Prevention of Depression and Anxiety in Subclinical Adolescents: Effects of a Transdiagnostic Internet-Delivered CBT Program

Anxiety and depressive symptoms are common problems in adolescence that could be addressed by means of preventive interventions. Even though transdiagnostic cognitive behavior therapy (T-CBT) is potentially an ideal strategy to deal with anxiety and depression, it has rarely been used for preventive purposes. In addition, so far, no study has used internet-delivered T-CBT to prevent anxiety and depression in adolescents. This study aimed to examine the utility of AMTE, an internet-delivered T-CBT program, for the indicated prevention of anxiety and depression in adolescents. AMTE was applied to 30 adolescents (56.7% females, age range = 12-18 years, M-age = 14.00, SDage = 1.89) who showed subclinical symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. Participants were assessed at pre- and post-treatment and follow-up (3 months). We found that after the program, the symptoms of self-reported anxiety and depression, clinician-rated symptom severity, and self-reported and parent-reported severity of the main problems had significantly improved. In addition, there were significant improvements in anxiety sensitivity and emotional avoidance. Finally, we found high feasibility and acceptability of the program. AMTE is feasible and potentially effective for the indicated prevention of anxiety and depression as well as of clinical transdiagnostic factors, in adolescents.

Automated summary

In this study, an internet-delivered transdiagnostic cognitive behavior therapy (T-CBT) program called AMTE was applied to adolescents with subclinical symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. The results showed significant improvements in self-reported symptoms, clinician-rated symptom severity, and anxiety sensitivity and emotional avoidance. The program was found to be feasible and potentially effective for preventing anxiety and depression in adolescents.