Am J Psychiatry 1997; 154:510-515
Copyright © 1997 by American Psychiatric Association
Sustained change in parents receiving preventive interventions for families with depression
WR Beardslee, P Salt, EM Versage, TR Gladstone, EJ Wright and PC Rothberg
Judge Baker Children's Center, Boston, MA 02115, USA. heardslee@a1.tch.harvard.edu
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare the sustained effects
of two cognitive, psychoeducational preventive interventions for families
in which a parent had an affective disorder. METHOD: Thirty-seven families,
in which there was a child between the ages of 8 and 15 years (mean = 11.5
years) and at least one parent who had experienced a recent episode of
affective disorder according to the Research Diagnostic Criteria, were
studied 1.5 years after enrollment in the study. The families were randomly
assigned to one of two interventions, clinician-facilitated or lecture. The
two interventions were similar in content but differed in the degree of
involvement of the children and the linking of information to the families'
life experiences. Nineteen families participated in the clinician-
facilitated intervention, which consisted of six to 10 sessions. Eighteen
families were assigned to the lecture condition, which consisted of two
lectures attended only by parents. Family members were interviewed both
before and after the interventions with diagnostic interviews and
semistructured measures designed to assess response to the interventions.
RESULTS: Sustained effects of the interventions were reported 1.5 years
after enrollment. The clinician-facilitated intervention was associated
with more positive self-reported and assessor-rated changes than the
lecture intervention. CONCLUSIONS: These short-term preventive
interventions, particularly the clinician- facilitated one, have long-term
benefits for families with parental affective disorder.
