The San Francisco Mood Survey Project; preliminary work toward the prevention of depression

A framework for the adaptation of social learning, cognitive-behavioral treatment approaches to prevention of depression is described. In addition, an illustrative example is given of a survey study that measured behavior and mood before and after a 2-week television miniseries based on these approaches; 3 of 14 behaviors showed a significant change. Mood level improved significantly more for an originally symptomatic group that watched the segments when compared to a similarly symptomatic group which did not watch them. Implications of the study for future work are delineated.