This case study illustrates one successful outcome of an intensive, outpatient,
treatment project for adolescents with mood disorders. An 18-year-old female
with symptoms across several DSM-IV Axis I classifications, including a
depressive disorder, and her parents participated in a year-long, multimodal
intervention that included mood-focused psychoeducation and coaching designed to
impact on her, her family, school, and community systems. Self-report,
clinician-driven, and ecologically valid measures were used to assess treatment
effects on psychiatric symptoms and psychosocial functioning. Results on the
Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale
demonstrated
considerable gains in the following areas: Home, school/work, social behavior,
self-harm, thinking/communication, and substance use. During the intervention,
she went from failing several of her classes to graduating from high school. In
addition, she made the Honours’ List in her first semester at a local
community college. A discussion of intervention pluses and pitfalls specific to
the case highlight the necessity to influence the various spheres of the young
person’s life.