A Randomized Controlled Trial of Parent-Child Psychotherapy Targeting Emotion Development for Early Childhood Depression.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Clinical depression in children as young as age 3 has been validated, and prevalence rates are 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 treatments later in life. The authors conducted a randomized controlled trial of a dyadic parent-child psycho-therapy for early childhood depression that focuses on enhancing the child's emotional competence and emotion regulation.

Method

A modified version of the empirically te

SUBMITTER: Luby JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6309340 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature