Effectiveness and Safety of Antidepressants for Children and Adolescents: Implications for Clinical Practice
Merry SN, Hetrick SE, Stasiak K. JAMA Psychiatry. Published online August 30, 2017. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.2410
This editorial by a seasoned group of Cochrane reviewers compares recent findings of a review of SSRI and SNRI medication for treating childhood and adolescent anxiety and depression (Locher, JCPP 2017) with previous findings regarding the effectiveness of psychotherapies for treating the same conditions. Overall, both types of therapy work better for anxiety than depressive disorders. Given the greater effect sizes of psychotherapy over medication, the former is recommended as first line therapy for both anxiety and depression. However, given deficits in adverse effect reporting within psychotherapy studies, head to head comparisons of psychotherapy vs medication and the use of combination treatments, the authors advocate for newer treatment modalities including e-therapies.