E-Mental Health Adolescent Depression Program (LEAP)

The purpose of this project is to explore the potential value and practicality of an innovative depression intervention for young people. More specifically, the objectives of this project are: 1. to pilot the Internet-based Spirituality Program with depressed young people (age 13-24) in Calgary by: 1. obtaining preliminary estimates on the impact of the program on the primary outcome of depression severity, and secondary outcomes of spiritual well-being and self-concept. 2. obtaining preliminary estimates on response rates and remission rates to guide sample size estimations for a full size randomized trial. 3. evaluating if the suggested research methodology is feasible with respect to recruitment rate, patient burden and clinical implementation to guide design of a full size randomized trial. 2. to gather feedback from depressed young people, their families and referral sources in the community (schools, family physicians, mental health outpatient services) on the perceived value of the program and on ways to eventually make it available as a community resource for others dealing with depression.