More on TADS: What works for whom in adolescent depression treatment

Adolescents with depression can be divided into three unique classes: those with high severity with early significant improvement, those with high severity with limited symptom change, and those with moderate severity with late significant improvement, according to researchers who analyzed recent results of the Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS). Baseline predictors of which class a child would end up in include treatment condition, gender, age, stage of change, depression severity, number of comorbid disorders, hopelessness, melancholia, suicidality, and cognitive distortions. The study results have implications for what kind of treatment to use for depressed adolescents.