Hedonic perception group intervention in adolescent depression: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Abstract Evidence from the pleasure perception community has been applied primarily to adults with anxiety and depression. Less is known about the effects of depression and anxiety in adolescents.To determine the efficacy of pleasure perception combined with standard therapy in the treatment of adolescent depression.Participants with ICD-10-diagnosed depression (n = 108) were randomized to receive hedonic perception group therapy combined with standard care (2 weeks, 10 treatments) and the control group received only standard care and were followed up at baseline, 2 weeks (postintervention) and 7 weeks with clinical measures that included depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms.In the analysis of missing data by maximization, there were significant differences in GAD-7 (P < 0.01), PHQ-9, and PHQ-15 (P < 0.001) between and within groups between the experimental and control groups at 2 and 7 weeks of follow-up. Participants in the experimental group showed better treatment outcomes, and the effect size (Cohen d) of the experimental group was greater than that of the control group. The effective remission rate of the pleasure perception group plus standard treatment group was significantly higher than that of the standard treatment group alone (P < 0.05).The combination of pleasure perception groups and standard treatment is an effective treatment method for adolescent depression, which shows certain clinical application prospects.