Effectiveness Trial of the French Blues Indicated Depression Prevention Program (French Blues)

The purpose of this pilot study is to test the effectiveness of French adaptation of the Blues program, a school-based indicated depression prevention intervention. The program will be delivered by the endogenous psycho-social staff of 3 Montreal secondary schools to adolescents with sub-clinical depressive symptoms and compared to a no-intervention (Informational Brochure only) control condition, designed to represent the "usual intervention" in these schools.

Participants will attend 6 weekly 1-hour sessions of group cognitive-behavioral therapy administered by school staff, and will do home practice between sessions and after the program individually using a web site (called the Blues App)

Participants will receive a brochure describing the nature, causes, and consequences of depression, as well as available prevention/treatment options

Participants will attend 6 weekly 1-hour sessions of group cognitive-behavioral therapy administered by school staff, and will do home practice between sessions and after the program individually using a web site (called the Blues App)

Number of participants who develop a major depressive episode as measured using the SCID diagnostic interview (posttest, 6 month follow-up)

Change in depressive symptoms as measured using continuous SCID scores (baseline, posttest, 6-month follow-up)

Change in depressive symptoms as measured using the CES-D questionnaire (baseline, posttest, 6-month follow-up)

Change in depressive symptoms as measured using the PHQ-9 questionnaire (baseline, posttest, 6-month follow-up)

Change in social adjustment as measured using "Évaluation sociale de Soi chez les jeunes adultes" questionnaire (Michaud et al., 2006) (baseline, posttest, 6-month follow-up)

Change in anxiety symptoms as measured using the SCAS questionnaire (baseline, posttest, 6-month follow-up)

Change in parent-child relationship as measured using a scale from the MASPAQ questionnaire (Leblanc, 1996) (baseline, posttest, 6-month follow-up)

Change in affective school engagement as measured using a subscale of the school engagement questionnaire (Archambault et al., 2009) (baseline, posttest, 6-month follow-up)

Change in substance use as measured using a scale from the MASPAQ questionnaire (Leblanc, 1996) (baseline, posttest, 6-month follow-up)

Change in delinquent behaviors as measured using a scale from the MASPAQ questionnaire (Leblanc, 1996) (baseline, posttest, 6-month follow-up)

Inclusion Criteria: Elevated depressive symptoms (score of 20 or above on the Center for Epidemiological Studies - Depression screening questionnaire) Exclusion Criteria: Current major depression diagnosis Current active suicidal behaviors Being in a special school curriculum for academic or behavioral problems