Bending Adolescent Depression Trajectories Through Personalized Prevention

Investigators will innovatively combine risk factor research and evidence-based prevention
programs, to advance knowledge on personalized approaches to prevention that may be able to
better "bend trajectories" of depression that surge throughout adolescence. A randomized
controlled trial will examine the benefits of matching youth to two depression prevention
programs of Interpersonal Psychotherapy-Adolescent Skills Training (IPT-AST) and Coping with
Stress (CWS) for the prevention of depression in adolescents. These two programs are designed
to address distinct risk factors for depression - CWS addresses cognitive risks and IPT-AST
addresses interpersonal risks. A total of 210 participants across two sites, University of
Denver and Rutgers University, will be stratified on cognitive and interpersonal risk and
randomized to the two conditions. The goals of the study are to (1) demonstrate that
prevention programs can modify depression trajectories among youth by examining within person
changes in trajectories over time (three years before and three years after the prevention
programs) and by comparing trajectories of prevention youth with changes in same aged
cohorts; (2) evaluate a personalized prevention approach to bending depression trajectories
by matching and mismatching youth to either CWS or IPT-AST based on individual risk profiles;
(3) examine mechanisms of bending depression trajectories and test whether the prevention
programs operate via their hypothesized processes; and (4) explore how genetic
susceptibility, emotion regulation, and temperament may affect individual response to IPT-AST
and CWS. By implementing evidence-based prevention programs after 3-years of prospective
naturalistic data collection, this study will contribute essential data on personalized
medicine and altering developmental trajectories of first-onset depression.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Currently in the 6th to 11th grades

- Adolescent and parent must be English-speaking

- Parental consent and adolescent consent

Exclusion Criteria:

- Presence of current Major Depressive Disorder, dysthymia, bipolar disorder, or
significant psychosis

- Suicide attempt in the past week or significant suicidal ideation in the past week

- Presence of significant psychopathology or significant pervasive developmental delays
that would make the group inappropriate