Abstract
Anxiety and depression are two of the most common mental health diagnoses in adolescents, with higher prevalence rates for gender-nonconforming youth relative to an age-equivalent population of cisgender youth (Veale et al., 2017). This case study examined the effectiveness of the Unified Protocol-Adolescent (UP-A) for a gender-nonconforming 13-year-old diagnosed with both generalized anxiety and mild depression. Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this transdiagnostic implementation provided psychoeducation and targeted emotion identification, present-moment awareness, cognitive restructuring, and problem-solving over 21 sessions. Outcome data demonstrated significant reductions in anxiety and depression symptoms, with a notable qualitative change on three subjective measures of anxiety/depression symptoms, as ratings moved from clinical to nonclinical score ranges. Moreover, outcome data demonstrated the potential efficacy of the UP-A administered via telehealth for nonbinary youth with comorbid anxiety and depression. Clinical and research implications regarding the utility of implementing a flexible, transdiagnostic approach to treating diverse adolescents’ emotional disorders are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
