(Press-News.org) DALLAS – July 2, 2014 – Cognitive behavioral therapy in addition to medication improves the long-term success of treatment for children and adolescents suffering from depression, a new UT Southwestern Medical Center study indicates.
Based on the results of a clinical trial conducted at UT Southwestern and Children's Medical Center of Dallas, depression relapse rates were substantially lower in a group of youth who received both forms of treatment versus medication alone.
"Continuation-phase strategies designed to reduce the high rates of relapse in depressed youths have important public health implications, as recurrence of depression is more likely in youths with multiple episodes," said Dr. Betsy Kennard, Professor of Psychiatry at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study published June 17 in The American Journal of Psychiatry.
Relapse rates in youth with major depressive disorders typically range from 40 percent to 70 percent, said Dr. Kennard, also Director of an outpatient program at Children's Medical Center called Suicide Prevention and Resilience at Children's (SPARC).
In this study, the relapse rate for the group of 75 youth who received behavioral therapy for six months following six weeks of initial treatment with the antidepressant fluoxetine, also known as Prozac, was 9 percent. Among the group of 69 youth who received only the drug during this period, 26.5 percent relapsed.
Youth who showed improvement after receiving fluoxetine for an initial six-week treatment period continued in the study, split between the medication-only and therapy plus medication groups. Study participants' ages ranged from 8-17.
"Unfortunately, medication alone is not always enough to prevent relapse," said Dr. Graham Emslie, Chief of the Division of Adolescent and Child Psychiatry, Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at UT Southwestern, and a contributing author of the study. "Identifying novel strategies to prevent future relapses for young people should be a priority. This approach is unique in that treatment was added at a time when the intensity of care is frequently decreasing."
The type of therapy used in this trial – called Relapse Prevention Cognitive Behavioral Therapy – is an individual psychotherapy treatment with a family component that focuses on reducing residual symptoms, increasing wellness behaviors, and preventing relapse. For six months, the youth in this arm of the trial participated in eight to 11 therapy sessions that were tailored to each child.
"It is also worth noting that youth who received the therapy had lower medication doses, yet had better outcomes than those on higher dosages in the medication management-only group," said Dr. Kennard.
INFORMATION:
Dr. Emslie, holder of the Charles E. and Sarah M. Seay Chair in Child Psychiatry, and Dr. Kennard were co-principal investigators of this single-center clinical trial funded through a National Institute of Mental Health grant.
Other UT Southwestern researchers who contributed to this study were Taryn Mayes, a Faculty Associate in Psychiatry; Dr. Paul Nakonezny, Associate Professor of Clinical Science and Psychiatry; Jessica Jones, psychological associate in Psychiatry; Dr. Aleksandra Foxwell, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry; and Jessica King, a research assistant in Psychiatry.
Dr. Emslie receives research support from Eli Lilly, BioMarin, Somerset, Duke University, Forest Laboratories, Valeant, GlaxoSmithKline, and Mylan; is a consultant for Allergan, Biobehavioral Diagnostics Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, INC Research, Lundbeck, Merck, Pfizer, Seaside Therapeutics, Shire, Texas Department of State Health Services, University of Miami, and Valeant; and is on the speakers bureau for Forest Laboratories.
About UT Southwestern Medical Center
UT Southwestern, one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institution's faculty includes many distinguished members, including six who have been awarded Nobel Prizes since 1985. Numbering more than 2,700, the faculty is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide medical care in 40 specialties to nearly 91,000 hospitalized patients and oversee more than 2 million outpatient visits a year.
Behavioral therapy in pediatric antidepressant treatment reduces likelihood of relapse
2014-07-02
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Harnessing a personal rivalry can boost an individual's athletic performance
2014-07-02
July 2, 2014 - We can all think of great sports rivals: tennis players Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, swimmers Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, or basketball players Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. These fierce, personal rivalries seem worlds apart from a hometown 5K race. Yet even local races often produce rivals who push each other to higher levels of performance, according to new research that surveyed runners and used data from 184 races.
Rivalries are distinct from other competitions as those involved place higher stakes on their performance independent of any tangible ...
Twin study links community socioeconomic deprivation to sleep duration
2014-07-02
DARIEN, IL – A new study of adult twins suggests that the level of socioeconomic deprivation in a neighborhood is associated with the sleep duration of residents.
