@unpublished{pittir21482,
           month = {June},
           title = {Effectiveness of depression interventions for adolescent mothers: a meta-analysis},
          author = {Lisa Ripper},
            year = {2014},
        keywords = {adolescent mothers, teen mothers, depression, mental health, meta-analysis},
             url = {http://d-scholarship-dev.library.pitt.edu/21482/},
        abstract = {Objective: The purpose of this thesis was to examine existing literature about depression in adolescent mothers by focusing on interventions to decrease depression in the adolescent mother population, and to perform a meta-analysis on those interventions to develop a single conclusion with greater statistical power that showed that depression interventions need to be a part of parenting programs for adolescent mothers. Methods: Research studies for the meta-analysis were identified by searching the PubMed and PsycINFO databases. Data was extracted from nine studies that met the inclusion criteria. These nine studies included thirteen interventions. The variables extracted from these interventions were the mean depression score of the intervention and control or baseline groups, the standard deviations, and the respective sample size. The mean depression score for each intervention was standardized because they were measured using different depression scales and to be able to find effect sizes. Effect sizes measured the strength of an intervention, and can be compared to other standardized studies.  Effect sizes for the intervention effects on depression in teen mothers were calculated using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis, a statistics computer software program. Results: Findings from these nine studies indicated an overall positive effect size of 0.207 (95\% CI [0.115; 0.299]), with a p-value of 0.000, which proved that depression interventions are statistically significant and should be included in teen parenting programs. Conclusion: The pooled effect size of the meta-analysis showed one statistically significant conclusion from multiple studies, which demonstrated that overall, these interventions work. The meta-analysis also showed that multidisciplinary approaches should be explored as a viable option for interventions or programs. The public health relevance of this research is it can help start a conversation within different organizations that work with adolescent mothers to help them discover ways they can adopt and implement these effective interventions throughout their programs or curriculum to decrease depression in teen mothers.  It is of public health significance to reduce depression among teen mothers so that they and their children can grow up to lead happy, healthy, and successful lives.}
}