Web-Based Positive Psychology Intervention for Adolescents With Current or Remitted Major Depressive Disorder

Abstract: Theoretical Background: Youth with major depressive disorder often do not receive appropriate treatment. Furthermore, evidence-based, highly acceptable, and easily accessible information about depression and its treatment along with services as a complementary strategy to professional treatment is needed for young people seeking help for depression. In autumn 2021, we launched the website www.ich-bin-alles.de. Besides evidence-based information about depression, the website provides self-help exercises based on principles of positive psychology, which might attract young people and can be easily implemented in daily life as a hands-on support. Objective: This randomized controlled trial (preregistered at ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04994470) examined the efficacy of this positive psychology intervention (PPI) to improve affect- and stress-related outcomes in adolescents with a history of major depressive disorder and assessed its acceptability and adherence aspects. Methods: Data from 77 youth with current or remitted major depressive disorder (who were undergoing or had undergone psychiatric and/or psychotherapeutic treatment) aged 12 – 18 years were analyzed. Participants were randomized to receive either 14 daily web-based self-help exercises based on positive psychology in the experimental group or a web-based sham intervention in the control group. Self-report inventories were applied to assess changes in affect- and stress-related outcome measures as well as the acceptability of and adherence to the intervention. Results: No differential effects of the experimental intervention on affect- and stress-related outcomes were revealed. More than 78 % of the participants in the experimental group reported that they would recommend the self-help exercises of the PPI to other youth and the overall acceptance of the PPI exercises was good. Moreover, 75 % of the participants in the experimental group reported that they carried out the PPI self-help exercises. Discussion and Conclusion: The results have important implications for future approaches that aim to implement web-based self-help exercises based on positive psychology for adolescents with depression, for which we found good adherence and acceptance. In future studies, it would be important to investigate whether a more intensive PPI might also specifically improve affect- and stress-related outcomes and be a promising way to augment the efficacy of traditional therapy approaches in adolescents affected by major depressive disorder.