Thinking positive helps teens beat depression says study

By REBECCA WALSH health reporter

Teaching teenagers to think positive thoughts might save them from depression, an Auckland University study has found.

Supporters say the programme should be developed for schools around the country and may work to reduce New Zealand's high youth suicide rate.

The research, published in the latest American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, shows that developing resilience in young people through skills such as learning how to reduce negative thinking impacts significantly on their reported levels of depression.

Researcher and psychiatrist Dr Sally Merry said an estimated 24 per cent of young people experienced significant depression by the age of 18. Some attempted suicide.

"It has long been thought that if you teach people these skills before they have an onset of depression, then this may protect them," she said.

Nearly 400 Maori and European 13 and 14-year-olds from two Auckland high schools took part.

Students were enrolled in either the depression prevention programme, developed from an Australian resource, or a control group which focused on having fun.

The programme, delivered by health education teachers, included 11 one-hour sessions on problem solving, ways of reducing negative thoughts, relaxation and conflict resolution.

"Basically the idea is that feelings are a product of how we think about things and what we do. Therefore, we can influence how we feel by changing the way we think."

For example, students might be given a scenario where they had done badly in a test.

"Some young people say to themselves, 'I didn't do well that time, I had a bad day, it was a stupid test' and feel okay about themselves," she said.

"Others, who may be more prone to depression, might say, 'I did badly, I always do badly, I suck at everything'."

Dr Merry, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, who completed the study with psychologist Dr Heather McDowell, said people prone to depression tended to emphasise their faults and not see their strengths.

"We were getting them to look at ways of thinking about things and weighing up whether it's accurate and whether it's a reasonable, resourceful way of thinking."

They found that students who took part in the prevention programme reported significantly less depression than those in the control group immediately after the programme.

There was some evidence the effects lasted after 18 months. There were no differences between Maori and European students.

Dr Merry said the findings were encouraging, but the programme would need to be fine-tuned before being used in schools.

Dr Peter Watson, adolescent health specialist and director of Suicide Prevention Information New Zealand said depression was a high risk factor in youth suicide. Reducing the rate of depression was likely to have an impact on the country's high youth suicide rate.

A school-based programme, which helped young people develop skills to cope with the "worries and stresses" of growing up, would act as a "safety net" for those young people who did not learn such skills at home.

Stuart Harrison, principal of Waiuku College, one of the schools involved in the Health Research Council-funded study, said the programme added to the existing health curriculum, which covered issues such as relationships and self-esteem.

Mr Harrison said helping students to feel positive about themselves and their relationships was a "worthy aim".

HOW IT WORKS

An example of the techniques which teenagers are taught:

A young man is waiting for his friend after school. The friend is running late.

Young people were asked, how do you think he would feel?

The "risky thinking" scenario - he thinks his friend didn't want to come and obviously doesn't want to be his friend.

The "resourceful thinking" scenario - he thinks maybe the teacher kept him in, I'll give him a bit longer. The friend turns up.