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theses

Depression prevention programs have small to moderate effects, with larger effects for selective and indicated programs. While there is growing interest in examining whether demographic variables moderate outcomes, few studies have examined ethnicity as a moderator. Interpersonal Psychotherapy-Adolescent Skills Training (IPT-AST) is an effective depression prevention program. The current study compared IPT-AST’s efficacy to that of group counseling (GC) for White (n = 71), Latino (n = 71), and Black (n = 26) adolescents with elevated depressive symptomatology. The study examined ethnic differences in initial symptom levels, and patterns of recovery, measured by scores on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). There were no significant differences in mean depression scores across ethnicities at screening or baseline. From baseline to post-intervention, intervention condition did not have a significant main effect, nor was there a significant interaction of intervention condition and ethnicity on CES-D scores. However, CES-D scores varied significantly as a function of ethnicity from mid- to post-group (F = 6.20, p < .01, η2 = .07), regardless of intervention condition. Post-hoc analyses examined the effect of ethnicity and found that at mid-group, Latino participants’ mean CES-D score was significantly higher than that of White participants. At post-group, Latino and Black participants had mean CES-D scores that were significantly higher than White participants. Thus, there was preliminary evidence that depression prevention programs may be less effective for minority youth, in particular in the GC condition. Additional research is needed on the effects of prevention programs for different ethnic groups.

ETD_7789

Psy.D.

Includes bibliographical references

by Amber Ricks

doi:10.7282/T3KH0RB4

ETD doctoral

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