AUTHOR=Saw Jo Anne , Tam Cai Lian , Thanzami Vanlal , Bonn Gregory 

TITLE=Contextualized School-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Intervention for Malaysian Secondary School Students

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2020

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.565896

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2020.565896

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=This study investigates the effectiveness of the school-based Shine Through Any Roadblocks (STAR) CBT intervention, by a screening conducted on 634 students from eight secondary schools in Malaysia. The participants (n = 85) who fulfilled the eligibility criteria in the screening were assigned randomly to either the intervention group (n = 42) or the assessment-only waitlist control group (n = 43). The intervention consisted of eight-sessions over the period of two months, each conducted for 60 minutes in group-based modality according to the module. Moreover, the outcome measures (depressive symptoms and automatic negative thoughts) were administered at five-time intervals, which are the baseline/pre-intervention, mid-intervention, post-intervention, one-month follow-up after intervention, and three-month follow-up after intervention, resulting in significant and consistent lower levels of outcome measures among the intervention group. Therefore, it was indicated that the adapted Malaysian CBT protocol is possibly a successful method of reducing depressive symptomatology among adolescents. Clinical implications were further discussed for better prevention and treatment for depression as a school-based intervention in Malaysia.