A new study has found that online interventions can help to reduce the rates of depression in teenagers. Teenagers and mental health seem to be a common pair, and that is because more awareness and recognition of mental health is taking place. Teenagers are also living through a global pandemic and trying to navigate this difficult world. They are doing all of this during one of the most difficult stages of development, and it is important to find resources that can work to reduce the rate. Since teenagers are also known to spend a lot of time online, this may be the perfect place to start.According to Medical Xpress, a new study has found that brief online interventions are helping to reduce teen depression. This study was done by Stony Brook University and it can be read in full here.The study involved more than 2,400 youth between the ages of 13 and 16 years old. The results showed that two online, single-session interventions worked. These interventions were designed to help stop teen depression. This new tool is showing great promise, especially at a time when a lot of mental health services were interrupted during the pandemic.It is already known that teenagers have a hard time accessing professional help for their mental health, and this was apparent before the pandemic even began. The sessions involved teaching “behavioral activation,” which is the thought that being positive and taking positive action can help to boost a person’s mood. The second session focused on “growth mindset,” which is the idea that depressive symptoms are able to be changed. The teens were all recruited from social media, and there was at least one from every single state, an impressive sample size.[EMBED_TWITTER]https://twitter.com/isearch247/status/1469331086589280263[/EMBED_TWITTER]Jessica Schleider was the lead author of the study and she stated that both of the sessions were successful in reducing depression symptoms in teenagers and when they were done the sessions, they had a larger sense of hope than before. She also stated that while the results varied, with it helping some more than others, the impact was enough that she feels it can help reduce the public health burden that teenage depression causes. Another reason this system works so well is that it is cost-effective and easily accessible for teenagers, making it a lot easier for them to be able to reach out for some help, something that they can struggle with.Sources: Medical Xpress, Nature