Short-term effectiveness of a school-based early intervention program for adolescent depression

This article reports on the effectiveness of an early intervention program, 'Adolescents Coping with Emotions' (ACE), for depression in girls. ACE was assessed in a short-term wait-list control trial. In 1999, 882 students (aged 13-16 years) were screened using the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI). One hundred and seventy-nine students (63% female) who scored above the CDI cut-off (of 18) were offered the program and 143 (65% female) agreed to participate. On a school basis, participants were allocated to the intervention group (n = 76; 56% female) who commenced the program within one month, or to a wait-list control condition (control group, n = 50; 79% female) who commenced the ACE program after 10 weeks. Data analysis was conducted for 82 female participants. All students completed the CDI, Adolescent Coping Scale and Children's Automatic Thoughts Scale at pre- and post-intervention. The intervention group also completed a 6-month follow-up. At post-intervention, female ACE participants reported significantly reduced depressive symptoms and significantly improved coping skills compared with the control group. Using cognitive-behavioural and interpersonal techniques, the ACE program diminished depressive symptoms and increased coping skills in girls screening at-risk for depression.