The efficacy of cognitive-behavioral and interpersonal treatments for depression in Puerto Rican adolescents

This study evaluated the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) with depressed adolescents in Puerto Ric o. Seventy-one adolescents meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Men tal Disorders (3rd ed., rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) crite ria for a diagnosis of depression were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditio ns: CBT, IPT, or wait list (WL). Pretreatment, posttreatment, and 3-month f ollow-up measures of depression symptoms, self-esteem, social adjustment, f amily emotional involvement and criticism, and behavioral problems were com pleted. Results suggest that IPT and CBT significantly reduced depressive s ymptoms when compared with the WL condition. IPT was superior to the WL con dition in increasing self-esteem and social adaptation. Clinical significan ce tests suggested that 82% of adolescents in IPT and 59% of those in CBT w ere functional after treatment. The results suggest that both IPT and CBT a re efficacious treatments for depressed Puerto Rican adolescents. IPT's imp act in other levels of outcome is discussed in terms of its consonance with Puerto Rican cultural values.