The Depression Prevention Initiative: Trauma as a Moderator of Prevention Outcomes

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Adolescent Mental Health
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Interpersonal Psychotherapy-Adolescent Skills Training (IPT-AST) is an effective depression prevention program for adolescents.
• Trauma history is a known moderator for depression treatment, but its impact on preventive interventions is unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the moderating role of trauma history on the outcomes of a school-based depression prevention program.
• To compare the effectiveness of IPT-AST versus group counseling (GC) in adolescents with varying levels of trauma exposure.

Main Methods:

• A school-based randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving 186 adolescents (mean age 14.01).
• Participants were randomized to either IPT-AST or group counseling (GC) delivered by school counselors.
• Trauma history was assessed to determine its influence on intervention outcomes.

Main Results:

• Trauma history significantly moderated intervention outcomes during the active phase, but not at long-term follow-up.
• Adolescents receiving IPT-AST with low/no trauma exposure showed greater depression symptom reduction than those in GC.
• No significant differences in depression symptom reduction were observed between IPT-AST and GC for adolescents with high trauma exposure.

Conclusions:

• Trauma history influences the effectiveness of adolescent depression prevention programs like IPT-AST.
• The findings suggest a need to assess trauma history when implementing preventive interventions.
• Further research should explore tailoring or supplementing interventions to improve outcomes for adolescents with trauma exposure.