Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T03:49:27.113Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Computerized CBT for Adolescent Depression (“Stressbusters”) and its Initial Evaluation Through an Extended Case Series

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 January 2009

Paul Abeles ,
Chrissie Verduyn ,
Alexander Robinson ,
Patrick Smith ,
William Yule  and
Judy Proudfoot
Paul Abeles*
Affiliation:
Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospital NHS Trust, UK
Chrissie Verduyn
Affiliation:
Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospital NHS Trust, UK
Alexander Robinson
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK
Patrick Smith
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK
William Yule
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK
Judy Proudfoot
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
*
Reprint requests to Paul Abeles, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Department of Clinical Psychology, Booth Hall Children's Hospital, Charlestown Road, Manchester M9 7AA, UK. E-mail: paul.abeles@cmmc.nhs.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background: “Stressbusters” is an interactive computer software programme based on a clinically effective face-to-face CBT protocol for young people with depression. It was designed for teenagers with mild to moderate depression, and comprises eight 45-minute sessions. Method: Twenty-three young people (aged 12–16; mean age 14.87 years) with symptoms of depression were recruited from CAMHS teams in Manchester and London, and received the Stressbusters treatment (range 1 – 8 sessions, mode 8 sessions). Results: On the K-SADS at initial assessment, 95% met diagnostic criteria for a depressive disorder, with a high group mean score of 35.48 (SD 9.84) on the MFQ. Post-treatment, 22% of young people met criteria for a depressive disorder, with the group mean score on the MFQ falling significantly below clinical cut-off to 20.32 (SD 11.75). These gains were maintained at 3-month follow-up. Significant improvements were also found in the adolescents' global functioning (CGAS), self-reported anxiety (RCMAS), depressive cognitions and attributions (ATQ and CTI-C), and in adolescent- and parent-reported emotional and behavioural difficulties (SDQ). Conclusions: Taken together, these results provide promising preliminary data for the clinical efficacy of Stressbusters as a valid form of CCBT for adolescents with depression.

