Treatment of Depression Across Three Age Cohorts

Publication Date: February 16, 2019
Last Updated: March 14, 2022

Recommendations for the Child Population

For initial treatment of child patients with depressive disorders1 there was insufficient evidence to make a recommendation regarding any of the following psychotherapies/interventions:2
• Behavioral therapy
• Cognitive therapy
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
• Family therapy
• Play therapy
• Problem-solving therapy
• Psychodynamic therapy
• Supportive therapy
There was insufficient evidence to make a recommendation regarding pharmacotherapy for child patients with depressive disorders. (Insufficient evidence)
1 Types included: minor depression, major depression, persistent depressive disorder (formerly called “dysthymia”), intermittent depression, or having depression symptoms at or above a prespecified level based on a validated measure of depression severity. The Zhou et al. (2015) review excluded patients with psychotic depression.
2 Throughout the table, interventions are listed alphabetically.
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Recommendations for the Adolescent Population

For initial treatment of adolescent patients with depressive disorders3 the panel recommends that clinicians offer one of the following psychotherapies/interventions4:
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
• Interpersonal psychotherapy for adolescents (IPT-A)
(Recommendation)
3 Types included: minor depression, major depression, persistent depressive disorder (formerly called “dysthymia”), intermittent depression, or having depression symptoms at or above a prespecified level based on a validated measure of depression severity. The Zhou et al. (2015) review excluded patients with psychotic depression.
4 Throughout the table, interventions are listed alphabetically.
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Overview

Title

Treatment of Depression Across Three Age Cohorts

Authoring Organizations