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Short-term Effectiveness of a School-based Early Intervention Program for Adolescent Depression

Royal North Shore Hospital, Australia, nkowa{at}nsccahs.health.nsw.gov.au

Ronald M. Rapee

Macquarie University, Australia

Julie Simmons

North Beaches Adolescent Service, Australia

Ann Wignall

Northern Sydney Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, Australia

Rebecca Hoge

Royal North Shore Hospital, Australia

Kathy Whitefield

Royal North Shore Hospital, Australia

Julia Starling

University of Sydney, Australia

Roger Stonehouse

NSW Department of Education and Training, Australia

Andrew J. Baillie

Macquarie University, Australia

This article reports on the effectiveness of an early intervention program, 'Adolescents Coping with Emotions' (ACE), for depression in girls. ACE was assessed in a short-term wait-list control trial. In 1999, 882 students (aged 13-16 years) were screened using the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). One hundred and seventy-nine students (63% female) who scored above the CDI cutoff (of 18) were offered the program and 143 (65% female) agreed to participate. On a school basis, participants were allocated to the intervention group ( n = 76; 56% female) who commenced the program within one month, or to a wait-list control condition (control group, n = 50; 79% female) who commenced the ACE program after 10 weeks. Data analysis was conducted for 82 female participants. All students completed the CDI, Adolescent Coping Scale and Children's Automatic Thoughts Scale at pre-And post-intervention. The intervention group also completed a 6-month follow-up. At post-intervention, female ACE participants reported significantly reduced depressive symptoms and significantly improved coping skills compared with the control group. Using cognitive-behavioural and interpersonal techniques, the ACE program diminished depressive symptoms and increased coping skills in girls screening at-risk for depression.

Key Words: adolescent • depression • early intervention • prevention • school

Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Vol. 10, No. 4, 493-507 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1359104505056311


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