The adaptation and evaluation of a CBT-based manual for the inpatient treatment of youth depression: a pilot study.

Background: Although there is good evidence to support the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for the outpatient treatment of adolescent major depressive disorder (MDD), evidence-based manuals for the inpatient setting are lacking. This pilot study sought to (i) adapt an existing CBT manual (treatment of adolescent depression; TADS) to an inpatient setting (TADS-in), (ii) test its effectiveness at symptom reduction and remission of MDD in a pre-post design, and (iii) assess the strengths and limitations of the manual via a focus-group with clinicians.

Methods: Twenty nine adolescents aged 12-17 years with a primary ICD-10 diagnosis of MDD being treated as inpatients at a psychiatric clinic were included.