PATH 2 Purpose: Design of a comparative effectiveness study of prevention programs for adolescents at-risk for depression in the primary care setting

• Published in: Contemporary Clinical Trials
• Main Authors: Gladstone, Tracy R, Feinstein, Rebecca T, Fitzgibbon, Marian L, Schiffer, Linda, Berbaum, Michael L, Lefaiver, Cheryl, Pössel, Patrick, Diviak, Kathleen, Wang, Tianxiu, Knepper, Amanda K, Sanchez-Flack, Jennifer, Rusiewski, Calvin, Potts, Diane, Buchholz, Katherine R, Myers, Taylor L, Van Voorhees, Benjamin W
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Advocate Aurora Health Institutional Repository 2022
• Subjects: Adolescents; Cognitive-behavioral prevention; Comparative effectiveness; Depression; Group therapy; Internet intervention; Advocate Aurora Research Institute; Advocate Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Faculty - Park Ridge; Advocate Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Faculty - Park Ridge; Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine; Advocate Pediatric Hospital Medicine Faculty - Park Ridge; Aurora Research Institute
• Online Access: https://institutionalrepository.aah.org/allother/213; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cct.2022.106763; https://libkey.io/libraries/1712/pmid/35436622

The majority of mental, emotional, and behavioral (MEB) disorders have an initial onset before age 24, with 20% annual incidence, and with major depressive disorder (MDD) being the most common MEB. Health systems may be able to reduce costs by transitioning from the current treatment-focused model for MDD to a prevention model. However, evidence is needed for (1) the comparative effectiveness of a "scalable intervention" and (2) an implementation model for such a scalable intervention in the primary care setting. This paper describes a comparative effectiveness trial evaluating the efficacy of two evidence-based cognitive-behavioral prevention (CBP) programs: Teens Achieving Mastery over Stress (TEAMS), the "gold standard," group therapy model, and Competent Adulthood Transition with Cognitive Behavioral, Humanistic and Interpersonal Training (CATCH-IT), a scalable, self-directed, technology-based model. Eligible adolescents, age 13-19, are offered one of these two depression prevention programs across five health systems (30 clinics) in urban and suburban Chicago, IL, rural Western IL, and Louisville, KY. We are comprehensively evaluating patient-centered outcomes and stakeholder-valued moderators of effect versus baseline at two, six, 12, and 18-month assessment points. Using a hybrid clinical trial design that simultaneously examines the implementation process, the study is also assessing adolescents', parents', and providers' experiences (e.g., efficacy, time commitment, cultural acceptability) within each intervention approach.