Effectiveness Study of a CBT based Adolescent Coping with Depression Course to Prevent Dropout in Upper Secondary School

The Adolescent Coping with Depression Course (DU) is a cognitive behaiour therapy (CBT) course for young people between 14 and 20 years with mild or moderate depression symptoms. The main aims are to reduce symptoms and prevent relapses of depression. In this course with ten sessions, the emphasis is on the participants' self-reflection and active participation to understand the relationship between their own way of thinking and their depressed mood. By so doing, they become aware of factors that increase the risk of depression, and they learn appropriate coping strategies. The course is led by trained instructors, and was developed by psychologist Trygve Børve and implemented in Norway through Fagakademiet and Rådet for psykisk helse. The course has been found to reduce depressive symptoms among adolescents (Garvik et.al, 2013), and Ungsinn has classified it as effective (level 3, www.ungsinn.no). In a new randomized controlled trial the research team investigated whether the course also can prevent dropout in upper secondary school. In order to work with mental health in schools, collaboration between disciplines from both the fields of mental health and education is necessary. This research project is a collaboration between research institutions from both fields. P.I. for the study is Thormod Idsøe (The Norwegian Center for Child Behavioral Development - NUBU), in addition to Serap Keles (postdoctor) and Gørel Bringedal (research consultant). The group also consists of Gil Noam (Harvard Medical School / McLean's Hospital), Edvin Bru (Læringsmiljøsenteret, University of Stava nger), Margit Garvik (Læringsmiljøsenteret, University of Stavanger), Knut A. Hagtvet (Department of Psychology, University of Oslo), Brit Oppedal (Norwegian Institute of Public Health) and Turid Suzanne Berg-Nielsen (RBUP Øst og Sør). A total of three articles have been published in international peer reviewed journals, and one book chapter has been published in a peer reviewed anthology. One article (Effect article) was published in BMC Psychiatry in the spring of 2019 and shows that the intervention gave a slight to moderately stronger reduction in depressive symptoms than the control group that received usual care typically employed for this group at the sites they were located. In addition, three articles related to follow-up data and treatment integrity have been submitted for peer-review in international journals. The results of the trial were also presented in several international conferences as well as the annual Norwegian psychology congress, and an article in the Journal of the Norwegian Psychological Association was published. In the fall of 2019, we gathered register data from county authorities regarding grades and dropout. Analyses are ongoing these days and it will result in as another journal publication.

Prosjektet har dokumentert effekten av et gruppebasert tiltak for ungdom i å redusere depressive symptomer. Det eksisterer dermed et evidensbasert norsk tiltak for denne målgruppen. Ytterligere publikasjoner er til vurdering knyttet til effekten av tiltaket i forhold til sosialt og faglig funksjonsnivå samt frafall i videregående utdanning.

This project is an effectiveness study of a group based adolescent coping with depression course for upper secondary school students. The main objectives are to generate knowledge about whether it can prevent dropout, as well as to what extent it decrease s depressive symptoms and increases academic and social functioning among the participants. In order to provide mental health interventions in the school context, expertise and cooperation from both the fields of mental health and education is needed. The proposed project is a collaboration between research institutions from both fields. The relevance of our objectives is based on reports of serious dropout problems in upper secondary schools in Norway. International studies underscore the importance of m ental health as a risk for school dropout. We hope our results can stimulate applied interventions to face the dropout problems in school.