Trial reportJournal of clinical child and adolescent psychology : the official journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 532019
Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Omega-3 and Individual-Family Psychoeducational Psychotherapy for Children and Adolescents With Depression.
Trial report in Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology : the official journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 57 citations in OpenAlex.
- Adverse event monitoring, assessment, and reporting in nutraceutical and phytoceutical trials for pediatric neuropsychiatric conditions: A systematic review.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation for depression in children and adolescents.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- ω-3 Fatty Acids in Pediatric Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2026Trial
- Moody kids years later: Long-term outcomes of youth from the Omega-3 and therapy (OATS) studies.Journal of affective disorders · 2021Trial
- Effects of Fish Oil Monotherapy on Depression and Prefrontal Neurochemistry in Adolescents at High Risk for Bipolar I Disorder: A 12-Week Placebo-Controlled Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Trial.Journal of child and adolescent psychopharmacology · 2020Trial
- Omega-3 supplementation associated with improved parent-rated executive function in youth with mood disorders: secondary analyses of the omega 3 and therapy (OATS) trials.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2018Trial
- Psychoeducational Psychotherapy and Omega-3 Supplementation Improve Co-Occurring Behavioral Problems in Youth with Depression: Results from a Pilot RCT.Journal of abnormal child psychology · 2017Trial
- Omega-3 Fatty Acid Plasma Levels Before and After Supplementation: Correlations with Mood and Clinical Outcomes in the Omega-3 and Therapy Studies.Journal of child and adolescent psychopharmacology · 2017Trial
- Trial
- Article
- Review
- Potential enablers for the implementation of multiple family group therapy intervention in the lower Manya Krobo District, Ghana: Perspectives of multiple stakeholders.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Review
- The Role of Omega-3 Fatty Acids in the Treatment of Depression in Children and Adolescents: A Literature Review.Cureus · 2023Review
- Current Insights into the Use of Probiotics and Fatty Acids in Alleviating Depression.Microorganisms · 2023Review
- Management of Emotion Dysregulation and Outbursts in Children and Adolescents.Current psychiatry reports · 2022Review
- Article
- Psychological Treatments for Depression in Adolescents: More Than Three Decades Later.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The goal of this study is to evaluate feasibility and estimate effect sizes of omega-3 fatty acids (Ω3), individual-family psychoeducational psychotherapy (PEP), their combination, and moderating effects of maternal depression and psychosocial stressors in youth with depression. In a pilot 2 × 2 randomized controlled trial, 72 youth (ages 7-14; 57% Caucasian, 57% male) with major depression, dysthymia, or depression not otherwise specified were randomized to 12 weeks of Ω3, PEP+placebo, Ω3+PEP, or placebo. Ω3 versus placebo was double-masked. Evaluators masked to condition assessed depressive severity at baseline (randomization) and at 2, 4, 6, 9, and 12 weeks using the Children's Depression Rating Scale-Revised. Side effects were either absent or mild. PEP was administered with 74% fidelity. Remission was 77%, Ω3+PEP; 61%, PEP+placebo; 44%, Ω3; 56%, placebo. Intent-to-treat analyses found small to medium effects of combined treatment (d = .29) and Ω3 monotherapy (d = .42), but negligible effect for PEP+placebo (d < .10), all compared to placebo alone. Relative to placebo, youth with fewer social stressors responded better to Ω3 (p = .04), PEP (p = .028), and their combination (p = .035), and those with maternal depression responded better to PEP (p = .020) than did those without maternal depression. Remission rates were favorable compared to other studies of psychotherapy and comparable to an existing randomized controlled trial of Ω3; results warrant further evaluation in a larger sample. Ω3 was well tolerated. Active treatments show significantly more placebo-controlled depression improvement in the context of maternal depression and fewer stressors, suggesting that they may benefit depression with a more endogenous than environmental origin.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.