Frequently Asked Questions
1. What kind of screening is needed to determine if an adolescent is appropriate?
The Blues Program is a depression prevention intervention and not treatment, so it is important to assess adolescents for current major depression and serious suicidal ideation. If either is present, the adolescent needs to be referred for appropriate treatment. Adolescents with a history of major depression could be appropriate for the Blues Program. We have not excluded adolescents on the basis of other psychiatric disorders but our research suggests that adolescents with high levels of substance use do not significantly benefit from the program.
2. What’s the best way for me to recruit interested participants?
We have been very successful recruiting potential participants through school-wide direct mailings and recruitment posters inviting students to take part in a class aimed at helping adolescents reduce sadness and promote emotional well-being. In this and other interventions, we have found that referring to the Blues Program as a “class” rather than a “group” helps to reduce the potential for stigma.
3. What is the time commitment of group participants?
This program consists of six 1-hour sessions conducted over consecutive weeks. Participants are also asked to complete brief between session home assignments.
4. What kind of screening is needed to determine if an adolescent is appropriate?
The Blues Program is a depression prevention intervention and not treatment, so it is important to assess adolescents for current major depression and serious suicidal ideation. If either is present, the adolescent needs to be referred for appropriate treatment. Adolescents with a history of major depression could be appropriate for the Blues Program. We have not excluded adolescents on the basis of other psychiatric disorders but our research suggests that adolescents with high levels of substance use do not significantly benefit from the program.
5. What’s the best way for me to recruit interested participants?
We have been very successful recruiting potential participants through school-wide direct mailings and recruitment posters inviting students to take part in a class aimed at helping adolescents reduce sadness and promote emotional well-being. In this and other interventions, we have found that referring to the Blues Program as a “class” rather than a “group” helps to reduce the potential for stigma.
6. What is the time commitment of group participants?
This program consists of six 1-hour sessions conducted over consecutive weeks. Participants are also asked to complete brief between session home assignments.
7. How do I get administrative approval at my school or institution to begin a Blues Program group?
Generally, administrators are most receptive to offering these programs when it is demonstrated that research supports a beneficial effect of the intervention for participants, that delivering this program would not interfere with regular school activities, and that it won’t additionally burden administrative staff.
8. Who makes good group leaders?
This intervention has been successfully implemented by a variety of individuals with varying levels of clinical training. The ideal group leader would be familiar with cognitive behavioral methods of preventing and treating depression, an understanding of how depression affects youth in our culture, experience conducting manualized groups, and basic therapeutic and empathy skills. Group leaders should carefully read the manual and practice each activity before leading a group, and should be comfortable managing sessions effectively so that material covered and sessions stay on track. Being able to tactfully interrupt particularly talkative participants to keep the group on track is also an important skill.
9. Can I deliver this program without a co-facilitator?
Yes, it is possible to deliver the Blues Program by yourself, especially if you already have experience conducting prevention or treatment groups with adolescents and you have training in cognitive-behavioral intervention approaches. If you do this, it is especially important to carefully prepare so that you clearly understand the session material and planned exercises. However, if a co-facilitator is available, we recommend that because it allows you to split up the material to present, bounce ideas off of each other in and between sessions, support each other through the group delivery, and have continuity with one facilitator if one of you is sick or unable to attend a session.
10. Can I deliver this program to mixed-gender groups?
In our research with high school students, we have always conducted single-gender groups. We did this to increase the comfort level of group members, encourage more open and honest sharing, reduce potential distractions, and avoid one gender dominating discussion over the other. It might be possible to successfully conduct mixed-gender groups, if necessitated by staffing constraints, but we would suggest that you try to have at least 2-3 members of each sex in the group to facilitate cohesion, and to try and make the number of participants in each gender equal.
11. Can the program be used with younger adolescents?
Our research has focused on high school aged adolescents (13-19 years of age) and the program has been found to be equally effective of adolescents across that age span (Müller, Rohde, Gau, & Stice, 2015). We suspect that some of the content would not be developmentally appropriate for younger adolescents or children. Other interventions have been developed for younger adolescents (please see the Stice et al., 2009 meta-analysis).
12. What should I do if a group member misses a session?
We strongly recommend you contact a student if she/he misses a session to conduct a brief (10-15 minute) individual make-up session before the next group session. Use the make-up session to review past home practice assignments, discuss the key concepts from the missed session, and give the new home practice assignment so the person can complete it before the next session. Occasionally group members do drop out after not responding to repeated attempts to have them rejoin.
13. Are parents involved in the program? Should they be?
For ease of delivery, we have not attempted to involve parents in this prevention program. In addition, research on cognitive-behavioral group treatment (the Adolescent Coping With Depression Course) has not found that parental involvement significantly improves outcomes for depressed high school aged adolescents. Parents provided consent for their children to participate in our research studies and we informed parents if their son or daughter developed major depression or experienced suicidal ideation.
14. How big can the groups be?
We aim to conduct groups with 5-8 adolescents. If a group is much larger, it is very difficult to cover all the material and involve all group members in the 60-minute session timeframe. It might be possible to conduct a larger group (perhaps up to 12-14 members?) if you were able to increase the session duration to 90 minutes.
15. Could this program be used with just one adolescent rather than a group?
We have no experience delivering this information to adolescents on a 1-on-1 basis and believe there is significant benefit to the adolescents hearing about the experiences and successes of other individuals their own age who are dealing with similar symptoms and stresses. Rather than conducting individual sessions, we would suggest that you try to recruit even two or three appropriate adolescents and conduct a small group.
