Prevention of depression among Icelandic adolescents

• Published in: Behaviour Research and Therapy
• Main Authors: Arnarson, Eiríkur Orn, Craighead, W Edward
• Other Authors: Landspitali-University Hospital, University of Iceland, Faculty of Medicine, Iceland.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsiver Sciencs 2011
• Subjects: Adolescent; Iceland; Depressive Disorder; Depression
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/125829; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2009.03.011

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field Major depression and dysthymia are frequent, debilitating, and chronic disorders, whose highest rate of initial onset is during the late adolescent years. The effectiveness of a program designed to prevent an initial episode of major depression or dysthymia among adolescents was investigated. Participants were 171 fourteen-year-old "at risk" Icelandic adolescents who were randomly assigned to a prevention program or a treatment-as-usual assessment only control group. They were identified as "at risk" by reporting the presence of depressive symptoms or a negative attributional style. The program was based on a developmental psychosocial model of enhancement of resilience to factors associated with the occurrence of mood disorders. The results indicated that the prevention program resulted in a significantly lower rate of major depression and dysthymia than did the control group. The study demonstrated that school personnel in the school setting can implement such prevention programs.