A study published in Lancet Psychiatry looks at talking therapies’ outcomes for young adults vs older adults.
Prof Bernadka Dubicka, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Hull and York Medical School, University of York, said:
“These findings about NHS Talking Therapies’ outcomes are concerning but generally unsurprising. We know that adolescents do not respond to depression treatments as well as working age adults, however this large, well conducted study also shows poorer outcomes for anxiety as well as depression. The outcomes of young adults have often been ignored in research and this NHS data emphasises the importance of looking into the needs of this group separately – we cannot assume that the same approach can be used across different generations. Urgent consideration needs to be given to how we deliver services to young people, but also therapists need to be trained in how best to support young adults – the approach needed for a 20-year-old is not the same as that for a 50-year-old. Similarly, we can’t improve services and outcomes unless we start looking at the needs of young adults separately in future research studies. This study highlights the urgent need to address the mental health crisis in young people but also the urgent need to review what is currently provided.”
Dr Lindsay Dewa, Advanced Research Fellow and Honorary Research Psychologist, NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College London, said:
“Overall the study provides a robust analysis of retrospective cohort data of over 1.5 million adults on the effectiveness of NHS psychological talking therapies on outcomes across young (16-24) and working age adults (25-65). Whilst many covariates were considered in analysis, including neurodevelopmental conditions, other factors have been missed which could have influenced the results such as gender identity, sexual orientation and quantity and quality of social support which we know has an impact on mental health outcomes, including depression and anxiety. However, this may have been due to data availability restraints. Moreover, no patient and public involvement was included, meaning the patient voice was not considered in the study design, analysis, interpretation or paper write up.
“In my systematic review1, we reviewed 42 studies and found a 26% reduction in depression symptoms following a digital social connection in young people aged 14-24, and a 15% reduction in anxiety (n=10 studies included in the meta-analysis). This digital social connection with others included a range of digital tools including, online CBT, video gaming, text messaging, social networking, avatars and forums.
“An important finding from our discussions with young people with lived experience of depression and anxiety is that young people may prefer to talk to people online rather than in-person because online interactions can provide an ease of access, anonymity and could lower inhibitions compared to face-to-face engagement. This preference for online interaction may therefore explain the lower engagement with services leading to the outcomes seen in this paper.”
Reference:
1 Lindsay Dewa et al. (2021) ‘Quality Social Connection as an Active Ingredient in Digital Interventions for Young People With Depression and Anxiety: Systematic Scoping Review and Meta-analysis’ J Med Internet Res 2021;23(12):e26584
Effectiveness of psychological interventions for young adults versus working age adults: a retrospective cohort study in a national psychological treatment programme in England’ by Rob Saunders et al. was published in Lancet Psychiatry at 23:30 UK time on Wednesday 6th August.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(25)00207-X
Declared interests
Prof Bernadka Dubicka: Research funding from the NIHR and UKRI, and my main employment is Hull York Medical School, University of York
Dr Lindsay Dewa: No conflict of interest.