Exploring Parental Perspectives on Dropout from Treatment for Adolescent Depression

ABSTRACT Talking therapies are the first line of treatment for adolescent depression, yet dropout rates are high. Despite parents being considered primary stakeholders in a child’s mental health treatment, there is a lack of qualitative research on their perspectives on adolescent dropout. This study aimed to explore parents’ perspectives on why their adolescent children dropped out of therapy. Interviews with 12 parents whose adolescent children had dropped out of therapy were purposively selected from a larger dataset to explore their understanding of why their children had stopped going to therapy. Interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis and five key themes were identified: practical barriers to therapy; adolescent’s readiness to work with the therapist; relationship difficulties between adolescent and therapist; perceived helpfulness of the therapy; and parents being unaware of why their child ended therapy. Involving parents throughout the therapeutic process could be helpful as they are uniquely positioned to suggest how best to support their child. Services should provide information on the types of therapy, and different therapists, available to adolescents prior to treatment starting. Difficulties in the therapeutic relationship should be addressed in the moment to reduce rupture and, therefore, risk of drop out.