A Randomized Controlled Trial of Parent-Child Psychotherapy Targeting Emotion Development for Early Childhood Depression
Abstract
Background Clinical depression in children as young as 3 has been validated with prevalence rates similar to the school-age disorder. Homotypic continuity between early and later childhood depression has been observed, with alterations in brain function and structure similar to those reported in depressed adults. These findings highlight the importance of identifying and treating depression as early as developmentally possible, given the relative treatment resistance and small effect sizes for later life treatments. The need for studies of psychotherapies for early childhood depression is also underscored by increases in psychotropic medication prescriptions for young children, representing a public health crisis. To date, there have been no large-scale clinical trials of psychotherapies for early childhood depression. Methods A parent-child psychotherapy, a modified version of the empirically tested Parent-Child Interaction Therapy with a novel “Emotion Development” module (PCIT-ED) was compared to a wait list (WL) condition in a randomized controlled trial of N=229 parent-child dyads. Results Young children who received PCIT-ED had lower rates of depression (primary outcome), lower depression severity, and lower impairment compared to those in the WL condition (Cohen’s d > 1.0). Measures of child emotional functioning and parenting stress and depression were significantly improved in the treatment group. Conclusions Findings from this RCT of a parent-child psychotherapy…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design. Reported size: 229 participants or records.
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