The Blues Program is a depression prevention intervention and not treatment, so it is important to assess adolescents for current major depression and serious suicidal ideation. If either is present, the adolescent needs to be referred for appropriate treatment. Adolescents with a history of major depression could be appropriate for the Blues Program. We have not excluded adolescents on the basis of other psychiatric disorders but our research suggests that adolescents with high levels of substance use do not significantly benefit from the program.
2. What’s the best way for me to recruit interested participants?
We have been very successful recruiting potential participants through school-wide direct mailings and recruitment posters inviting students to take part in a class aimed at helping adolescents reduce sadness and promote emotional well-being. In this and other interventions, we have found that referring to the Blues Program as a “class” rather than a “group” helps to reduce the potential for stigma.
3. What is the time commitment of group participants?
This program consists of six 1-hour sessions conducted over consecutive weeks. Participants are also asked to complete brief between session home assignments.
4. What kind of screening is needed to determine if an adolescent is appropriate?
The Blues Program is a depression prevention intervention and not treatment, so it is important to assess adolescents for current major depression and serious suicidal ideation. If either is present, the adolescent needs to be referred for appropriate treatment. Adolescents with a history of major depression could be appropriate for the Blues Program. We have not excluded adolescents on the basis of other psychiatric disorders but our research suggests that adolescents with high levels of substance use do not significantly benefit from the program.
5. What’s the best way for me to recruit interested participants?
We have been very successful recruiting potential participants through school-wide direct mailings and recruitment posters inviting students to take part in a class aimed at helping adolescents reduce sadness and promote emotional well-being. In this and other interventions, we have found that referring to the Blues Program as a “class” rather than a “group” helps to reduce the potential for stigma.
6. What is the time commitment of group participants?
This program consists of six 1-hour sessions conducted over consecutive weeks. Participants are also asked to complete brief between session home assignments.
7. How do I get administrative approval at my school or institution to begin a Blues Program group?
Generally, administrators are most receptive to offering these programs when it is demonstrated that research supports a beneficial effect of the intervention for participants, that delivering this program would not interfere with regular school activities, and that it won’t additionally burden administrative staff.
8. Who makes good group leaders?
This intervention has been successfully implemented by a variety of individuals with varying levels of clinical training. The ideal group leader would be familiar with cognitive behavioral methods of preventing and treating depression, an understanding of how depression affects youth in our culture, experience conducting manualized groups, and basic therapeutic and empathy skills. Group leaders should carefully read the manual and practice each activity before leading a group, and should be comfortable managing sessions effectively so that material covered and sessions stay on track. Being able to tactfully interrupt particularly talkative participants to keep the group on track is also an important skill.
9. Can I deliver this program without a co-facilitator?
Yes, it is possible to deliver the Blues Program by yourself, especially if you already have experience conducting prevention or treatment groups with adolescents and you have training in cognitive-behavioral intervention approaches. If you do this, it is especially important to carefully prepare so that you clearly understand the session material and planned exercises. However, if a co-facilitator is available, we recommend that because it allows you to split up the material to present, bounce ideas off of each other in and between sessions, support each other through the group delivery, and have continuity with one facilitator if one of you is sick or unable to attend a session.
10. Can I deliver this program to mixed-gender groups?
In our research with high school students, we have always conducted single-gender groups. We did this to increase the comfort level of group members, encourage more open and honest sharing, reduce potential distractions, and avoid one gender dominating discussion over the other. It might be possible to successfully conduct mixed-gender groups, if necessitated by staffing constraints, but we would suggest that you try to have at least 2-3 members of each sex in the group to facilitate cohesion, and to try and make the number of participants in each gender equal.
11. Can the program be used with younger adolescents?
Our research has focused on high school aged adolescents (13-19 years of age) and the program has been found to be equally effective of adolescents across that age span (Müller, Rohde, Gau, & Stice, 2015). We suspect that some of the content would not be developmentally appropriate for younger adolescents or children. Other interventions have been developed for younger adolescents (please see the Stice et al., 2009 meta-analysis).
12. What should I do if a group member misses a session?
We strongly recommend you contact a student if she/he misses a session to conduct a brief (10-15 minute) individual make-up session before the next group session. Use the make-up session to review past home practice assignments, discuss the key concepts from the missed session, and give the new home practice assignment so the person can complete it before the next session. Occasionally group members do drop out after not responding to repeated attempts to have them rejoin.
13. Are parents involved in the program? Should they be?
For ease of delivery, we have not attempted to involve parents in this prevention program. In addition, research on cognitive-behavioral group treatment (the Adolescent Coping With Depression Course) has not found that parental involvement significantly improves outcomes for depressed high school aged adolescents. Parents provided consent for their children to participate in our research studies and we informed parents if their son or daughter developed major depression or experienced suicidal ideation.
14. How big can the groups be?
We aim to conduct groups with 5-8 adolescents. If a group is much larger, it is very difficult to cover all the material and involve all group members in the 60-minute session timeframe. It might be possible to conduct a larger group (perhaps up to 12-14 members?) if you were able to increase the session duration to 90 minutes.
15. Could this program be used with just one adolescent rather than a group?
We have no experience delivering this information to adolescents on a 1-on-1 basis and believe there is significant benefit to the adolescents hearing about the experiences and successes of other individuals their own age who are dealing with similar symptoms and stresses. Rather than conducting individual sessions, we would suggest that you try to recruit even two or three appropriate adolescents and conduct a small group.
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