Editorial: Room for Improvement in the Treatment of Youth Depression

Abstract

Psychotherapy has been studied for decades and is often used to treat youths with depression. How well does it work? Eckshtain et al.¹ answered this question with a thoughtful, complex meta-analysis of 53 psychotherapy trials. Psychotherapy was significantly superior relative to control groups. More revealingly, treatment effects were small to moderate (g = .49) compared with no treatment, small (g = .29) compared with a broad range of usual care interventions, and middling and statistically insignificant (g = .16) relative to placebo interventions (nearly all placebo psychotherapies merely controlling for therapist attention; only one study used pill placebo). I describe these findings in the context of research on both psychotherapy and antidepressant medications. The current meta-analysis and a wider body of research provide guidance for both clinicians and researchers.