Group therapy for adolescent depressive disorder: a comparison of social skills and therapeutic support

Two forms of short-term group therapy for depressed adolescents are compared. Adolescents were assigned to either a social skills training or therapeutic support group. Treatment outcome was based on self-report and semistructured clinical interviews for depression, measures of self-concept, and cognitive distortions. After treatment, adolescents in the therapeutic support groups showed significantly greater reductions in clinical depression and significant increases in self-concept compared with those in the social skills training group. These group differences were no longer evident at 9-month follow-up, as adolescents in the therapeutic support groups maintained their improvement, and adolescents in the social skills training groups caught up.