OBJECTIVE: To design a treatment manual and adherence measure for attachment-based family therapy (ABFT) for adolescent depression and to collect pilot data on the treatment's efficacy. METHOD: Over a period of 2 years, 32 adolescents meeting criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of ABFT or a 6-week, minimal-contact, waitlist control group. The sample was 78% female and 69% African American; 69% were from low-income, inner-city communities. RESULTS: At post-treatment, 81% of the patients treated with ABFT no longer met criteria for MDD, in contrast with 47% of patients in the waitlist group. Mixed factorial analyses of variance revealed that, compared with the waitlist group, patients treated with ABFT showed a significantly greater reduction in both depressive and anxiety symptoms and family conflict. Of the 15 treated cases assessed at the follow-up, 13 patients (87%) continued to not meet criteria for MDD 6 months after treatment ended. CONCLUSIONS:ABFT appears to be a promising treatment and worthy of further development.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE: To design a treatment manual and adherence measure for attachment-based family therapy (ABFT) for adolescent depression and to collect pilot data on the treatment's efficacy. METHOD: Over a period of 2 years, 32 adolescents meeting criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of ABFT or a 6-week, minimal-contact, waitlist control group. The sample was 78% female and 69% African American; 69% were from low-income, inner-city communities. RESULTS: At post-treatment, 81% of the patients treated with ABFT no longer met criteria for MDD, in contrast with 47% of patients in the waitlist group. Mixed factorial analyses of variance revealed that, compared with the waitlist group, patients treated with ABFT showed a significantly greater reduction in both depressive and anxiety symptoms and family conflict. Of the 15 treated cases assessed at the follow-up, 13 patients (87%) continued to not meet criteria for MDD 6 months after treatment ended. CONCLUSIONS:ABFT appears to be a promising treatment and worthy of further development.
Authors: Xinyu Zhou; Sarah E Hetrick; Pim Cuijpers; Bin Qin; Jürgen Barth; Craig J Whittington; David Cohen; Cinzia Del Giovane; Yiyun Liu; Kurt D Michael; Yuqing Zhang; John R Weisz; Peng Xie Journal: World Psychiatry Date: 2015-06 Impact factor: 49.548
Authors: Judy Garber; Steven M Brunwasser; Argero A Zerr; Karen T G Schwartz; Karen Sova; V Robin Weersing Journal: Depress Anxiety Date: 2016-10 Impact factor: 6.505