Just two, online single-session interventions can help curb teen depression, a new study of more than 2,400 adolescents ages 13 to 16 shows.

The tool is very much needed given a rise in teen depression and loss of some in-person mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Teenagers who experience depression symptoms often cannot access professional help. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, it is estimated less than half of adolescents/teenagers with depression access help. One recent study suggested that childhood and adolescent anxiety and depression doubled during the first year of the pandemic.

For the study in Nature Human Behaviour, adolescents experiencing elevated depressive symptoms participated in one of two online single-session interventions (SSI), the first teaching “behavioral activation” (the idea that taking positive action can boost your mood), and the second teaching “growth mindset” (the idea that depression symptoms and personal traits are changeable). Researchers recruited participants, who came from all 50 US states, via social media (Instagram).

Pre-pandemic there was a need for more accessible avenues to treatment and mental health support for teens with mental health challenges, says lead author Jessica Schleider, assistant professor in the psychology department at Stony Brook University.

She and colleagues wanted to test whether single-session, online, and free-of-charge interventions could significantly reduce depression in teens who were struggling.

They created a control, “placebo” SSI, and two skills-based SSIs: the behavioral activation program, and the growth mindset program. She and colleagues tested three-month outcomes measuring depression, hopelessness, generalized anxiety, COVID-related trauma, and restrictive eating.

“We discovered that both of the SSIs significantly reduced teens’ depression symptoms and levels of hopelessness compared to the control group three months later,” says Schleider. “On average, the effects on depression were moderate, in some teens the SSIs helped reduce their symptoms a lot, for others only a small amount.

Read the full article about online interventions for teen depression by Gregory Filiano at Futurity.