Therapeutic Lifestyle Change: A brief psychoeducational intervention for the prevention of depression.

Abstract

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.