Session: Prevention of Depression in Youth: Methodological Advances and Substantive Findings in Tests of Mediation (Society for Prevention Research 23rd Annual Meeting)

Depression is a debilitating and costly disorder for both the individual and society. Efforts at prevention have been increasing over the last decade and have demonstrated some efficacy, particularly in selective or indicated samples (Merry et al., 2011). Much less is known about the mechanisms underlying the positive effects of these interventions. Identification of the processes that account for the success of some depression prevention programs can guide the further refinement of these programs and enhance their efficacy. To date, few depression prevention trials in youth have specifically tested whether the hypothesized mediators actually account for significant variance in the outcome.

This organized poster forum will include 6 poster presentations targeting the theme of testing mediation in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of programs aimed at preventing depression in youth. Two posters focus on methodological issues and important advances in combining data across multiple RCTs. The remaining posters present findings from four different RCTs regarding cognitive and family level mediators of the effects of the interventions on depressive symptoms and disorders in children and adolescents. Two studies found long-term cascading effects using multi-linkage mediation models. In a study of a preventive intervention for parentally-bereaved children, increases in positive parenting predicted lower internalizing symptoms 11 months post-intervention; then higher levels of internalizing problems at 11 months were associated with higher levels of internalizing problems and internalizing disorders six years later. In an RCT of divorced families, the prevention program had a positive effect on parental warmth, which was related to subsequent decreases in child internalizing, and decreased childhood internalizing predicted lower internalizing symptoms and higher self-esteem and coping efficacy in adolescence. The remaining two trials each found evidence of moderated mediation through changes in cognitive style.  

The Poster Forum will first have the Chair provide an overview of the prevention of depression in adolescents and what is known about mediators of prevention programs on depression outcomes; the Chair then will introduce each presenter who will briefly describe the topic of his/her poster and highlight the important finding(s). During the next 45 minutes, the audience will visit the posters and discuss the presentations with the authors. After that, the presenters and audience will be seated and the discussant will provide comments aimed at synthesizing the findings. Finally, the Chair will moderate a broader discussion among the presenters, discussant, and audience on the more general themes of the poster presentations.