A Collaborative Care Model Improves Treatment of Depressed Adolescents

Many depressed adolescents do not receive needed treatment because they are undiagnosed or have limited access to mental health services. To examine the effectiveness of a collaborative care model (CCM) for treatment of depression, investigators randomized 101 recruited adolescents (mean age, 15 years; 72% female; 69% white), from pediatric and family medicine clinics in the Group Health system in Washington State, who screened positive for depression on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and one other measure of depression.

The collaborative care intervention was provided by clinic-based depression care managers (master's-level clinicians who received 2 days of training on adolescent depression, medication management, and cognitive behavior…