A pilot study of Brief IPT-A delivered in primary care

The objective was to examine the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of a brief version of Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depressed Adolescents (BIPT-A) in low-income Latino adolescents treated in an urban pediatric primary care setting.

Ten adolescents, ages 12 to 19 years, who were referred by their pediatric providers and met criteria for a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, depression diagnosis participated. Participants received 6 weekly sessions of BIPT-A. Acceptability and feasibility were measured by examining session attendance, treatment completion and treatment satisfaction. Paired-samples t tests were used to preliminarily examine treatment outcome as measured by both self-report and clinician-administered assessments of depression, social functioning and global impairment.

Ninety percent of adolescents completed treatment, with 60% of parents having participated in at least one session. Adolescents attended 82% of their treatment sessions, and all participants were very satisfied with the treatment they received. Significant improvement was found for all outcome measures.

The open trial provides preliminary evidence suggesting that BIPT-A may be a feasible and acceptable treatment model capable of engaging adolescents with mild to moderate depression and impairment in treatment in a primary care setting.