Results show that increased socioeconomic deprivation was significantly associated with decreased sleep duration across all twins. Further analysis within twin pairs found that this association remained significant after accounting for genetics and shared family environment, indicating a robust relationship.
"These results are a starting point for discussing the impact that neighborhood-level factors have ...
The dark side of Twitter -- Infidelity, break-ups, and divorce
2014-07-02
New Rochelle, NY, July 2, 2014—With more than 554 million active users, Twitter is one of the most popular social networking sites. Active users of social networking who are in a romantic relationship may find that Twitter-related conflicts cause relationship problems that can become serious enough to result in infidelity or divorce, as described in a study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking , a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking ...
Causes of serious pain syndrome closer to discovery
2014-07-02
Researchers at the University of Liverpool have taken a major step forward in understanding the causes of a disorder which causes chronic pain in sufferers.
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is a serious condition affecting a limb after an – often small – accident or operation. It can cause severe pain lasting many years, as well as limb swelling, hair and nail growth changes, and muscle atrophy, but until now there has been no clear evidence of the cause.
Now the research team from the University's Institute of Translational Medicine alongside colleagues at the ...
Upending a cancer dogma
2014-07-02
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine say a protein essential to regulating cell cycle progression – the process of cell division and replication – activates a key tumor suppressor, rather than inactivating it as previously thought.
"The finding is the result of literally 20 years of work in my lab," said Steven F. Dowdy, PhD, professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at UC San Diego. "It completely turns upside-down what was thought to be a fundamental aspect of cell cycle progression in all cancer cells driven ...
Deforestation remedies can have unintended consequences, UF researchers say
2014-07-02
GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- When it comes to fixing deforestation and forest degradation, good intentions can lead to bad outcomes.
That's the take-away from a new study by two University of Florida researchers who say efforts to restore damaged and destroyed tropical forests can go awry if the people making the plans of action don't choose wisely.
"We need to be careful about what is it we're losing and gaining," UF biology professor Francis E. "Jack" Putz said. Putz worked with UF biology professor Claudia Romero on the paper, which will appear in the July issue of Biotropica. ...
Antibiotic therapy reduces mortality by 68 percent in hemodialysis patients
2014-07-02
DETROIT – An antibiotic therapy known to reduce catheter-related bloodstream infections in hemodialysis patients has been shown for the first time to reduce mortality, according to a Henry Ford Health System study.
Researchers found that a low-dose "lock" solution of gentamicin/citrate reduced mortality by 68 percent compared to a solution of heparin, a blood-clotting therapy long considered the standard of care. Additionally, the gentamicin/citrate solution was associated with a 73 percent reduction in bloodstream infections compared to the heparin treatment.
Bloodstream ...
Insect diet helped early humans build bigger brains, study suggests
2014-07-02
Figuring out how to survive on a lean-season diet of hard-to-reach ants, slugs and other bugs may have spurred the development of bigger brains and higher-level cognitive functions in the ancestors of humans and other primates, suggests research from Washington University in St. Louis.
"Challenges associated with finding food have long been recognized as important in shaping evolution of the brain and cognition in primates, including humans," said Amanda D. Melin, PhD, assistant professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences and lead author of the study.
"Our work suggests ...
UCLA addresses 'lost in translation' issues in Chinese medicine
2014-07-02
Millions of people in the West today utilize traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture, herbs, massage and nutritional therapies. Yet only a few U.S. schools that teach Chinese medicine require Chinese-language training and only a handful of Chinese medical texts have so far been translated into English.
Given the complexity of the language and concepts in these texts, there is a need for accurate, high-quality translations, say researchers at UCLA's Center for East–West Medicine. To that end, the center has published a document that includes a detailed discussion ...
Only 25 minutes of mindfulness meditation alleviates stress
2014-07-02
PITTSBURGH—Mindfulness meditation has become an increasingly popular way for people to improve their mental and physical health, yet most research supporting its benefits has focused on lengthy, weeks-long training programs.
New research from Carnegie Mellon University is the first to show that brief mindfulness meditation practice – 25 minutes for three consecutive days – alleviates psychological stress. Published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, the study investigates how mindfulness meditation affects people's ability to be resilient under stress.
"More and ...