COMPLEMENTING CBT FOR DEPRESSED ADOLESCENTS WITH LEARNING THROUGH IN VIVO EXPERIENCE (LIVE): CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS, TREATMENT DESCRIPTION, AND FEASIBILITY STUDY

• Published in: Behavioural and cognitive psychotherapy Vol. 30; no. 1; pp. 79 - 101
• Main Authors: Gaynor, Scott T., Lawrence, P. Scott
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.01.2002
• Subjects: Adolescent depression; Behavior modification; Behavior therapy. Cognitive therapy; Biological and medical sciences; Clinical Section; Cognition & reasoning; cognitive-behavioral therapy; Conceptual analysis; Didacticism; Feasibility studies; functional analytic psychotherapy; Intervention; Medical sciences; Mental depression; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychotherapy; Skills; Teenagers; Treatments; United States > US; functional analytic psychotherapy; cognitive-behavioral therapy; Adolescent depression; Human; Mood disorder; Symptomatology; Analytical psychotherapy; Cognitive therapy; Treatment; Adolescent; Clinical trial; Depression; Evolution; Behavior therapy
• ISSN: 1352-4658; 1469-1833
• DOI: 10.1017/S135246580200108X

Based on a behavior-analytic interpretation of the skills acquisition process, a rationale is presented for augmenting a currently available cognitive-behavioral treatment (The Adolescent Coping With Depression course: CWD-A) with a newly developed therapy focusing on the interpersonal interactions and learning occurring in-session (Learning through In-Vivo Experience: LIVE). A description of the practice of LIVE is offered and the results from an initial feasibility study are presented. Using a single-subject methodology, two groups each consisting of 5 adolescents with significant symptoms of depression received the treatment. The intervention consisted of 16 2-hour group sessions occurring over an 8-week period. The first 1-hour of each meeting was taken directly from the CWD-A manual. The second hour was based on the LIVE manual. The adolescents who completed the treatment (n = 8) improved from pretreatment to posttreatment and those who discontinued treatment (n = 2) did not. Improvements were maintained at 3 months follow-up. The treatment produced strong group cohesion and both adolescents and their guardians rated the intervention positively. These results provide initial evidence of the efficacy of complementing CWD-A with LIVE.