Depression in At-Risk Adolescents and Their Parents
- Myrna M. Weissman, PhD mmw3@columbia.edu;
- Ardesheer Talati, PhDDepartment of PsychiatryColumbia UniversityNew York, New York
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
To the Editor: In their randomized controlled trial, Dr Garber and colleagues1 provided important information on the successful prevention of adolescent-onset depression using an evidence-based psychotherapy in high-risk adolescents. In their study, if a parent was currently depressed the adolescent did not benefit from treatment. This observation is consistent with other data suggesting that if a currently depressed mother is successfully treated, her children's symptoms are more likely to improve.
An ancillary study of children of parents receiving treatment as part of the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) found that remission of maternal depression after 3 months of medication was significantly associated with reductions in the children's diagnoses and symptoms.2 Conversely, a failure to remit was associated with worsening in child outcomes, paralleling observations by Garber et al that cognitive behavioral therapy did not confer a protective effect among the offspring of currently depressed parents. The …
