Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-vsgnj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-19T07:01:28.252Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

16 - Depressive disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 August 2009

Richard Harrington
Affiliation:
Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Manchester, UK
Philip J. Graham
Affiliation:
Institute of Child Health, University College London
Get access

Summary

There is no longer a debate about the existence of major depressive disorder in late childhood and adolescence. Reported prevalence in adolescence ranges from 1% to 6% of the general population, with a recent British study finding that approximately 2% of adolescents had had a recent episode of major depression (Meltzer et al., 2000). Rates in children are much less, probably in the order of one per 1000. There is a great deal of comorbidity with other emotional disorders and also with conduct disorder. Follow-up studies have demonstrated that young people with depression have a greater risk of subsequent episodes than non-depressed psychiatric cases. There is also an increased risk of both attempted and completed suicide.

A variety of treatments are now available for major depression in young people. For example, recent findings suggest that the serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) can be effective (Emslie et al., 1997; Keller et al., 2001; Emslie et al., 2002). However, in many cases, psychological treatments are currently the preferred first line of treatment. Several different psychological treatments have been evaluated for depressed children and adolescents. Probably the best evaluated are the cognitive behavioural therapies (CBTs).

This chapter provides a practical account of CBT for depression in late childhood and adolescence. The chapter begins with a brief overview of the theory behind CBT and some general principles of treatment. The core CBT techniques are then described. The chapter concludes with a brief overview of the evidence base for CBT.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Angold, A., Costello, E. J., Pickles, A. and Winder, F. (1987). The Development of a Questionnaire for Use in Epidemiological Studies of Depression in Children and Adolescents. London: Institute of Psychiatry
Angold, A., Costello, E. J. and Worthman, C. M. (1998). Puberty and depression: the roles of age, pubertal status and pubertal timing. Psychological Medicine, 28, 51–61CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beck, A. T. (1967). Depression: Clinical, Experimental and Theoretical Aspects. New York, Harper and Row
Beck, A. T. (1983). Cognitive therapy of depression: new perspectives. In P. J. Clayton and J. E. Barrett (eds.), Treatment of Depression: Old Controversies and New Approaches. New York, Raven Press, pp. 265–84
Birmaher, B., Brent, D., Kolko, D.et al. (2000). Clinical outcome after short-term psychotherapy for adolescents with major depressive disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 57, 29–36CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brent, D., Holder, D., Kolko, D.et al. (1997). A clinical psychotherapy trial for adolescent depression comparing cognitive, family, and supportive treatments. Archives of General Psychiatry, 54, 877–85CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brent, D. A., Kolko, D. J., Birmaher, B.et al. (1998). Predictors of treatment efficacy in a clinical trial of three psychosocial treatments for adolescent depression. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 37, 906–14CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brent, D. A., Kolko, D. J., Birmaher, B., Baugher, M. and Bridge, J. (1999). A clinical trial for adolescent depression: predictors of additional treatment in the acute and follow-up phases of the trial. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 38, 263–70CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clarke, G., Lewinsohn, P. and Hops, H. (1990). Leaders' Manual for Adolescent Groups. Adolescent Coping with Depression Course. Eugene, OR: Castalia Publishing Company
Clarke, G. N., Hawkins, W., Murphy, M., Sheeber, L. B., Lewinsohn, P. M. and Seeley, J. R. (1995). Targeted prevention of unipolar depressive disorder in an at-risk sample of high school adolescents: a randomized trial of a group cognitive intervention. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 34, 312–21CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, G. N., Hops, H., Lewinsohn, P. M., Andrews, J. A., Seeley, J. R. and Williams, J. A. (1992). Cognitive-behavioral group treatment of adolescent depression: prediction of outcome. Behavior Therapy, 23, 341–54CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, G. N., Rohde, P., Lewinsohn, P. M., Hops, H. and Seeley, J. R. (1999). Cognitive-behavioural treatment of adolescent depression: efficacy of acute group treatment and booster sessions. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 38, 272–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curry, J. F. and Craighead, W. E. (1990). Attributional style in clinically depressed and conduct disordered adolescents. Journal of Clinical and Consulting Psychology, 58, 109–16CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dweck, C. and Elliot, E. (1983). Achievement motivation. In P. Mussen and M. Hetherington (eds.), Handbook of Child Psychology, Volume 4. Social and Personality Development. New York: Wiley, pp. 643–91
Emslie, G., Rush, A., Weinberg, W.et al. (1997). A double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial of fluoxetine in depressed children and adolescents. Archives of General Psychiatry, 54, 1031–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emslie, G. J., Heiligenstein, J. H., Wagner, K. D.et al. (2002). Fluoxetine for acute treatment of depression in children and adolescents: a placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 41, 1205–15CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harrington, R., Whittaker, J., Shoebridge, P. and Campbell, F. (1998a). Systematic review of efficacy of cognitive behaviour therapies in child and adolescent depressive disorder. British Medical Journal, 316, 1559–63CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrington, R. C., Whittaker, J. and Shoebridge, P. (1998b). Psychological treatment of depression in children and adolescents: a review of treatment research. British Journal of Psychiatry, 173, 291–8CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jayson, D., Wood, A. J., Kroll, L., Fraser, J. and Harrington, R. C. (1998). Which depressed patients respond to cognitive-behavioral treatment?Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 37, 35–9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kahn, J. S., Kehle, T. J., Jenson, W. R. and Clark, E. (1990). Comparison of cognitive-behavioral, relaxation, and self-modeling interventions for depression among middle-school students. School Psychology Review, 2, 196–211Google Scholar
