Concurrent treatment for adolescent and parent depressed mood and suicidality: feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary findings.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to conduct a treatment development study to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of treating depressed, suicidal adolescents and their depressed parent concurrently in a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) protocol (Parent-Adolescent-CBT [PA-CBT]). A randomized, controlled, repeated measures design was used to test the hypothesis that PA-CBT would lead to greater reductions in suicidality and depression compared with Adolescent Only CBT (AO-CBT). Participants included 24 adolescent and parent dyads in which the adolescent met American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. (DSM-IV) criteria for current major depressive episode (MDE) and the parent met DSM-IV criteria for current or past MDE. The concurrent protocol was found to be feasible to implement with most depressed adolescents and parents. Adolescent ratings of program satisfaction were somewhat lower in PA-CBT, suggesting that some teens view treatment negatively when they are required to participate with a parent. The concurrent treatment protocol was more effective in reducing depressed mood in the parent-adolescent dyad at the end of maintenance treatment (24 weeks) than treating an adolescent alone for depression; the largest effect was on parental depressed mood. This difference between dyads was no longer significant, however, at the 48 week follow-up. Adolescent and parent suicidal ideation improved equally in both groups during active and maintenance treatment, and remained low at follow-up in both groups. The PA-CBT protocol is feasible to conduct and acceptable to most but not all adolescents. The strongest effect was on parental depressed mood. A larger study that has sufficient power to test efficacy and moderators of treatment outcome is necessary to better understand which adolescents would benefit most from concurrent treatment with a parent.