Therapeutic Lifestyle Change: A brief psychoeducational intervention for the prevention of depression.
Issue Date
2009-08-09Author
Young, Chantal Diana
Publisher
University of Kansas
Format
185 pages
Type
Dissertation
Degree Level
Ph.D.
Discipline
Psychology
Rights
This item is protected by copyright and unless otherwise specified the copyright of this thesis/dissertation is held by the author.
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Show full item recordAbstract
This study aimed to test the efficacy of a brief intervention for the prevention of depression among at-risk college students. Treatment group participants attended a one-hour psychoeducational session based on an acute group-based intervention for depression, Therapeutic Lifestyle Change (TLC; Ilardi et al., 2009). Participants were informed of a set of six modifiable lifestyle factors (omega-3 supplementation, social support, physical exercise, sunlight exposure, healthy sleep, and anti-rumination strategies) which have shown promise in the treatment and prevention of depression (Karwoski, 2006). Treatment group participants evidenced a significant increase in adherence to three of the six targeted TLC elements: supplementing with fish oil, obtaining adequate sleep, and utilizing social support. However, there were no observed between-group differences in self-reported depression symptoms, as reflected in the BDI-II, at either follow-up assessment. Nevertheless, as hypothesized, study participants who received the TLC-based intervention were significantly less likely than were control participants to report the experience of a depressive episode at two- and six-month follow-ups. The intervention appears, therefore, to have reduced the risk of depression onset in a high-risk population, although some interpretational caution is warranted in light of the study's methodological limitations.
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- Dissertations [4626]
- Psychology Dissertations and Theses [459]
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