Abstract
Background: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a disabling mood disorder, profoundly affecting a large number of adolescent’s quality of life. To date, no obvious treatment of choice for MDD in adolescents is available and progress in the treatment of depressed adolescents will have important public health implications. Attachment-Based Family Therapy (ABFT), as the only empirically supported family therapy model designed to treat adolescent depression, aims to repair interpersonal ruptures and rebuild an emotionally protective parent-child relationship. Objective: To study the efficacy of ABFT compared with Treatment as Usual (TAU) delivered within child- and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) to adolescents with MDD. Method: Sixty adolescents, aged 13-18 years, with MDD referred to two CAMHS were randomized to receive 16 weeks of ABFT or TAU. ABFT consisted of weekly therapy sessions (family/individual or both) according to the treatment manual. TAU was not monitored. Primary outcomes were clinician-rated (Hamilton Depression Scale, HAMD) and self-reported (Beck Depression Inventory-II, BDI-II) depressive symptoms assessed at baseline and post-treatment by blinded evaluators for HAMD and at baseline, and after 4, 6, 8, 10,12, 14, and 16 weeks for BDI-II. Analyses were performed according to intent-to-treat principles. Results: At post-treatment, clinician-rated remission rates on the HAMD (5 % in ABFT and 3.33% in TAU, p =1, OR=1.54, Fisher’s exact test) and self-reported symptoms of depression on the BDI-II did not differ significantly between groups ( X 2 [2, N = 60] =0.06 , p = 0.97). In both treatment groups participants reported significantly reduced depressive symptoms, but the majority of adolescents were still in the clinical range after 16 weeks of treatment. Conclusion: In this sample of adolescents treated for MDD in community mental health clinics, ABFT was not associated with more favorable outcomes than TAU in terms of remission rates on clinician rated and self-reported depressive symptoms. Remission and response rates were low in both groups, suggesting a need for continued improvement of the treatment methods. Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT01830088 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01830088?term=Villab%C3%B8&draw=2&rank=1 Date of registration: April 12, 2013 Keywords: Depression, Adolescents, Attachment Based Family Therapy, Efficacy trial
Adding “Circle of Security - Parenting” to treatment as usual in three Swedish infant mental health clinics. Effects on parents’ internal representations and quality of parent-infant interaction
