School-Based Prevention of Depressive Symptoms: A Randomized Controlled Study of the Effectiveness and Specificity of the Penn Resiliency Program

The authors investigated the effectiveness and specificity of the Penn Resiliency Program (PRP; J. E. Gillham, L. H. Jaycox, K. J. Reivich, M. E. P. Seligman, & T. Silver, 1990), a cognitive-behavioral depression prevention program. Children (N = 697) from 3 middle schools were randomly assigned...

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Published inJournal of consulting and clinical psychology Vol. 75; no. 1; pp. 9 - 19
Main Authors Gillham, Jane E, Reivich, Karen J, Freres, Derek R, Chaplin, Tara M, Shatte, Andrew J, Samuels, Barbra, Elkon, Andrea G. L, Litzinger, Samantha, Lascher, Marisa, Gallop, Robert, Seligman, Martin E. P
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States American Psychological Association 01.02.2007
Subjects
Adolescent
Behavior Modification
Child
Cognitive Restructuring
Depression (Psychology)
Depression - prevention & control
Depression - therapy
Female
Humans
Intervention
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Mental Health Services - organization & administration
Middle School Students
Prevention
Program Effectiveness
School Health Services
School Health Services - organization & administration
Sensitivity and Specificity
Symptoms (Individual Disorders)
Treatment Failure
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Summary:The authors investigated the effectiveness and specificity of the Penn Resiliency Program (PRP; J. E. Gillham, L. H. Jaycox, K. J. Reivich, M. E. P. Seligman, & T. Silver, 1990), a cognitive-behavioral depression prevention program. Children (N = 697) from 3 middle schools were randomly assigned to PRP, Control (CON), or the Penn Enhancement Program (PEP; K. J. Reivich, 1996; A. J. Shatte, 1997), an alternate intervention that controls for nonspecific intervention ingredients. Children's depressive symptoms were assessed through 3 years of follow-up. There was no intervention effect on average levels of depressive symptoms in the full sample. Findings varied by school. In 2 schools, PRP significantly reduced depressive symptoms across the follow-up relative to both CON and PEP. In the 3rd school, PRP did not prevent depressive symptoms. The authors discuss the findings in relation to previous research on PRP and the dissemination of prevention programs.
ISSN:0022-006X
DOI:10.1037/0022-006X.75.1.9