"Therapy without a therapist?" The experiences of adolescents and their parents of online behavioural activation for depression with and without therapist support.

Behavioural Activation (BA) is an established treatment for adults with depression, and research on BA for adolescents is promising. However, there is a knowledge gap in terms of the experiences of adolescents and their parents BA for depression delivered online. Furthermore, there have been no previous studies conducted on the experiences of respondents with regard to the role of the therapist in online treatment. Therefore, the primary aim of this study is to explore the experiences of online BA among adolescents with depression and how their parents experience supporting their adolescent through treatment. Second, the experiences of having online therapy with or without a therapist were explored. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight adolescents and nine parents (n = 17) who completed guided or self-guided online BA. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify aspects of the experience of treatment that were important to adolescents and their parents. Two main themes were generated: (1) opportunities or barriers to engaging in treatment and (2) parental involvement is valued and welcomed. This study contributes valuable information regarding user experiences of BA treatment, the importance of therapist support and parental involvement in treating adolescents with depression.Trial registration number: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT04117789, Date of registration: 07 October 2019.

Empowered and engaged: Group exercise for adolescent depression - perspectives from adolescents, parents and healthcare professionals.

Objectives: Depression is increasing and is a leading cause of disease burden among adolescents. Available evidence-based treatments with medication or psychotherapy have modest effects. Aerobic exercise is a hopeful alternative as an augmenter or a stand-alone treatment. Qualitative studies have shown that participants in group exercise for adolescent depression experienced improved mood and a sense of achievement, commitment and empowerment. This study aimed to explore not only adolescents' but also parents' and healthcare professionals' experiences of a group exercise intervention for adolescents with depression. Methods: Nine adolescents who had participated in a group aerobic exercise intervention for 12 weeks, eight parents and two healthcare professionals were interviewed. We used a latent qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach that resulted in nine sub-categories, three categories and an overarching theme. Results: The experiences of a group exercise intervention for adolescents with depression were expressed in the overarching theme 'Group exercise for adolescent depression promotes empowerment and engagement in everyday life', based on three categories: exercise alleviates depressive symptoms, exercise contributes to balance in life and exercise promotes self-esteem. However, there was variation in our results, in that not all participants experienced improvements from exercising. Adolescents described more varied experiences, while parents and healthcare professionals mainly expressed positive views. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that group exercise for adolescent depression promotes empowerment and engagement in everyday life, according to adolescents, and more clearly so according to parents and healthcare professionals.

Therapist-guided and self-guided internet-delivered behavioural activation for adolescents with depression: a randomised feasibility trial.

OBJECTIVE: Access to effective treatments for adolescents with depression needs to improve. Few studies have evaluated behavioural activation (BA) for adolescent depression, and none remotely delivered BA. This study explored the feasibility and acceptability of therapist-guided and self-guided internet-delivered BA (I-BA) in preparation for a future randomised controlled trial (RCT). DESIGN: A single-blinded randomised controlled feasibility trial. SETTING: A specialist outpatient clinic in Sweden. PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-two adolescents with mild-to-moderate major depression, aged 13-17 years. INTERVENTIONS: Ten weeks of therapist-guided I-BA or self-guided I-BA, or treatment as usual (TAU). Both versions of I-BA included parental support. TAU included referral to usual care within child and youth psychiatry or primary care. OUTCOMES: Feasibility measures included study take-up, participant retention, acceptability, safety and satisfaction. The primary outcome measure was the blinded assessor-rated Children's Depression Rating Scale, Revised. The primary endpoint was the 3-month follow-up. RESULTS: 154 adolescents were screened and 32 were randomised to therapist-guided I-BA (n=11), self-guided I-BA (n=10) or TAU (n=11). Participant retention was acceptable, with two drop-outs in TAU. Most participants in TAU had been offered interventions by the primary endpoint. The mean number of completed chapters (total of 8) for adolescents was 7.5 in therapist-guided I-BA and 5.4 in self-guided I-BA. No serious adverse events were recorded. Satisfaction was acceptable in both I-BA groups. Following an intent-to-treat approach, the linear mixed-effects model revealed that both therapist-guided and self-guided I-BA (Cohen's d=2.43 and 2.23, respectively), but not TAU (Cohen's d=0.95), showed statistically significant changes on the primary outcome measure with large within-group effect sizes. CONCLUSIONS: Both therapist-guided and self-guided I-BA are acceptable and potentially efficacious treatments for adolescents with depression. It is feasible to conduct a large-scale RCT to establish the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of I-BA versus TAU. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ClinicalTrials.gov Registry (NCT04117789).

Moderate-to-vigorous group aerobic exercise versus group leisure activities for mild-to-moderate depression in adolescents: study protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Depression is common, increasing among adolescents and carries risk of disability, lower educational achievements, cardiovascular disease, substance abuse, self-harm and suicide. The effects of evidence-based treatments with medication or psychotherapy are modest. Aerobic exercise is a promising intervention for adolescents with depression, but available studies are hampered by methodological shortcomings. This study aims to evaluate aerobic group exercise versus an active comparator of leisure group activities in adolescents from clinical services with mild-to-moderate depression. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This study is a multicentre randomised controlled trial at four psychiatric clinics in Sweden. Participants (n=122) will be randomised 1:1 to group exercise delivered by exercise professionals and supported by mental health (MH) workers or leisure activities lead by the same MH workers for 1 hour three times a week for 12 weeks. Participants will be assessed at baseline, single blind after 13 weeks and 26 weeks and openly after 1 year. Participants randomised to the leisure group will be offered exercise in the open phase. The primary outcome is clinician-rated Children's Depression Rating Scale-Revised. Secondary outcomes are self-rated Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, self-rated functioning; clinician-rated improvement and functioning; objectively measured aerobic capacity, muscular strength, muscular endurance, body composition and presence or activity of selected biological markers of neuroprotection and neuroinflammation in blood samples. Further outcomes are cost-effectiveness and adolescents', parents' and coaches' experiences of the interventions and an exploration of how the adolescents' health and lifestyle are influenced by the interventions through qualitative interviews. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study is approved by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (Ref. 2021-05307-01). Informed consent in writing will be provided from patients and parents of participants below 15 years of age. The results of this study will be communicated to the included participants and healthcare providers and also submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT05076214.