Study Finds Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is Cost-Effective

25th January, 2018

Newsletter EMERGENCY NEWSLETTER, School Psych

[Source: Medical X-Press]

Cognitive behavioral therapy (or CBT) delivered in a primary care setting is a cost-effective way to treat adolescents with depression who decline or quickly stop using antidepressants, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published today in the journal Pediatrics.

This work builds upon previous research, also published in Pediatrics, showing that CBT improved time to diagnostic recovery from major depression for teenagers who received CBT in their primary care clinic. Participants who received CBT learned how to modify their behaviors, challenge their unrealistic and negative beliefs, and think more positively.

Depression is a widespread and costly health problem in the U.S., with one estimate placing the total economic burden of depression at more than $210 billion annually. Among adolescents, the prevalence of depression is on the rise. Antidepressant medications are the usual course of treatment for adolescents diagnosed with depression, but as many as half of families with a depressed child choose not to begin antidepressant therapy. And among those who do begin treatment, nearly half do not continue, for reasons including side effects, lack of benefit and cost.

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