A qualitative research on investigation the effectiveness of cognitive behavior therapy on depression of children

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effects of cognitive behavioural therapy on depression levels in children. For this purpose, five children, who scored above the cut-off score in the Child Depression Inventory and displayed depressive symptoms, were selected among the fifth-grade students studying in a secondary school. Individual therapy based on cognitive behavioural therapy was applied to these five children once a week for a total of 10 weeks, each session lasting an average of 50 minutes. In the last ten minutes of each session, the parents also joined the session. While interviews aiming to reduce depression levels based on cognitive behavioural therapy were being conducted with the children, interviews were also conducted with the parents in order to inform them about the process, to support the child outside the sessions and to follow up the process. In the study, the content of the interviews conducted with the children and the answers given to the semi-structured interview questions prepared by the researcher after the application and received from the parents were used as data. The content of the interviews and the answers given to the semi-structured interview questions were subjected to content analysis. At the end of the study, when the content of the sessions at the beginning of the therapy process was analysed, it was found that depression, low self-perception, and negative cognitive and emotional processes were expressed intensely during the first sessions. When the content of the sessions in the subsequent stages of the therapy was analysed, it was observed that there were positive changes in the cognitive, emotional and behavioural dimensions; in other words, individual therapy had positive effects on the children. When the answers given by the parents to the semi-structured interview questions were analysed, it was concluded that individual therapy created positive changes in the change of negative thoughts, self-expression, problem-solving skills and anger control in children. In the study, it was observed that the content of the interviews with the children and the answers given by the parents to the semi-structured interview questions were consistent with each other.