Preventing adolescent depression in rural communities

With research indicating that the early stage symptoms of depression emerge in early adolescents there is a strong need for early intervention, according to Assistant Professor Dr. La Tonya Noël.

“”It is when these symptoms are not addressed at this stage that it progresses to Major Depressive Disorder, which can be a lifelong struggle,” Dr. Noël stressed. “So all the research basically indicates that it’s best to intervene early to prevent this.”

Although in its early stages, the research project aims to addresses depression prevention among adolescents in rural communities, specifically in the rural Florida counties of Madison and Gadsden.  The pilot project initially focused on Madison County, adapting a depression prevention curriculum for urban high school-age adolescents to the particular cultural needs of rural middle school-aged adolescents. The initial project was designed to modify  the intervention using a “participatory action research” approach, in effect using community-based involvement to develop the curriculum language using the community’s terms, language, and culture. A randomized control trial tested the intervention and the positive findings lead Dr. Noël to expand the project into Gadsden County, also adapting the prevention curriculum to this specific community’s sociocultural needs.

The prevention curriculum is designed to allow older adolescent peers to facilitate the intervention with the middle-school aged participants. This approach is necessitated in part to the lack of availability of mental health resources, professionals, and funding in rural communities.

“So, my proposal basically said, ‘Let’s try to use their natural resources that they have plenty of.’ Training older peers to implement the intervention,” Dr. Noël explained. “What we are arguing, and actually have support for, is that we can train people to be sensitive to certain topics and ideas, and to be able to discuss those ideas in an age appropriate way through activities and discussions.”

Early findings from the pilot project in Madison County have indicated that not only is the prevention curriculum and intervention beneficial to the younger adolescent participants, but that the older peers facilitating the interventions are benefiting as well, learning the same concepts and skills and utilizing those skills in their own lives.

With the project in Gadsden County continuing into 2014, Dr. Noël is optimistic that the research project can continue to expand, already seeking  letters of support from the school boards of both Wakulla and Jefferson Counties.

“I really want the curriculum to be public access,” Dr. Noël insists, “to make the curriculum publicly accessible so it can be modified for different counties. I want to leave the curriculum in these counties for them to continue to use it.”

To learn more about this project, contact Dr. La Tonya Noël directly at lnoel@fsu.edu.