Keywords

Computerized CBTdepression in teenagerscase series
Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , March 2009 , pp. 151 - 165
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Angold, A., Costello, E. J., Pickles, A. and Winder, F. (1987). The Development of a Questionnaire for Use in Epidemiological Studies of Depression in Children and Adolescents. London: Medical Research Council Child Psychiatry Unit.Google Scholar
Angold, A., Erkanli, A., Silberg, J., Eaves, L. and Costello, E. J. (2002). Depression scale scores in 8–17-year-olds: effects of age and gender. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 43, 1052–1063.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T. (1976). Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders. New York: International Universities Press.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A. and Brown, G. K. (1996). Beck Depression Inventory-II: Manual. San Antonio: The Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Cooper, P. J. and Goodyer, I. M. (1993). A community study of depression in adolescent girls: 1. estimates of symptom and syndrome prevalence. British Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 369–374.Google Scholar
Daviss, W. B., Birmaher, B., Melhem, N. A., Axelson, D. A., Michaels, S. M. and Brent, D. A. (2006). Criterion validity of the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire for depressive episodes in clinic and non-clinic subjects. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47, 927–934.Google Scholar
Dobson, K. S. (1989). A meta-analysis of the efficacy of cognitive therapy for depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57, 414–419.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DeRubeis, R. J., Evans, M. D., Hollon, S. D., Garvey, M. J., Grove, W. M., and Tuason, V. B. (1990). How does cognitive therapy work? Cognitive change and symptom change in cognitive therapy and pharmacotherapy for depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 58, 862–869.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goldberg, D. P. (1972). The Detection of Psychiatric Illness by Questionnaire (CHQ-28). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Goodman, R. (1997). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: a research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38, 581–586.Google Scholar
Goodman, R. (2001). Psychometric properties of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 40, 1337–1345.Google Scholar
Goodyer, I. M., Herbert, J., Tamplin, A. and Altham, P. M. (2000). Recent life events, cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone and the onset of major depression in high-risk adolescents. British Journal of Psychiatry, 177, 499–504.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaslow, N. J., Stark, K. D., Printz, B., Livingston, R. and Tsai, S. L. (1992). Cognitive Triad Inventory for children: development and relation to depression and anxiety. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 21, 339–347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaufman, J., Birmaher, B., Brent, D. A., Rao, U., Flynn, C., Moreci, P., Williamson, D. and Ryan, N. (1997). Schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia for school age children – present and lifetime version (K-SADS-PL): initial reliability and validity data. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 980–988.Google Scholar
Kendall, P. C., Hollon, S. D., Corcoran, K. and Fischer, J. (1987). Measures for Clinical Practice: a sourcebook (pp. 100–101). New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Kroll, L., Harrington, R. C., Gowers, S., Frazer, J. and Jayson, D. (1996). Continuation of CBT in adolescent patients who have remitted from major depression: feasibility and comparison with historical controls. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 56, 1156–1161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewinsohn, P. M. and Clarke, G. N. (1999). Psychosocial treatments for adolescent depression. Clinical Psychology Review, 19, 329–342.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marks, I. M., Mataix-Cols, D., Kenwright, K., Cameron, R., Hirsch, S. and Gega, L. (2003). Pragmatic evaluation of computer-aided self help for anxiety and depression. British Journal of Psychiatry, 183, 57–65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCrone, P., Knapp, M., Proudfoot, J., Ryden, C., Cavanagh, K., Shapiro, D. A., Ilson, S., Gray, J. A. G., Goldberg, D., Mann, A., Marks, I., Everitt, B. and Tylee, A. (2004). Cost-effectiveness of computerized cognitive-behavioural therapy for anxiety and depression in primary care: results from a randomized controlled trial. British Journal of Psychiatry, 185, 55–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merry, S., McDowell, H., Hetrick, S., Bir, J. and Muller, N. (2004). Psychological and/or educational interventions for the prevention of depression in children and adolescents (review). The Cochrane Library, Issue 3. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Muris, P., Merckelbach, H., Ollendick, T., King, N. and Bogie, N. (2002). Three traditional and three new childhood anxiety questionnaires: their reliability and validity in a normal adolescent sample. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40, 753–772.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) (2004). Computerized Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Depression and Anxiety Update: a systematic review and economic evaluation. http://www.nice.org.uk/pdf/CCBT_assessment_report_review.pdfGoogle Scholar
National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) (2005). Depression in Children and Young People: identification and management in primary, secondary, and community care. Clinical Practice Guideline No 28. London: British Psychological Society and Royal College of Psychiatrists.Google Scholar
Park, R., Goodyer, I. M. and Teasdale, J. (2002). Categoric overgeneral autobiographical memory in adolescent major depression. Psychological Medicine, 32, 267–276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Proudfoot, J., Ryden, C., Everitt, B., Shapiro, D. A., Goldberg, D., Mann, A., Tylee, A., Marks, I. and Gray, J. (2004). Clinical efficacy of computerized cognitive behavioural therapy for anxiety and depression in primary care. British Journal of Psychiatry, 185, 46–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reinecke, M. A., Ryan, N. E. and Dubois, D. L. (1998). Cognitive-behavioural therapy of depression and depressive symptoms during adolescence: a review and meta-analysis. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 37, 26–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reynolds, C. R. and Richmond, B. O. (1978). What I think and feel: a revised measure of children's manifest anxiety, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 6, 271–280.Google Scholar
Shaffer, D., Gould, M. S., Brasic, J., Ambrosini, P., Fisher, P., Bird, H. and Aluwahlia, S. (1983). Children's Global Assessment Scale (CGAS). Archives of General Psychiatry, 40, 1228–1231.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spielberger, C. D. (1983). Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.Google Scholar
Steinhausen, H-C. (1987). Global assessment of child psychopathology. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 26, 203–206.Google Scholar
Thapar, A. and McGuffin, P. (1998). Validity of the shortened Mood and Feelings Questionnaire in a community sample of children and adolescents: a preliminary research note. Psychiatry Research, 81, 259–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, M., Kaslow, N. J., Weiss, B. and Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (1998). Children's Attributional Style Questionnaire – Revised: psychometric examination. Psychological Assessment, 10, 166–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitfield, G., Hinshelwood, R., Pashely, A., Campsie, L. and Williams, C. (2006). The impact of novel computerized CBT CD Rom (Overcoming Depression) offered to patients referred to clinical psychology. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 34, 1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wood, A., Harrington, R. C. and Moore, A. (1996). Controlled trial of a brief cognitive-behavioural intervention in adolescent patients with depressive disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 37, 737–746.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.