Mind-body skills intervention may help treat depression in adolescents

An intervention aimed at improving mind-body skills may help treat depression among adolescent patients in primary care settings, according to a study published in the Journal of Pediatric Health Care.

“One approach to increase engagement in outpatient depression treatment is providing behavioral health services in primary care settings through collaborative behavioral health care,” Matthew C. Aalsma, PhD, professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine, said in a press release. “Given that most of the adolescents receive treatment for depression by a health care provider in their primary care clinic — rather than by an outpatient mental health specialist — providing behavioral health services in primary care settings can eliminate common barriers to service utilization such as additional costs, transportation issues, and perceived stigma related to mental health treatment.”

Aalsma and colleagues conducted a single-arm clinical trial to evaluate the mind-body skills group 10-week program among adolescents.

Mind-body modalities are a collection of health care practices that focus on bringing control over the mind, body, brain and behavior, and teach multiple mind-body techniques in one approach, which allows patients to try multiple techniques and choose which works best for them, according to the researchers.

The mind-body skills group program includes multiple techniques, including mindfulness and mediation, deep breathing, mindful eating, guided imagery and self-expression through drawing and writing.

The group aspect of the program was used to give participants social support, as previous research has demonstrated an association between absence of depression and social support in children and adolescents.

Participants’ acceptability of the intervention, depression, suicidal ideation, mindfulness, self-efficacy and rumination were assessed at baseline, after completing the program and again 3 months after the program ended.

A total of 43 adolescents participated in the study. The researchers said their depression scores decreased significantly after the intervention, and were maintained through follow-up visits at 3 months.

Aalsma and colleagues also found that mindfulness, self-efficacy, rumination and suicidal ideation significantly improved in participants following the intervention.

The program’s acceptability was strong, with just 14% of adolescents attending less than half of the sessions and 86% attending six or more sessions. Twenty-five percent of participants had perfect attendance during the program.

The researchers noted that randomized studies are needed to further evaluate the value of this program in primary care settings.

“The benefit of programs like [mind-body skills groups] is teens can tailor the intervention to their own interests and needs,” Aalsma said in a press release. “By practicing several mindfulness skills, teens can run with the intervention skill that they enjoy the most.”

References:

Aalsma MC, et al. J Pediatr Health Care. 2020;doi:10.1016/j.pedhc.2020.05.003.

Press release.