Adaptation of Multi-Family Psychoeducational Psychotherapy (MF-PEP) for Adolescents with Mood Disorders: Preliminary Findings.

Adolescent mood disorders are a major public health concern. Clinical need for services outstrips availability in many communities. Group psychotherapy is an efficient means to provide service to a larger number of clientele and can offer certain clinical advantages. Multi-Family Psychoeducational Psychotherapy (MF-PEP), an adjunctive group psychosocial treatment, has been shown to improve children's mood symptoms, increase parents' knowledge of mood disorder symptoms, improve family interactions and improve use of behavioral health services. In this study, an adaptation of MF-PEP for adolescents with mood disorders is described and preliminary data are presented. Among the 19 adolescents with mood disorders and 22 parents who completed the study, improvements in adolescents' depressive symptoms, quality of life, families' understanding of mood disorders, and overall satisfaction with treatment were reported. Results have informed ongoing pilot testing of Teen-MF-PEP.