ABSTRACT
Psychodynamic psychotherapy holds the promise of effecting more lasting changes in childhood depression by improving the capacity to resolve internal and external conflicts over time. A number of factors suggest a place for family therapy in the treatment of depression in children. Further hypotheses were made with regard to the sequence of response (internal change vs social interaction) and predictors of response between the two therapy groups using other measures as well as changes of psychosocial functioning based on the Social Adjustment Scale for Children and the Family Assessment Device. Children had to be living with at least one biological parent, and any antidepressants or other psychotropic medication had to have been stopped at least four weeks prior to commencement of therapy, to ensure the exclusion of confounding variables. Exclusion criteria included: depressive disorders meriting Urgent hospitalization, bipolar and schizo-affective disorder, severe conduct disorder, and parents with psychotic disorder or severe personality disorder.
