Abstract:
This article evaluates two prevention strategies, one clinician-based approach and one lecture-style approach, for families with a parent who suffered from a mood disorder and at least one non-depressed child between ages 8 and 15. Both interventions produced sustained effects through approximately 4.5 years after enrollment. The families in the clinician-based program had significantly more gains in parental child-related behaviors and attitudes and in child-reported understanding of parental disorder. These findings demonstrate that brief, family-centered preventive interventions for parental depression may contribute to long-term, sustained improvements in family functioning.