Examining the Effects of School-Based Depression Prevention Programs On School Outcomes

Background: Depression is a prevalent condition among adolescents with many negative outcomes, including impaired school functioning. Prior studies suggest that depression is associated with decreases in school productivity and educational attainment, school burnout, negative effects on examination performance, and lower high school and college graduation rates. Despite the apparent relationship between depression and school-related variables, few studies have examined the effect of school-based depression prevention programs on school functioning. A previous study by Young, Kranzler, Gallop and Mufson (2012) examined differences in school retention rates among students participating in Interpersonal Psychotherapy-Adolescent Skills Training (IPT-AST), a school-based depression prevention program, and usual school counseling (SC). Young et al. found that fewer students in IPT-AST versus SC were asked to leave school for behavioral or academic reasons. These results suggest that IPT-AST may have a positive impact on school retention. The current study will extend prior findings by specifically investigating whether participating in IPT-AST as compared to SC leads to improvements in grades and attendance.

 Methods/Results: Fifty-seven adolescents with elevated depressive symptoms were randomized to IPT-AST or SC. Quarterly grades were collected for each adolescent during the academic school year in which they participated in the prevention program. For all participants, total number of school absences was collected at the end of the school year. Additionally, quarterly absences were collected in 2 of the 3 schools. In our previous study, we found that 6 out of 21 (28.6%) students in SC were asked to leave school for academic or behavior problems compared to 3 out of 33 (9.1%) students in IPT-AST. Fisher’s exact test revealed a marginally significant difference (p=0.06), such that fewer students in IPT-AST compared to SC left school for academic or behavioral reasons. This poster will present analyses that examine changes in grades and attendance from the quarter before the intervention to the quarter following the intervention as well as differences in end of school year grades and attendance across the two conditions.

Conclusions: Depression prevention programs that concurrently reduce adolescent depressive symptoms and improve school functioning will directly benefit schools and will encourage greater school participation in future depression prevention initiatives.