Brief Behavioural Activation (Brief BA) for adolescent depression: a pilot study

Pass, L., Lejuez, C. W. and Reynolds, S. (2018) Brief Behavioural Activation (Brief BA) for adolescent depression: a pilot study. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 46 (2). pp. 182-194. ISSN 1352-4658 doi: 10.1017/S1352465817000443

Abstract/Summary

Background: Depression in adolescence is a common and serious mental health problem. In the UK, access to evidence based psychological treatments is limited and training and employing therapists to deliver these is expensive. Brief Behavioral Activation for the Treatment of Depression (BATD) has great potential for use with adolescents and to be delivered by a range of healthcare professionals, but there is limited empirical investigation with this group. Aims: To adapt BATD for depressed adolescents (Brief BA) and conduct a pilot study to assess feasibility, acceptability and clinical effectiveness. Methods: Twenty depressed adolescents referred to the local NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health service (CAMHs) were offered 8 sessions of Brief BA followed by a review around one month later. Self- and parent- reported Routine Outcome Measures (ROMs) were collected at every session. Results: Nineteen of the 20 young people fully engaged with the treatment and all reported finding some aspect of Brief BA helpful. Thirteen (65%) required no further psychological intervention following Brief BA, and both young people and parents reported high levels of acceptability and satisfaction with the approach. The pre-post effect size of Brief BA treatment was large. Conclusions: Brief BA is a promising innovation in the treatment of adolescent depression. This approach requires further evaluation to establish effectiveness and cost effectiveness compared with existing evidence-based treatments for adolescent depression. Other questions concern the effectiveness of delivery in other settings and when delivered by a range of professionals.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/71972
Identification Number/DOI	10.1017/S1352465817000443
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Charlie Waller Institute Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Anxiety and Depression in Young People (AnDY) Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Psychopathology and Affective Neuroscience
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Publisher Statement	This article has been accepted for publication (First View) in Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy by Cambridge University Press, and should be referenced as: Pass, L., Lejuez, C. W., & Reynolds, S. (2017). Brief Behavioural Activation (Brief BA) for Adolescent Depression: A Pilot Study. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 1-13. doi:10.1017/S1352465817000443 The published article can be accessed here: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/behavioural-and-cognitive-psychotherapy The British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies owns full copyright in all forms and media for this publication.
Download/View statistics	View download statistics for this item