Adolescents with co-occurring addictions and depression can benefit from a combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy and fluoxetine (Prozac) in cases where therapy alone does not appear to be improving their depressive symptoms, Medical News Today reported Nov. 7.

Researcher Paula D. Riggs of the University of Colorado in Denver and colleagues studied 126 teenagers with major depressive disorders and substance-abuse disorders. Half the youths were treated with 20 mg of fluoxetine daily for 16 weeks; the rest were given a placebo. All received counseling.

The researchers found that those getting the combination treatment fared just as well as depressed teens who did not have co-occurring addictions. "(The results) indicate that, in the context of cognitive behavior therapy (substance abuse treatment), co-occurring depression may improve or remit without antidepressant pharmacotherapy," according to the study. "However, if depression does not appear to be improving early in the course of substance treatment, fluoxetine treatment should be considered, even if adolescents are not yet abstinent, with weekly monitoring of treatment adherence, substance use, adverse effects and target symptom response."

The study was published in the November 2007 issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.