Effective psychological interventions for depression in children have been investigated in previous research. The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the effects of cognitive psychological education and social skills training (SST) on the reduction of depression in students in a fourth grade class. Results of the ANOVA of Group (cognitive psychological education or SST) X Period (pre, post, follow up I after three months, and follow up II after seven months) showed no significant differences from two groups on the reduction of depression. However, the results suggested that cognitive psychological education reduced depression by increasing “expectancy for support,” which is a positive automatic thoughts factor, and decreasing “negative view of self,” which is a negative automatic thoughts factor. In contrast, SST reduced depression by increasing “expectancy for support” and “pro-social behavior,” and decreasing “social withdrawal behavior.” As explained above, we conclude that both cognitive psychological education and SST reduce depression, but that the mechanisms by which they act differ.
