Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to decrease the level of depression in children by administering Cognitive Psychological Education (CPE), based on Ellis's (e.g., 1958) ABC theory. Participants in the Cognitive Psychological Education group were 39 fifth-grade children. The program included two 45-minute sessions, separated by 1 week. The control group was composed of 79 fifth-grade children at the same school. Dependent variables were depression score, automatic thought score, and schema score. Compared with the control group, and controlling for the baseline scores, the depression scores at follow-up of the group receiving Cognitive Psychological Education were significant lower (P<0.05). Also, their scores on the automatic thought and schema measures became significantly more functional. These results suggest that the administration of Cognitive Psychological Education decreased depression as a result of the functional change in automatic thought and schema. Cognitive Psychological Education appears to be effective for reducing depression in elementary school children.
