title: School-based prevention of depressive symptoms: A randomized controlled study of the effectiveness and specificity of the Penn Resiliency Program.
abstract: The authors investigated the effectiveness and specificity of the Penn Resiliency Program (PRP; J. E. Gillham, L. H. Jaycox, K. J. Reivich, M. E. P. Seligman, & T. Silver, 1990), a cognitive-behavioral depression prevention program. Children (N = 697) from 3 middle schools were randomly assigned to PRP, Control (CON), or the Penn Enhancement Program (PEP; K. J. Reivich, 1996; A. J. Shatté, 1997), an alternate intervention that controls for nonspecific intervention ingredients. Children's depressive symptoms were assessed through 3 years of follow-up. There was no intervention effect on average levels of depressive symptoms in the full sample. Findings varied by school. In 2 schools, PRP significantly reduced depressive symptoms across the follow-up relative to both CON and PEP. In the 3rd school, PRP did not prevent depressive symptoms. The authors discuss the findings in relation to previous research on PRP and the dissemination of prevention programs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA. jgillha1@swarthmore.edu
authors.forename: Jane E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Gillham
authors.forename: Karen J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Reivich
authors.forename: Derek R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Freres
authors.forename: Tara M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Chaplin
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Shatté
authors.forename: Barbra
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Samuels
authors.forename: Andrea G L
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Elkon
authors.forename: Samantha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Litzinger
authors.forename: Marisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lascher
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gallop
authors.forename: Martin E P
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Seligman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012572:School Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017211:Treatment Failure