From therapy to daily life of a depressed adolescent: Crossing psychopathology and optimal functioning

Abstract

Recently, scientific literature has seen significant development and evaluation of several positive psychology interventions. However, there are still lacking studies that evaluate the efficacy of this type of interventions in clinically depressed adolescents. This paper aims to demonstrate the preliminary results of a new therapy implemented to a 14-year-old female adolescent diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder: the Optimal Functioning Therapy for Adolescent. This therapy seeks to promote adolescents’ optimal functioning by reducing depressive symptoms and increasing well-being. The innovation of this therapy lies in the integration of techniques from Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Positive Psychology Interventions. The assessment of this therapy was made using retrospective and real-time or ecological measures (Experience Sampling Method – Csikszentmihalyi and Larson in Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 175, 526–536, 1987) in three moments: baseline; post-intervention; and 4-month follow-up. Retrospective results showed improvement in positive trait characteristics and elimination of depressive symptoms maintained until follow-up. Real-time results showed the benefits of the therapy on the participant’s daily life regarding external contexts (increased engagement and diversification of activities, places, and companies) and state characteristics (increase in positive mood and self-satisfaction, and a decrease in the negative mood), maintained until follow-up. The Optimal Functioning Therapy for Adolescents contributed to the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder and optimal functioning enhancement.