Journal Article

Behavioral activation for late adolescents with subthreshold depression: a randomized controlled trial

Yamawaki, Shigeto, Okamoto, Yasumasa, Jinnin, Ran, Takagaki, Koki, Yamamura, Takanao, Yokoyama, Satoshi, Ogata, Akiko, Miyake, Yoshie, Shiota, Syouichi, Mori, Asako, Shimoda, Haruki, Nishiyama, Yoshiko, Kunisato, Yoshihiko, Okamoto, Yuri, Kawakami, Norito, Furukawa, Toshi A.

2016

Overview

The main behavioral characteristic of subthreshold depression that is observed in adolescents is the low frequency of exposure to environmental rewards. Therefore, it was considered that a simple intervention conducted in short sessions, focusing on increasing access to positively reinforcing activities, would be efficacious in increasing the availability of rewards. We conduct a randomized controlled trial to examine the efficacy of such a behavioral activation program that was conducted weekly for 5 weeks in 60-min sessions. Late adolescent university students aged 18–19 years with subthreshold depression were randomly allocated to a treatment ( n  = 62) or a control group ( n  = 56). The primary outcome of the study was the Beck Depression Inventory-II score. Results indicated that late adolescent students in the treatment group showed significant improvements in their depressive symptoms (effect size −0.90, 95 % CI −1.28 to −0.51) compared to the control group. Students in the treatment group also showed significant improvements in self-reported rating of quality of life and in behavioral characteristics. It is concluded that this intervention had a large and significant effect despite being short and simple and that this low-intensity cognitive behavioral therapy program could be conducted in many different types of institutions. It is suggested that the long-term effects of the treatment program should be targeted for investigation in future studies.

• Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Access / Activation / Adolescent / Adolescents / Adult / Behavior modification / Behavior Therapy - methods / Child and Adolescent Psychiatry / Clinical trials / Cognition & reasoning / Cognitive ability / Cognitive behavioral therapy / College students / Depression / Depression - therapy / Efficacy / Female / Humans / Intervention / Long term / Long-term effects / Male / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Mental depression / Original Contribution / Primary care / Primary groups / Psychiatry / Psychotherapy / Quality of Life / Reward / Rewards / Students / Studies / Teenagers / Treatment Outcome / Treatment programs / Undergraduate students / Young Adult