Early-treatment Stage for Adolescents with Depression and Their Parents: An IPSE Qualitative Study

The period at the start of treatment of adolescents with depression is both crucial and complex. Adolescents' and parents' perspectives on that early-treatment stage are important but have not yet been explored. The present study explores the lived experience of the early-treatment stage among adolescents with major depressive disorder and their parents and aims to cross their perspectives. This French qualitative multicentre study followed the five stages IPSE approach. Semi-structured interviews with adolescents with depression and with their parents were conducted. Data collection by purposive sampling continued until we reached theoretical sufficiency. Forty-seven participants-20 adolescents, 27 parents-were included. Data analysis produced a structure of lived experience based on two axes: (1) what leads to care: what is shown, what is seen, describing a dynamic process of showing and seeing around the start of treatment and (2) the start of treatment: knowing and sharing everyone's explanations. Results suggest some early therapeutic alliance facilitators, that is, first to be able to see the depressive manifestations and directly address the issue of depression based on what is shown and seen, second to give the opportunity to both adolescents and parents to share their views and explanations about the adolescent's distress, and finally to explicitly name this distress depression to first agree on the term to use.