Teens with family history of depression at risk. Combined talk therapy and meds most helpful combination.

This is pasted from this morning's American Psychiatric Newsletter:
Study indicates teens whose parents have history of depression may themselves be at high risk.

The New York Times (6/3, Rabin) reports that "depression often strikes during adolescence, and teenagers whose parents have a history of depression are at particularly high risk. Now," a study published June 3 in the Journal of the American Medical Association "has found that a group cognitive behavioral program that teaches coping and problem-solving skills to these high-risk teens can reduce their risk of developing the mood disorder." Notably, "the success rate of the prevention program varied greatly, depending on the mental health status of the teenagers' parents at the time they began intervention." Specifically, "the program was much more effective than standard care if the teens' parents were also without depression when the intervention began."

Focusing on the study's methodology, USA Today (6/3, Szabo) explains that researchers from Vanderbilt University "focused on" 316 "high-risk teens whose parents had a history of depression. All...of the teens already had experienced depression in the past or had some symptoms of depression when the study began." Half of them "were randomly assigned to attend eight weekly group sessions with other teenagers. After nine months," those "who attended group therapy were less likely to have had an episode of depression than teens who had their usual care, but didn't receive therapy." However, the "prevention program didn't help at all...for teens whose parents were currently depressed."

In the Wall Street Journal (6/2) Health Blog, Shirley S. Wang observed that the study authors theorized that "having a currently depressed parent could mean that the teen had more stress to deal with, or the parent was less responsive to the teens' new skills."

HealthDay (6/2, Mozes) quoted study author Judy Garber, PhD, "director of the developmental psychopathology research training program at Vanderbilt University," as saying, "The bottom line is that depression in adolescents can be prevented among kids who are at risk." She added, "But this finding is consistent with other studies that have found that children who are in treatment for depression do not do as well if their parents are currently depressed." She also "described the findings as 'interesting' and 'important,' in that they offer further confirmation that children of actively depressed parents are themselves at risk and should be monitored." She stated, "The message to parents is pay attention to how their children are doing if they're depressed." For "public health policy makers," however, she said that "the message is that it would be good to pay attention to prevention programs."

According to WebMD (6/2, Boyles), "cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to be an effective treatment for depression in teens, either alone or in combination with antidepressant" medications. For example, "in a 2007 study, the combination of CBT and a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor...which is a class of antidepressant medication, was found to be more effective for treating major depression than either treatment alone." And, in a study "reported in February, the combination of CBT and an antidepressant was more effective than" medication "therapy alone in the treatment of teens who had not responded to initial" medication "treatment."