The purpose of this proposal is to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of a cognitive-behavioral treatment for depression in adolescents. Over the course of the study, 135 depressed adolescents and their parents will be treated. Exclusive diagnostic assessments will be conducted at entry, during treatment, and at follow-up to 1-year posttreatment. Patients will be randomly assigned to three conditions: In Condition 1 both the adolescents and their parents will receive treatment. In Condition 2 only the adolescents will be treated. Condition 3 is a waitlist control group. Prognostic variables to be included are those which have emerged as predictive of treatment outcome with adults, but which have not been tested with adolescents. The long-term goals of the proposed research are: a) to contribute to the development of cost-effective methods for the treatment of depression in adolescents; b) to contribute to knowledge about the psychosocial variables associated with the course of depression in adolescents; and c) to contribute to the recognition of depression among adolescents as a more serious public health problem than is currently recognized (cf., the increasing rate of adolescent suicide).
