The Mediating Role of Pleasant Activities in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depressed Adolescents

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy in the depression of adolescents by an increase in pleasurable activities as a mediation. Method: The statistical population included all adolescent girls (ages14to17) in Isfahan. In the form of an empirical study with a control and an experimental group and by evaluation of pre-test and post-test, 60girls which had been diagnosed with depression were selected and randomly assigned into two groups. Subjects, using Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and Pleasant Events Schedule (PES).Data were analyzed for mediation analysis by R software and ANCOVA by SPSS-24. Results: Findings show that cognitive-behavioral therapy is effective in increasing pleasurable activities (path coefficient: 0.19). The increase of pleasurable activities is effective in reducing depression (path coefficient: 0.35) and the cognitive-behavioral therapy by the mediation of pleasurable activities (path coefficient: 0.28) is effective. The entire effect of cognitive-behavioral therapy was on depression (β=0.28). Actually, 22%direct and 0.06%indirect effects was applied through the effect of pleasurable activities on depression. Conclusion: Mediation analysis showed that pleasant events can play a mediating role in the relationship between depression and cognitive-behavioral therapy and can be used in short-term treatments.