13% Of Commercially Insured Youth Received No Treatment Following Depression Diagnosis

About 13% of commercially insured children and adolescents receive no treatment following a diagnosis of depression. About 18% received only antidepressants without concomitant psychotherapy, about 22% received dual therapy, and 48% received psychotherapy only.

These findings were reported in “Variation in the 12-Month Treatment Trajectories of Children and Adolescents After a Diagnosis of Depression” by Nina R. Joyce, Ph.D.; Megan S. Schuler, Ph.D.; Scott E. Hadland, M.D., MPH, MS; et al. The researchers studied records of 84,909 youths aged 18 years or younger through pharmacy claims of a set of U.S. employers. Youth were . . .