Psychoeducational interventions in adolescent depression: A systematic review.
Rhys Bevan Jones, Anita Thapar, Zoe Stone and 4 others
PMID 29103882WHAT IT FOUND
Psychoeducation for adolescents with or at risk of depression may improve family understanding, communication and some mood or behaviour outcomes, but the evidence is too small and mixed to show it reliably works.
Key findings
01Fifteen studies of psychoeducational interventions for adolescents with depression or at high risk were identified.
02The review found that psychoeducational interventions may help understanding, communication, behaviour and mood, but evidence is too limited to conclude they are effective.
03Most included programmes were delivered in person and involved families or groups facilitated by a professional.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The 15 included studies varied widely in participants, interventions, delivery methods, outcomes and study design, so the review could not combine them into one overall estimate. Many studies were small, had short follow-up, or were at various stages from early development to efficacy testing. Several randomised trials had unclear or high risk of bias, especially around blinding and selective reporting. Psychoeducation was often mixed with other treatments or compared with different control conditions, so the effect of psychoeducation alone is hard to separate. The review only included English-language studies, and most studies came from high-income countries, so findings may not transfer to all settings. The definition of psychoeducation was inconsistent, and some programmes overlapped with psychological therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy.
Declared interests
The supplied metadata lists non-U.S. government research support, but no author conflict-of-interest or funding statement is given in the article text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this review as proof that psychoeducation works for adolescent depression. The authors found only 15 varied studies and state it is not possible to conclude that psychoeducational interventions are effective.