Examination of children's responses to two preventive intervention strategies over time.
OBJECTIVE
To examine long-term effects of two forms of preventive intervention designed to increase families' understanding of parental affective disorder and to prevent depression in children.


METHODS
Thirty-six families who had a nondepressed child between ages 8 and 15 years and a parent who had experienced affective disorder were enrolled and randomly assigned to either a clinician-facilitated intervention or a lecture discussion group. Each parent and child were assessed prior to randomization, after intervention, and approximately 1 1/2 years after enrollment. Assessments included standard diagnostic interviews, measures of child and family functioning, and interviews about experience of parental affective disorder and intervention effects.


RESULTS
Children in the clinician-facilitated group reported greater understanding of parental affective disorder, as rated by self-report, rater-generated scales, and parent report, and had better adaptive functioning after intervention. Parents in the clinician-facilitated intervention group reported significantly more change.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings from both interventions support the value of a future-oriented resiliency-based approach. The greater effects of the clinician-facilitated intervention support the need for linking cognitive information to families' life experience and involving children directly in order to achieve long-term effects.
Beardslee
W R
WR
Judge Baker Children's Center, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Wright
E J
EJ
Salt
P
P
Drezner
K
K
Gladstone
T R
TR
Versage
E M
EM
Rothberg
P C
PC
D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D005192:Family Health; D005196:Family Therapy / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D016896:Treatment Outcome