Reaching Out to Adolescents With Depression (ROAD)

Major Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders in adolescence and is associated with significant impairments in development and functioning. This project will rigorously test the Adolescent Collaborative Care Treatment intervention, a health services intervention designed to improve management for depressive disorders among adolescents, via a randomized controlled trial comparing the intervention to usual care. Key components of the trial include enhanced education for youth and parents, youth involvement in choice of evidence-based treatments, care management by an allied health professional with regular supervision by a mental health specialist and pediatrician, and stepped care to advance treatment when youth are not improving. Additional features have been added to engage adolescents and parents including a moderated message board for youth to share with and learn from one another, formalized involvement of the parent, and availability of the care manager during after school hours. Our findings will provide key information on the effectiveness of a developmentally-sensitive adapted collaborative care intervention for the treatment of adolescent depression.

Usual care treatment of depression in primary care settings. Usual care considered enhanced as patients and their parents were given screening results and encouraged to seek care from their primary care doctor and behavioral health services.

Collaborative care intervention for depression. Involves care management, evidence based treatments in primary care setting, symptom monitoring and stepped care design

Provision of depression care management in the primary care setting to improve delivery of evidence based treatments

Inclusion Criteria: depression age 13-17 years enrollment in study Primary Care Clinics Exclusion Criteria: suicidality already enrolled Specialty mental health care mental health hospitalization in the prior year substance abuse bipolar disorder non-English speaker

Wright DR, Haaland WL, Ludman E, McCauley E, Lindenbaum J, Richardson LP. The Costs and Cost-effectiveness of Collaborative Care for Adolescents With Depression in Primary Care Settings: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Pediatr. 2016 Nov 1;170(11):1048-1054. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2016.1721.

Richardson LP, Ludman E, McCauley E, Lindenbaum J, Larison C, Zhou C, Clarke G, Brent D, Katon W. Collaborative care for adolescents with depression in primary care: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2014 Aug 27;312(8):809-16. doi: 10.1001/jama.2014.9259.