Kaslow, N. J., Rehm, L. P., Pollack, S. L. and Siegel, A. W. (1988). Attributional style and self-control behavior in depressed and nondepressed children and their parents. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 16, 163–75CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kazdin, A. E. (1997). Practitioner review: psychosocial treatments for conduct disorder in children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38, 161–78CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keller, M. B., Ryan, N. D., Strober, M.et al. (2001). Efficacy of paroxetine in the treatment of adolescent major depression: a randomized, controlled trial. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 40, 762–72CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendall, P. C., Stark, K. D. and Adam, T. (1990). Cognitive deficit or cognitive distortion in childhood depression. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 18, 255–70CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kovacs, M. (1981). Rating scales to assess depression in school aged children. Acta Paedopsychiatrica, 46, 305–15Google ScholarPubMed
Kovacs, M. (1986). A developmental perspective on methods and measures in the assessment of depressive disorders: the clinical interview. In M. Rutter, C. E. Izard and R. B. Read (eds.), Depression in Young People: Developmental and Clinical Perspectives. New York: Guilford Press, pp. 435–65
Kroll, L., Harrington, R. C., Gowers, S., Frazer, J. and Jayson, D. (1996). Continuation of cognitive-behavioural treatment in adolescent patients who have remitted from major depression. Feasibility and comparison with historical controls. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35, 1156–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lansdown, R. (1992). The child's concept of death. In C. Kaplan (ed.), Bereaved Children. London: Association of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, pp. 2–6
Lewinsohn, P. M., Clarke, G. N., Hops, H. and Andrews, J. (1990). Cognitive-behavioural treatment for depressed adolescents. Behavior Therapy, 21, 385–401CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewinsohn, P. M., Clarke, G. N., Rohde, P., Hops, H. and Seeley, J. R. (1996). A course in coping: a cognitive-behavioral approach to the treatment of adolescent depression. In E. Hibbs and P. S. Jensen (eds.), Psychosocial Treatments for Child and Adolescent Disorders: Empirically Based Strategies for Clinical Practice. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, pp. 109–35CrossRef
Liddle, B. and Spence, S. H. (1990). Cognitive-behaviour therapy with depressed primary school children: a cautionary note. Behavioural Psychotherapy, 18, 85–102CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marcotte, D. and Baron, P. (1993). L'efficacite d'une strategie d'intervention emotivo-rationnelle aupres d'adolescents depressifs du milieu scolaire. Canadian Journal of Counselling, 27, 77–92Google Scholar
Meltzer, H., Gatward, R., Goodman, R. and Ford, T. (2000). Mental Health of Children and Adolescents in Great Britain. London: The Stationery Office
Piaget, J. (1970). Piaget's theory. In P. H. Mussen (ed.), Carmichael's Manual of Child Psychology, Volume 1. New York: Wiley, pp. 703–32
Reed, M. K. (1994). Social skills training to reduce depression in adolescents. Adolescence, 29, 293–302Google ScholarPubMed
Reynolds, W. M. and Coats, K. I. (1986). A comparison of cognitive-behavioural therapy and relaxation training for the treatment of depression in adolescents. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 653–60CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rholes, W., Blackwell, J., Jordan, C. and Walters, C. (1980). A developmental study of learned helplessness. Developmental Psychology, 16, 616–24CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stark, K. D. (1990). Childhood Depression: School-Based Intervention. New York, Guilford Press
Stark, K. D., Reynolds, W. M. and Kaslow, N. (1987). A comparison of the relative efficacy of self-control therapy and a behavioral problem-solving therapy for depression in children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 15, 91–113CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stark, K. D., Rouse, L. W. and Livingston, R. (1991). Treatment of depression during childhood and adolescence: cognitive-behavioral procedures for the individual and the family. In P. C. Kendall (ed.), Child and Adolescent Therapy: Cognitive-Behavioural Procedures. New York, Guilford Press, pp. 165–206
Vostanis, P., Feehan, C., Grattan, E. and Bickerton, W. (1996a). A randomized controlled out-patient trial of cognitive-behavioural treatment for children and adolescents with depression: 9-month follow-up. Journal of Affective Disorders, 40, 105–16CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vostanis, P., Feehan, C., Grattan, E. and Bickerton, W. (1996b). Treatment for children and adolescents with depression: lessons from a controlled trial. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 1, 199–212CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weisz, J. R., Thurber, C. A., Sweeney, L., Proffitt, V. D. and LeGagnoux, G. L. (1997). Brief treatment of mild-to-moderate child depression using primary and secondary control enhancement training. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 65, 703–7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilkes, T. C. R. and Rush, A. J. (1988). Adaptations of cognitive therapy for depressed adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 27, 381–6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilkes, T. C. R., Belsher, G., Rush, A. J. and Frank, E. (eds.) (1994). Cognitive Therapy for Depressed Adolescents. New York: Guilford Press
Wood, A. J., Harrington, R. C. and Moore, A. (1996). Controlled trial of a brief cognitive-behavioural intervention in adolescent patients with depressive disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 37, 737–46CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Depressive disorders
  • Edited by Philip J. Graham, Institute of Child Health, University College London
  • Book: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Children and Families
  • Online publication: 21 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511543845.016
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Depressive disorders
  • Edited by Philip J. Graham, Institute of Child Health, University College London
  • Book: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Children and Families
  • Online publication: 21 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511543845.016
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Depressive disorders
  • Edited by Philip J. Graham, Institute of Child Health, University College London
  • Book: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Children and Families
  • Online publication: 21 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511543845.016
Available formats
×