Evidence-Base Update of Psychosocial and Combination Treatments for Child and Adolescent Depression

This evidence-based update (EBU) builds on three previous reviews (1998, 2008, 2017) sponsored by the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology with the aim of evaluating the empirical support for psychosocial interventions for depression in youth.

In the current review period (2014-2022), 25 randomized controlled trials (RCT) were identified: four in children and 21 in adolescents. Descriptive effect sizes and number-needed-to-treat (NNT) ratios were calculated for primary outcomes. Results were integrated with prior reviews, and cumulative evidence used to classify treatments as well-established, probably efficacious, possibly efficacious, or experimental. Published secondary analyses of predictors, moderators, and mediators were examined.

For adolescents, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT-A), CBT in combination with antidepressant medication, and collaborative care programs were all classified as well-established. The evidence was considerably weaker for children, with no treatments achieving well-established or probably efficacious status. New developments include greater exploration of parent- and family-mediated treatment models and increasing evidence on technology-assisted interventions. Data on predictors, moderators, and mediators continued to be focused on adolescent depression samples and drawn from a limited number of RCT datasets.

Since the prior EBU, there has been incremental progress in youth depression treatment research. There is an urgent need to: (a) develop innovative approaches to substantially improve on the modest effects seen in most RCTs, (b) expand the evidence base for children and other underserved groups, (c) craft evidence-based guidelines for choosing between interventions when multiple efficacious treatments do exist, and (d) address issues of treatment effectiveness and scalability to ameliorate the wide prevalence and high impact of depression in youth.