Open trial of interpersonal therapy in adolescents with moderate to severemajor depression: Effectiveness of novice IPT therapists

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of interpersonal therapy (IPT) imp lemented by well-supervised, novice IPT therapists in treating adolescents with moderate to severe mood disorders of lengthy duration. Method: Twenty- five adolescents with moderate to severe major depression, lasting an avera ge of 8 months, received 12 weeks of IPT. All participants were assessed wi th the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Ch ildren-Present and Lifetime Version, the Beck Depression Inventory(BDI), th e Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD), and the Children's Global As sessment Scale (C-GAS) at baseline and follow-up. Results: The majority of participants improved substantially on the BDI, the HRSD, and the C-GAS; 84 % met remission criteria on the HRSD (score < 7); and 80% met remission cri teria on the BDI (score < 10). Conclusions: Results demonstrate that IPT is effective in treating moderately to severely depressed adolescents, that I PT is effective with depression lasting several months, and that IPT can be effectively implemented by well-supervised clinicians with no prior traini ng in IPT.