Clinical messages from the Treatment for Adolescents With Depression Study (TADS).

Abstract

The purpose of this report was to summarize the key clinical messages from the Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS). TADS is a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded randomized controlled trial designed to evaluate the relative effectiveness of fluoxetine, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), and the combination of fluoxetine plus CBT across acute treatment, maintenance treatment, and naturalistic follow-up periods among adolescents with major depressive disorder. Findings revealed that 6 to 9 months of combined fluoxetine plus CBT should be the modal treatment from a public health perspective as well as to maximize benefits and minimize harms for individual patients. The combination of fluoxetine and CBT appears to be superior to both CBT monotherapy and fluoxetine monotherapy as a treatment for moderate to severe major depressive disorder in adolescents.