treatment control. In both intervention and active control groups, suicidality decreased over time; however, most structured psychological depression treatment interventions did not outperform pharmaceutical or treatment as usual control groups. Depression prevention studies demonstrated small but statistically significant reductions in suicidality.
LIMITATIONS: Analysis of study quality suggested that at least 10 of the 16 studies have a high risk of bias. Conclusive comparisons across studies are problematic due to differences in measures, interventions, population differences and control groups used.
CONCLUSIONS: It is unclear whether psychological treatments are more effective than no treatment since no study has used a no-treatment control group. There is evidence to suggest that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy interventions produce pre-post reductions in suicidality with moderate effect sizes and are at least as efficacious as pharmacotherapy in reducing suicidality; however, it is unclear whether these effects are sustained. There are several trials showing promising evidence for family-based and interpersonal therapies, with large pre-post effect sizes, and further evaluation with improved methodology is required. Depression prevention interventions show promising short-term effects.
Copyright © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2016.
Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 50(8) : 726-40
- Year: 2016
- Problem: Depressive Disorders, Suicide or self-harm behaviours (excluding non-suicidal self-harm)
- Type: Systematic reviews
-
Stage: At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
, Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
-
Treatment and intervention: Complementary & Alternative Interventions (CAM)
, Psychological Interventions (any)
Forman-Hoffman, V., McClure, E., McKeeman, J., Wood, C. T., Middleton, J. C., Skinner, A. C., Perrin, E. M., Viswanathan, M.
Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is common among children and adolescents and is associated with functional impairment and suicide. Purpose: To update the 2009 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) systematic review on screening for and treatment of MDD in children and adolescents in primary care settings. Data Sources: Several electronic searches (May 2007 to February 2015) and searches of reference lists of published literature. Study Selection: Trials and recent systematic reviews of treatment, test-retest studies of screening, and trials and large cohort studies for harms. Data Extraction: Data were abstracted by 1 investigator and checked by another; 2 investigators independently assessed study quality. Data Synthesis: Limited evidence from 5 studies showed that such tools as the Beck Depression Inventory and Patient Health Questionnaire for Adolescents had reasonable accuracy for identifying MDD among adolescents in primary care settings. Six trials evaluated treatment. Several individual fair-and goodquality studies of fluoxetine, combined fluoxetine and cognitive behavioral therapy, escitalopram, and collaborative care demonstrated benefits of treatment among adolescents, with no associated harms. Limitation: The review included only English-language studies, narrow inclusion criteria focused only on MDD, high thresholds for quality, potential publication bias, limited data on harms, and sparse evidence on long-term outcomes of screening and treatment among children younger than 12 years. Conclusion: No evidence was found of a direct link between screening children and adolescents for MDD in primary care or similar settings and depression or other health-related outcomes. Evidence showed that some screening tools are accurate and some treatments are beneficial among adolescents (but not younger children), with no evidence of associated harms.
Annals of Internal Medicine, 164(5) : 342-349
- Year: 2016
- Problem: Depressive Disorders
- Type: Systematic reviews
-
Stage: Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
-
Treatment and intervention: Biological Interventions (any)
, Psychological Interventions (any)
, Other Psychological Interventions
Forti Buratti, M. A., Saikia, R., Wilkinson, E. L., Ramchandani, P. G.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of psychological treatments for depression in pre-adolescent children, a disorder affecting 1 - 2 % of children in this age range. A systematic review of studies of psychological interventions to treat depressive disorder in pre-adolescent children (aged up to 12-years-old) was carried out. The primary outcome was level of depressive symptoms. Studies were found using Medline, PsycINFO, EMBASE and Web of Knowledge databases and selected on several criteria. Only randomised controlled trials were included. Where individual studies covered a broader age range (usually including adolescents up to age 18 years), authors of those studies were contacted and requested to provide individual patient level data for those aged 12 years and younger. 2822 abstracts were reviewed, and from these 124 full text articles were reviewed, yielding 7 studies for which we were able to access appropriate data for this review. 5 of these studies evaluated cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). Combined results from these studies suggest that there is a lack of evidence that CBT is better than no treatment [standard mean difference −0.342 (95 % confidence interval −0.961, 0.278)], although the number of participants included in the trials was relatively small. The evidence for efficacy of family therapy and psychodynamic therapy is even more limited. The very limited number of participants in randomised controlled trials means that there is inconclusive evidence for the psychological treatment of depression in children aged 12 years and below. Given the prevalence and significant impact of this disorder, there is an urgent need to establish the effectiveness or otherwise of psychological intervention.
European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, : 1-10
- Year: 2016
- Problem: Depressive Disorders
- Type: Systematic reviews
-
Stage: Disorder established (diagnosed disorder)
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
Hansson, A., Hansson, L., Danielsson, I., Domellof, E.
