Completed

Prevention of Depression in At-Risk Adolescents

0 criteria met from your profileSee at a glance how your profile meets each eligibility criteria.
What is being tested

Cognitive-behavioral prevention program

+ Usual care

BehavioralOther
Who is being recruted

Mental Disorders+2

+ Behavioral Symptoms

+ Depression

From 13 to 17 Years
See all eligibility criteria
How is the trial designed

Prevention Study

Interventional
Study Start: March 2003
See protocol details

Summary

Principal SponsorVanderbilt University
Last updated: January 18, 2026
Sourced from a government-validated database.Claim as a partner

Study start date: March 1, 2003

Actual date on which the first participant was enrolled.

Depression is a prevalent, chronic, and impairing condition that is often undetected and becomes more difficult to treat as chronicity increases. There is an increasing need to conduct large-scale depression prevention studies in adolescents. This study evaluates a cognitive-behavioral prevention (CBP) program to determine its effectiveness in preventing depressive disorders in at-risk adolescents. The study also will ascertain the costs this intervention to inform attempts at future dissemination of the program in "real world" settings. Participants in this study are randomly assigned to receive either CBP for eight weekly and 6 monthly continuation sessions or usual care. Depressive symptoms and disorders, levels of functioning, and medical and mental health care utilization are assessed at baseline and again at 2, 8, 20, and 32 months after intake.

Official TitlePrevention of Depression in At-Risk Adolescents 
NCT00073671
Principal SponsorVanderbilt University
Last updated: January 18, 2026
Sourced from a government-validated database.Claim as a partner

Protocol

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.
Design Details

316 patients to be enrolled

Total number of participants that the clinical trial aims to recruit.

Prevention Study

Prevention studies aim to stop a disease from developing. They often involve people at risk and test things like vaccines, lifestyle changes, or preventive medications.

Eligibility

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria: person's general health condition or prior treatments.
Conditions
Criteria

Any sex

Biological sex of participants that are eligible to enroll.

From 13 to 17 Years

Range of ages for which participants are eligible to join.

Healthy volunteers not allowed

If individuals who are healthy and do not have the condition being studied can participate.

Conditions

Pathology

Mental DisordersBehavioral SymptomsDepressionDepressive DisorderMood Disorders

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria: * A parent has had a depressive disorder during child's life * Adolescent has had a past depressive episode or has current subsyndromal depressive symptoms measured on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) Exclusion Criteria: * adolescent or parent ever diagnosed with bipolar I or schizophrenia; * adolescent has a current DSM-IV mood disorder diagnosis

Study Plan

Find out more about all the medication administered in this study, their detailed description and what they involve.
Treatment Groups
Study Objectives

2 intervention groups are designated in this study

This study does not include a placebo group 

Treatment Groups

Group I

Experimental
Participants receive a group cognitive-behavioral prevention program, which involved 8 weekly sessions and 6 monthly sessions of CBT skills such as cognitive restructuring, problem-solving, assertivenss, and behavioral activation. Participants in this arm also were able to seek the same kinds of nonstudy treatments as described in the usual care arm.

Group II

Active Comparator
Participants receive usual care, which involves any type of treatment (e.g., psychotherapy, counseling, pharmacotherapy).

Study Objectives

Primary Objectives

Secondary Objectives

Study Centers

These are the hospitals, clinics, or research facilities where the trial is being conducted. You can find the location closest to you and its status.

This study has 4 locations

Suspended

Harvard University Medical School

Boston, United StatesSee the location
Suspended

Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research

Portland, United States
Suspended

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Pittsburgh, United States
Suspended

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, United States
Completed4 Study Centers