title: Brief Psychotherapy for Maternal Depression: Impact on Mothers and Children.
abstract: Two-generation studies demonstrate that treating maternal depression benefits school-age children. Although mothers prefer psychotherapy to medication, little is known about how psychotherapy for maternal depression affects offspring, especially in very high-risk families in which both mothers and children concurrently meet syndromal criteria for psychiatric disorders. This trial evaluated the effects of 2 brief psychotherapies for maternal depression on very high-risk families.
  
  
  
  Mothers with major depressive disorder were randomly assigned to 9 sessions of either brief interpersonal psychotherapy for mothers (IPT-MOMS; n = 85) or brief supportive psychotherapy (BSP; n = 83). Independent assessors evaluated mothers and their children, ages 7 to 18 years, diagnosed with at least 1 internalizing disorder, every 3 months over the course of 1 year.
  
  
  
  Symptoms and functioning of mothers and children improved significantly over time, with no between-group differences. However, children of mothers assigned to BSP had more outpatient mental health visits and were more likely to receive antidepressant medication. Mothers reported greater satisfaction with IPT-MOMS than BSP. Improvement in mothers' depressive symptoms was associated with improvement in child functioning in time-lagged fashion, with children improving 3 to 6 months after mothers improved. Antidepressant medication use and number of mental health visits received by children did not affect outcomes.
  
  
  
  IPT-MOMS and BSP demonstrated comparable beneficial effects on maternal depression. Children's functioning improved following maternal improvement, independent of youths' treatment. Children of mothers randomized to IPT-MOMS, compared with BSP, achieved comparable outcomes despite less follow-up treatment. Observation of lagged association between maternal improvement and change in child functioning should influence treatment planning for families. Clinical trial registration information-Psychotherapy for Depressed Mothers of Psychiatrically Ill Children; http://clinicaltrials.gov/; NCT00919594.
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh. Electronic address: swartzha@upmc.edu.
authors.forename: Holly A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Swartz
authors.affiliation: Chatham University, Pittsburgh.
authors.forename: Jill M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cyranowski
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh.
authors.forename: Allan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zuckoff
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Brent
authors.affiliation: New York State Psychiatric Institute and College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York.
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Markowitz
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh.
authors.forename: Stacy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh.
authors.forename: Marlissa C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Amole
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh.
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ritchey
authors.affiliation: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh.
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Frank
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011614:Psychotherapy, Brief / Q000379:methods*
keywords: children; depression; interpersonal psychotherapy; mothers; psychotherapy; treatment