Publication: The Prevention of Depressive Symptoms in Low-Income Minority Middle School Students

Cardemil, E. V., Reivich, K. J., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). The prevention of depressive symptoms in low-income minority middle-school students. Prevention & Treatment , 5, Article 8.

Abstract

We present data on the efficacy of the Penn Resiliency Program (PRP) with low-income minority children. This school-based depression prevention program teaches cognitive and social problem-solving skills to groups of middle-school students who might be at-risk for developing depressive symptoms by virtue of their low-income status. Our previous research had established the effectiveness of the original PRP with predominately middle-income Caucasian children. We administered the PRP to 2 cohorts of low-income minority children: African American and Latino 5th and 6th graders. We found a clearly beneficial effect for the Latino children up to 6 months after the conclusion of the depression prevention program, but no clear effect for the African American children.

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