Comparison of Cognitive-Behavioral, Relaxation, and Self-Modeling Interventions for Depression Among Middle-School Students

The efficacy of short-term cognitive-behavioral therapy, relaxation training, and self-modeling interventions for the treatment of depression among middle school students was investigated. Sixty-eight moderate to severely “experimentally diagnosed” latency age and depressed early adolescent subjects (ages 10–14) were assigned randomly to one of three active treatments or waitlist-control. Self-report and interview measures of depression and self-esteem were used to assess treatment effects. Results indicated that all treatment conditions, relative to the waitlist-control, evidenced a significant decrease in depression and an increase in self-esteem. Parent-report data, as well as data from treated control subjects, provided further support for the potential effectiveness of the short-term structured school-based interventions.