Abstract
Background
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) and depression are common among adolescents, frequently comorbid, and resistant to change. Prevention programs for adolescent SAD are scant, and depression prevention programs do not fully address peer-risk factors. One critical peer-risk factor for SAD and depression is peer victimization. We describe the development and initial evaluation of a transdiagnostic school-based preventive intervention for adolescents with elevated symptoms of social anxiety and/or depression and elevated peer victimization. We modified Interpersonal Psychotherapy-Adolescent Skills Training for depression, incorporating strategies for dealing with social anxiety and peer victimization.
Objective
Our open trial assessed the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary benefit of the modified program (called UTalk) for adolescents at risk for SAD or depression and who also reported peer victimization.
Method
Adolescents (N = 14; 13–18 years; 79 % girls; 86 % Hispanic) were recruited and completed measures of peer victimization, social anxiety, and depression both pre- and post-intervention and provided ratings of treatment satisfaction. Independent evaluators (IEs) rated youths’ clinical severity. The intervention (3 individual and 10 group sessions) was conducted weekly during school.
Results
Regarding feasibility, 86 % of the adolescents completed the intervention (M attendance = 11.58 sessions). Satisfaction ratings were uniformly positive. Intention-to-treat analyses revealed significant declines in adolescent- and IE-rated social anxiety and depression and in reports of peer victimization. Additional secondary benefits were observed.
Conclusions
Although further evaluation is needed, the UTalk intervention appears feasible to administer in schools, with high satisfaction and preliminary benefit. Implications for research on the prevention of adolescent SAD and depression are discussed.
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Notes
A copy of the Manual is available from the first author.
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Funding
This study was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (R34 MH095959) to the first author (PI) and the next two co-authors (Co-Is). The effort of the last author was supported in part by funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Doctoral Foreign Study Award (#201210DFS-303899-191868).
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Laura Mufson, Ph.D. receives book royalties from Guilford Publications, Inc. and Oxford University Press for publications on Interpersonal Psychotherapy for depressed adolescents and Interpersonal Psychotherapy-Adolescent Skills Training respectively. The other authors have no conflict of interest.
Research Involving Human Participants
All procedures performed in the study were in accordance with national and institutional ethical standards for research with human subjects and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained for all participants. In general, written informed parental consent and written adolescent assent were required for all adolescents prior to participating in the screening phase of the open trial. Separate written parental consent and written adolescent assent were required for all adolescents participating in the open trial intervention.
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The first author and fourth authors take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analyses.
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La Greca, A.M., Ehrenreich-May, J., Mufson, L. et al. Preventing Adolescent Social Anxiety and Depression and Reducing Peer Victimization: Intervention Development and Open Trial. Child Youth Care Forum 45, 905–926 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-016-9363-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-016-9363-0