This preliminary study explored if a collaborative and therapeutic approach (CTA) could reduce self-reported psychiatric symptoms (Beck Youth Inventories [BYI]) in children referred for neuropsychological assessment. Participants included 11 children (M(age )= 12.4 years) receiving CTA, 11 (M(age) = 12.6 years) receiving parent support, and 9 (M(age) = 12.3 years) remaining on a waiting list. Contrary to both comparison groups, the CTA group reported fewer psychiatric symptoms on most BYI subscales after intervention, and this decrease was sustained for the Anger and Anxiety subscales at 6-month follow-up. Findings support a potential effectiveness of CTA in the neuropsychological assessment of children in a child psychiatric setting.
Applied Neuropsychology. Child, 5(2) : 97-106
- Year: 2016
- Problem: Depressive Disorders
- Type: Controlled clinical trials
-
Stage: At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
-
Treatment and intervention: Service Delivery & Improvement, Psychological Interventions (any)
, Other Psychological Interventions, Other service delivery and improvement interventions
Haslam, C., Cruwys, T., Haslam, S. A., Dingle, G., Chang, M. X. L.
Background Social isolation and disconnection have profound negative effects on mental health, but there are few, if any, theoretically-derived interventions that directly target this problem. We evaluate a new intervention, Groups 4 Health (G4H), a manualized 5-module psychological intervention that targets the development and maintenance of social group relationships to treat psychological distress arising from social isolation. Methods G4H was tested using a non-randomized control design. The program was delivered to young adults presenting with social isolation and affective disturbance. Primary outcome measures assessed mental health (depression, general anxiety, social anxiety, and stress), well-being (life satisfaction, self-esteem) and social connectedness (loneliness, social functioning). Our secondary goal was to assess whether mechanisms of social identification were responsible for changes in outcomes. Results G4H was found to significantly improve mental health, well-being, and social connectedness on all measures, both on program completion and 6-month follow-up. In line with social identity theorizing, analysis also showed that improvements in depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness, and life satisfaction were underpinned by participants' increased identification both with their G4H group and with multiple groups. Limitations This study provides preliminary evidence of the potential value of G4H and its underlying mechanisms, but further examination is required in other populations to address issues of generalizability, and in randomized controlled trials to address its wider efficacy. Conclusions Results of this pilot study confirm that G4H has the potential to reduce the negative health-related consequences of social disconnection. Future research will determine its utility in wider community contexts.
Journal of Affective Disorders, 194 : 188-195
- Year: 2016
- Problem: Anxiety Disorders (any), Depressive Disorders
- Type: Controlled clinical trials
-
Stage: At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Other Psychological Interventions
Gaete, Jorge, Martinez, Vania, Fritsch, Rosemarie, Rojas, Graciela, Montgomery, Alan A., Araya, Ricardo
Background: Depression is a disabling condition affecting people of all ages, but generally starting during adolescence. Schools seem to be an excellent setting where preventive interventions may be delivered. This study aimed to test the effectiveness of an indicated school-based intervention to reduce depressive symptoms among at-risk adolescents from low-income families. Methods: A two-arm, parallel, randomized controlled trial was conducted in 11 secondary schools in vulnerable socioeconomic areas in Santiago, Chile. High-risk students in year 10 (2degree Medio) were invited to a baseline assessment (n = 1048). Those who scored >10 (boys) and >15 (girls) in the BDI-II were invited to the trial (n = 376). A total of 342 students consented and were randomly allocated into an intervention or a control arm in a ratio of 2:1. The intervention consisted of 8 group sessions of 45 min each, based on cognitive-behavioural models and delivered by two trained psychologists in the schools. Primary (BDI-II) and secondary outcomes (measures of anxiety, automatic thoughts and problem-solving skills) were administered before and at 3 months post intervention. The primary outcome was the recovery rate, defined as the proportion of participants who scored in the BDI-II <10 (among boys) and <15 (among girls) at 3 months after completing the intervention. Results: There were 229 participants in the intervention group and 113 in the control group. At 3-month follow-up 81.4 % in the intervention and 81.7 % in the control group provided outcome data. The recovery rate was 10 % higher in the intervention (50.3 %) than in the control (40.2 %) group; with an adjusted OR = 1.62 (95 % CI: 0.95 to 2.77) (p = 0.08). No difference between groups was found in any of the secondary outcomes. Secondary analyses revealed an interaction between group and baseline BDI-II score. Conclusions: We found no clear evidence of the effectiveness of a brief, indicated school-based intervention based on cognitive-behavioural models on reducing depressive symptoms among Chilean adolescents from low-income families. More research is needed in order to find better solutions to prevent depression among adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
BMC Psychiatry Vol 16 2016, ArtID 276, 16 :
- Year: 2016
- Problem: Depressive Disorders
- Type: Randomised controlled trials
-
Stage: At risk (indicated or selected prevention)
-
Treatment and intervention: Psychological Interventions (any)
, Other Psychological Interventions